Writing E-Mail Subject Lines That Get Clicked…
I’m sitting here with my cuppa coffee, typing to you on my new laptop. My laptop does this funky thing where the keyboard switches over to “Canadian French” randomly. I’ve never been a huge “techie” so I guess I’ll have to ask you to “pardon my French”. Not sure what that’s all about…
Anyway, today I would like to talk about e-mail subject lines because this is a real big deal these days.
You could easily double the amount of web traffic you’re getting just by sending out regular e-mails to your subscribers but the trick is getting them to care enough to open your e-mails in the first place…
I’m sort of an expert in this regard because I send out so many e-mails a week that it’s become almost second nature, but I still like to keep an eyeball on my open rates and clickthroughs whenever I can too.
I’m always learning, and sometimes I’m downright shocked by the results. Some of the dumbest lame duck subject lines will get more clicks than my carefully crafted ones.
For example….
Facebook Change Hits Networkers
Outpulled…
Vulcans, Attraction Marketing, And Tirimasu
By a whopping 5%.
Which might not sound like a lot but when you understand that the bigger your list is, the lower your open rates generally are this can be a really big deal. Especially if this was traffic being directed to your sales page. It’s really the difference between raking in leads, and leaking them.
Other subject lines that have done very well…
12 Deadly Facebook Mistakes (Video)
Six Ways To Be A Facebook Maven…
Google-saurus Devours Networker…
This Button Gets You More Leads…
John, do you have a day job?
John, ever feel overwhelmed?
Whereas these subject lines bombed…
A Guide Up Marketing Mountain…
Holiday Wishes From Jason Better…
Vulcans, Attraction Marketing And Tirimasu…
And I can tell you that a bad e-mail subject line has a dramatic impact on the comments your blog is getting from your list as well as the amount of “Retweets” or “Facebook Shares” too. A good subject will attract clicks like honey attracts bees. So it’s definitely worth your time to learn how to do this right.
How To Write E-mail Subject Lines That Get Clicked
So how do you write an e-mail subject line that attracts clicks and gets your e-mails read in the first place?
Well, I have a bucket of tips, but the best one is to pick a topic that your readers are genuinely interested in and share it with them.
Facebook is usually a popular choice for my blog. It’s almost like everybody is starved for information on how to market with it. And Twitter usually does the trick too. But I feel like I need to take a break from it all because you can only write so many posts about Twitter before you start to put people to sleep.
Another solid tip is to always feature a strong benefit in your subject lines. This is probably the single biggest secret to writing good headlines too. Feature a strong believable promise and tweak it a little with curiosity.
News type subject lines also do very well. They’re a bit harder to write unless your blog is built around news and updates but they almost always outpull everything else I can write because it’s urgent relevant news and everybody wants to know what’s happening.
So keep that in mind.
A Few More Subject Line Writing Tips…
* Make sure you’re always trying to help your readers out because almost everybody resents being “tricked” into clicking.
* Don’t be so formal. It’s okay to be friendly in your e-mail subject lines. Most people are checking their e-mail in their underwear anyway, so have a little fun.
* Be entertaining. I happen to know a copywriter who built his whole business through e-mail, just by being entertaining. People can’t help but open his e-mails every single day just to see what new and crazy thing he has to say next.
But if you only remember one thing about writing e-mail subject lines, it’s this.
The name that appears in the “from” section is even more important than anything you’ll ever write. Your name and reputation will get you more opens than anything else. So do your best to build a relationship with your readers and don’t waste their time. They’ll love you for it.
To your success,
Jason The “Better Networker”
The Jason Better Blog
P.S. Gosh, I didn’t even get to talk about spam filters but this is probably a topic for another day. If you send regular e-mails to your list then why not share a few tips of your own too. See you soon.
P.P.S. New Here? Well then, join the team by signing up for more free network marketing tips delivered straight to your inbox whenever I post something new. It’s real easy to do, just put your real name and primary e-mail address in the form below.
32 Comments
Chris Owen on January 11th, 2010
Hey Jason, my original comment was going to start a little different, but you hit it right at the end of the article. When I see Jason Better in the above the subject in outlook I click on it. I am amazed at how well you get response from your readers. So now I am one of them.
What gets someone to open an email is something I have spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out. I have a CCPro list that runs the companies emails with I don’t even know how much split testing, and it tanks most of the time.
But my personal site newsletter which only goes out one time a month has a 277% open rate in aweber. I guess people go through the email to get back to the site when they decide to.
Other than what Magnetic Sponsoring offers on copywriting are there any courses you recommend to the group?
[Reply]
January 11th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
Hey Chris,
There’s “The Copywriter’s Guild” which
is sometimes available through Mike’s
site. I love that one.
