How To Create ‘Email Opening’ Subject Lines

As a time poor business professional myself, I find it quite difficult at times to create valuable content. Blogs, videos, free tools, right down to those pesky – yet highly lucrative – email subject lines (maybe you can relate).

Although this process can be difficult at times (especially when I’m flat out of inspiration). I know how important content creation (and marketing) contributes to generating consistent leads for your business.

…AND that’s what I wanted to share with you in today’s post.

You see at Direct MSGing we’ve found that engaging in an interview style situation works best in order to get my thoughts (content ideas) out of my head and onto paper.

Because, once it’s out – the information can easily be turned into a highly effective content piece. One that shares valuable insights and connects with you, our audience.

To cut short a long story…

In today’s video (see below) Heather, our Marketing Copywriter & Editor at Direct MSGing uses the following five questions to extract the information she needed from me to create a content marketing piece.

Subject: How To Create ‘Email Opening’ Subject Lines.

Here’s the questions Heather asked…

1. What goes into an email subject line?
2. Where does your inspiration come from?
3. How do you know what content is going to be most valuable to your ideal customers?
4. Why is it important to send out these emails?
5. What’s the next step? Once you’ve got those subject lines, how do you get your audience to reach out?

Here’s the thing… When crafting these questions (or any questions for that matter), it’s important to think from your ideal future customers’ perspective – what do they need to know?

As, once you’re clear on ‘what it is’ your customers and prospective customers actually want to know about (and need to know), then your ability to create content – that GETS ATTENTION and CREATES A CONNECTION WITH YOUR AUDIENCE – becomes really easy.

Top Tips For Creating ‘Email Opening’ Subject Lines.

1. Use a Framework
2. Keep it punchy
3. Test. Measure. Tweak.
4. Relate directly to your content
5. Personalise

Remember the entire purpose of your email subject line is to get your database of prospects and customers to click and open your message!

…Because if your audience, your database don’t open your emails they never get the opportunity to connect with your message. Therefore, you have lower engagement with your list and less sales revenue is generated as a result.

50+ Email Subject Lines We’re Testing This Year…

On a flight to Melbourne a few weeks back I came up with 50+ email subject lines to test and measure this year.

…And because I’m a nice guy, I’ve made them available for you to download here as part of this Exclusive “FREE” Membership.

Final Thought…

Don’t lose customers to poorly written subject lines.

Carnegie Mellon professors in 2011 studied 23,475 email campaigns of more than 650 companies and found:

1. Recipients opened email messages with subject lines of less than 50 characters 12.5% more often than those with 50-plus characters.
2. The click-through rates for the shorter subject lines were 75% higher than for the longer ones.
3. Some email platforms truncate subject lines after 5 words or so. So limiting your subject line to 50 characters or less will also ensure that it displays fully in inboxes and on mobile devices.  (Wylie, Ann, Public Relations Tactics, 2014).

Point is…

How you’re developing content and it’s value (inline with your customers problems and challenges) is highly important.

What’s more important though… Is the focus and attention you put on creating ‘email opening’ subject lines, that increase the readership of your emails and marketing material.

John Bellamy
CEO, Direct MSGing

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Sources

Wylie, Ann (01/03/2014). “Open Secrets: What Makes Email Subject Lines Work?”. Public relations tactics (1080-6792), 21 (3), p. 7.