15 Email Subject Lines that’ll keep you out of the spam folder

How can you win at email marketing?   How do you  get yourself noticed among the thousands of promotional emails being sent to the average person every week?   Email marketing is a developing, growing field, with more and more companies hiring experts to turn visitors into customers. But being a developing field, there are still some unanswered questions on the way to mastering this art.   What is considered good email content? How long should we wait until we offer our product? When is a follow-up email in order?   With so many unanswered questions, one really stands out – what is considered a “clickable” subject line? After all, a good title is one of the key elements that determines whether or not your message will be read (and, evidentially, whether your product/service will be considered.)   There are several common mistakes marketers still make when it comes to subject lines. These mistakes can, at best, be overlooked, and at worst lead to your email automatically being marked as spam, or even worse – lead to the person receiving the message marking it as spam. Honestly, no one really knows how to create a subject line that’ll get a 100% open-rate, but there are some basic do’s and don’ts that’ll help you get there.   Some common mistakes are:

1.      Using exclamation points!
2.      Using caps
3.      Using “spammy” words like: “once in a lifetime opportunity” or “this is not a spam”
4.      Using misleading claims, like “you just won a prize!”
5.      Giving away the bottom line
6.      Being too casual with “just checking in,” or “a quick follow-up”
7.      Using words like: “Buy now!” or “Free”

  A truly good subject line is one that doesn’t only avoid all of the above, but is able to provide an added value to the reader, making him/her want to find out more. There are several ways of doing this:  

Lists/Numbers

•        “10 jaw-dropping drift videos on YouTube” – YouTube
•         “Why only 1 in 8 will open this” – MixPanel
•         “5 social selling KPIs sales leaders should focus on” – Insidesales.com 

 

Touching Pain Points

•        “Are you under-utilizing your LMS?” – WizIQ
•        “How to make more sales in less time” – Jill Konrath
•        “Stop wasting time on mindless work” – Evernote

Using Humor

•        “Deals that make us proud (Unlike our nephew, Steve)” – Groupon
•        “I don’t need more leads – said no marketer, ever” – MarketingProfs
•         “Defense Against the Dark Arts: ESAPI” – OWASP

 

Stir the Fear of Missing Out/ Inclusiveness

•         “We’re closing your Dropbox account in 30 days unless you take action” – Dropbox
•         “For software entrepreneurs only” – Eben Pagan
•         “Google’s hidden agenda – what you need to know” – Noble Samurai

 

 Making an Offer They Can’t Refuse

•         “Increase sales 4x, 5x, even 6x with this formula” – GKIC
•         “Maximize customer lifetime value in 4 easy steps”- Digital Marketing Depot
•         “How to cut your conversion time in half” – Kissmetrics