As for courses, I would have to say I have
a massive library of copywriting books. My faves
are Joe Sugarman’s because they’re so easy to
read. But also a big fan of the hard to find classic books
like Vic. Schwab’s “How To Write A Good Advertisement”
I have to agree with your observation about subject lines…
quite often the line is skipped and we glance at the from section
first. The subject line gives us that extra “reason why” to push
us to act.
Your open rate is insane, which is really cool. I think it might have
something to do with how few e-mails you send out. You’ll also
notice that the opens will drop as your list grows… and more dead
names get added. But way cool.
[Reply]
Josh Boxer on January 11th, 2010
Hey Jason,
Couldn’t resist commenting on this one as I have been tracking email open rates over the past months and YES, it has everything to do with your headline.
Great Example:
Man In Igloo Generates 100+ Leads a day writing articles.
Open rate was off the charts compared to:
Alaska Man Generates 100 leads a day writing articles.
Just that little tweak doubled the open rate, which doubled the people who actually got to the message.
A Great place to test email open rates is List Joe and Viral URL as every 3 days with both of those bad boys, you can test 6,000 emails.
Another great thing about those two services is you also get 6,000 emails every 3 days (Well not quite that many, but alot) and you can browse through and check out the headlines of some of the top Internet Marketers on the globe who use LJ and ViralURL.
Food For Thought.
~Josh Boxer
[Reply]
January 11th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
That’s really cool Josh,
I love the example you shared. This is
what I’m talking about.
Some of the weirdest tweaks pull a crazy
amount of clicks… I think more people should be
measuring their words.
You also shared some really awesome resources
too.
Thank you.
[Reply]
Damayanthi on January 11th, 2010
Hi Jason,
Thanks for your great tips. Yes, I can see that when you build a good reputation and relationship with your list people don’t even look at the subject because they know there will be a ton of value.
The trick is to get to that place. I am learing & one day for sure will be there, thanks to your and other training from great people.
Have a fabulous day!
Damayanthi
[Reply]
January 11th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Good day Damayanthi,
Gosh, and does that ever save me from
embarrassment too.
When a subject line bombs, people still
visit… but it’s always nice to have that
extra traffic too.
[Reply]
Ilka Flood on January 11th, 2010
As always, great article and very valuable tips, Jason. Keep them coming! 
I have a question…as far as sending out emails to your list is there any day better than another? And as far as time of day is there one that’s better than another?
I have sent out an email recently (both were sent on a Wednesday), same subject line…one had an opening rate of 14.9% the other 1.4%
[Reply]
January 11th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Hey Ilka,
Yes, time and day of the week can have
a large impact on your open rates.
For instance, the holidays were absolutely
horrible for my opens… people were too busy
opening gifts with family.
Every market is a little bit different but Monday seems to
be the worst for me. Whereas Tuesday, and Friday seem to
be good days.
I know there’s marketing experts who swear by Friday. But I
really think you have to test to know for sure.
As for time of day,
If you want the highest open rates then you have
to think like your readers.
Ask yourself when they check their e-mail but also
when their e-mail inbox is full.
So while morning is a good sending time… often people
will have their inbox flooded late morning with everyone
else’s newsletter. This means that an unconventional
time like lunch could do better.
Again, you have to test for your readers… but it’s definitely
worth thinking about.
Personally, I try to send my e-mails out as soon as they’re
ready. That way, I don’t have to worry about forgetting them
or scheduling in advance.
[Reply]
Jerome Ratliff on January 11th, 2010
Afternoon!
This is one of those subjects I’ve been stumbling on.
What I’ve had to do to see what is the best subject line is I review my tracking results on previous emails to see which ones inspired the readers to open the email.
So no doubt your tips here will certainly help me expand on what I’ve started.
Jerome Ratliff
[Reply]
January 11th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
Hey Jerome,
And that’s really the best way to do it.
Looks at what your own list responds to
and duplicate your success.
Gosh, if only it was easier to do?
But then what would the fun be?
[Reply]
Mitcehll Dillman on January 11th, 2010
“Holy Cow! Jason, This Really Works…”
I ran that one on a recent List Joe mailing and increased my open average by almost 3%…That was HUGE!
Go figure… How do you really ever know what’s gonna be effective? Then what do you do?, reuse ‘em later?
It’s kind of ‘crap-shoot’ sometimes, isn’t it?
I mean, you can’t really be sure what trips the trigger…
Like the headline on my press release this morning, “Carbon Copy Pro, DillmanSolutions and Eco Elvis ‘go green’ in Colorful Colorado”
That thing’s been getting hammered on all day…must be The King, Elvis 
Thanks Jason,
Mitchell Dillman
[Reply]
January 11th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
Hey Mitchell,
I know, right?
How do you know what really works till
you test?
