How many emails do you receive on average each day?
A basic Google search gives us a number of 100-120 emails that a person receives each day.
This could include socials, shopping invoices, promotions, work emails, newsletters, etc.
How does a person prioritize which email to read and which to toss into the junk folder?
There are 2 elements to it:
The sender
The subject
If the sender is a person you're expecting an email from, a co-worker, a friend, or a newsletter you love, then of course, you'll go ahead and hit open.
If it's from someone you are not well acquainted to then you will look at what the email is about before you delete them.
For example, if I see subjects that pique my interest with questions, or if something is personalized, or looks like it could add some color to my mundane day, I would click it.
Subject lines are the most highly A/B tested elements in email marketing followed by CTAs, send times, and email layouts.
Subject lines have the supreme power. of dictating the fate of your email.
So let's find out some neat tips on how to make your subject lines more clickable.
Emojis 😃 🥳 🙌🏼 🎯
Emojis are extremely versatile. You can easily have a conversation using just emojis. They are visual so they communicate with a great degree of emotional accuracy (if used right). A study by research firm Experian mentioned that 56% of brands that use emojis in their subject lines have a higher-than-average open rate.
However, don't overdo it. The emoji could add a colorful touch to your subject line and draw your reader's attention to it. Make it simple, cute, attention-grabbing, yet relevant. For example, do not use a cat emoji for your menswear launch. Things like that.
Spark curiousity
We talk about hooks a lot these days. Lines that are meant to make your readers go. "Woah!" and click read more. The exact same can be applied to your email subject lines as well. Hook them while they are scrolling through their emails. Spark curiosity. Make them ask "Really? Let me check that out."
The best way to go about it is to ask yourself what would make YOU click the email to read more? Something bold, something controversial, something weird, something unconventional, a promise that you don't want to miss on, a piece of information that you think will make you wiser?
Choose one of the above. My favourite hooks are the last one I mentioned. I would hate to miss out on any piece of information that would make me wiser. And this is the reason why having user personas in place helps so much! You get to know whom you are speaking to and what do THEY respond to. Put yourself in their shoes and start writing your hooks.
FOMO it
How can we possibly miss out on FOMO when writing subject lines for our emails? FOMO makes people click, as simple as that. It is closely related to sparking curiosity but what's more is that it actually makes people take a buying/actual conversion action.
Subject lines like:
$5 dollars not $65 tomorrow
Last 3 pieces left
Final call to book your seat
The next deal comes next year
We got a discount for you
Claim your 50% discount in the next 3 hours
work wonders on your reader's brain. Especially if you are an ecommerce or have a site that has checkouts with abandoned carts. SaaS platforms, D2C also stand to gain majorly if they set up these FOMO subject lines for their sales email funnel.
Get Personal
Have you seen how well people receive emails that are addressed to them, instead of having a vague hi? Everyone likes being acknwoledged. Also, we are used to seeing and spotting our names anywhere, right? Just imagine what happens when your reader is scrolling through the emails and spots their name in the subject line. They WILL halt for a moment. It is a given.
This is such an easy technique to use yet I don't see it being incorporated a lot in email marketing these days.
Just make sure that you are:
spelling their name right,
sending the right email to the right person, and
using their name in the right context.
Getting any of the above wrong can misfire your email and lose you a customer.
People love their names, don't mess it up!
Make an offer they can't refuse
Don't save up the offer as a surprise in your email. What if they don't even open it?
It is much more important to use the offer to make them engage with the email further. Offers can be like:
Win a free trip to <Timbaktoo>
Get access to <name> course for free
Enjoy the dinner and pay us only if you're happy
Get a free toy for your cat
In conclusion
The average email open rate for all industries is 21.33% as per a survey done by MailChimp in 2022. So this is ideally the number you should be looking to achieve for your emails as well. Run a quick audit, find out your current email open rate and see how you can make them better with these subject line improvement tips.
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