Well, thankfully I have a few good books
by my side when I really get stuck.
I think just about any good book on copywriting
or advice about writing headlines helps in
the end.
It’s not that hard to adapt the suggestions
to the computer age.
Still, some time I’m completely shocked by
how many people do respond to certain
headlines or subject lines.
[Reply]
Ilka Flood on January 11th, 2010
Jason, thank you for answering my questions in such detail. I know you are a very busy man, so I TRULY appreciate it
[Reply]
January 11th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
No problem Ilka,
Just about to take a break for supper.
Thank you for your time too.
[Reply]
Twila Jacobs on January 11th, 2010
My blog headline today is Network Marketing vs. Cleaning Toilets.
Wonder how that will fare? Yea, I’m in one of “those’ moods today! LOL
Great Article Jason…keep them coming. Love it!
Twila Jacobs
[Reply]
January 11th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
Hah Twila,
That’s a crazy headline.
I’ve had a few and I’m sure I’ll add
to the pile of weird and wacky headlines
in the future too.
[Reply]
Elmar Sandyck on January 11th, 2010
This is once more a Golden Nugget Jason!
Thanks for sharing this great information
[Reply]
Peter on January 11th, 2010
Jason,
Forgive me if this has already been stated earlier by another commenter as this is a comment 7 fly session for me today. The same headline tactics if you will wud form the basis of all you write, not just emails? I am sure that the same applies for all copywriting and really forms the basis of the article itself or piece of copy as the case may be.
[Reply]
January 12th, 2010 at 9:31 am
Peter,
I agree. I think in a sense, every sentence
you write has to be treated like a headline.
The whole point being, that you want everybody
to read on.
In practice, there are slight differences. Subject lines
are one of the hardest things to write for me.
Not only do they have to be short, but they must be
believable and curious too. Newsworthy subject lines
have worked for me in the past… but yesterday… one
bombed again.
So I guess the only thing we can do sometimes is test the
differences and collect the ones that work. Using copywriting
guidelines to inspire each new one as we go.
[Reply]
Timothy Willan on January 12th, 2010
Wow Jason! Never really thought about email headliners! awesome stuff and don’t stop now!
[Reply]
Dave on January 12th, 2010
Thanks Jason.
I once heard a tip on writing effective email subject lines:
“Use titles of old songs, or old song lyrics”
1. “Just Another Manic Monday”
2. “Black Velvet”
3. “Dude Looks Like a Lady”
The idea is that the reader will know that they’ve heard/seen those words before (they may forget where they heard/saw them), but will then be compelled to open out of sheer curiosity.
It has worked well for me in the past.
Dave
http;//www.daveroland.com
[Reply]
January 12th, 2010 at 10:52 am
Morning Dave,
Now that’s a cool tip if I ever
saw one.
I actually know a copywriter who
writes his using popular movies… or tv
shows as inspiration and the guy has
built his career on it.
[Reply]
Derek Alvarez on January 12th, 2010
Hi Jason,
I definitely agree that the relationship has a lot to do with it.
For example, I open every email you send me because I know you deliver valuable info.
And I can also see that the size of the list becomes a factor.
For example, my wife and I can get anywhere from 25% to 67% open rates on our emails, but we’re still in the hundreds.
But I think the biggest factor is the value.
When you consistently deliver value, people don’t mind when you have something for sale, too.
I probably got off course a little, since this was a post about subject lines…
Which brings me to this point:
People hate to be tricked — so I avoid any subject line that doesn’t match up with what’s in the email.
[Reply]
January 12th, 2010 at 10:58 am
Good advice Derek,
Yeah, I think you’ll notice the decline
in your open rates as your list grows. I
don’t really know how to avoid this… short
of being very selective in who you allow on
your list.
I think the name and reputation will always
outweigh the subject of the day… I just like the
little boost in traffic you can get with great subject lines.
It’s like having Christmas day all over again.
[Reply]
Osman Quddus on January 12th, 2010
Thanks for the article my dear brother! I enjoyed it!
Osman
[Reply]
Rex Harris on January 13th, 2010
Great article Jason! Some great ideas on subject lines… I’m going to try a few of these out.
[Reply]
January 13th, 2010 at 7:56 am
Hah Rex,
You seem to have things under control.
But, I’m happy to share a few ideas. I’m
just glad you enjoyed them.
Thank you.
[Reply]
Hi J
I finally have a growing list which I can send emails to, so I have been, and I have been having quite good success with them.
Great post, as emails to me have never really been a major focus, silly really as its the way we communicate with our leads the most.
Some great tips.
Thank
Dwayne
[Reply]
January 11th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
Thank you Dwayne,
And thanks for dropping in too.
I’m always amazed by these things…
Which headline pulls best?
Which subject line pulls…
Love it.
[Reply]