This is one of the topics that resonates the most with my audience. Email subject lines are TRICKY to get right. And they have incredible power over whether your email gets opened or unsubscribed to. Yikes, no pressure! There’s a way to approach subject lines that takes practice and tremendous intentionality. First, watch the video. Then I’ll elaborate.
I often write a placeholder email subject line at first because I’m really weird about doing things in order. And I usually have an idea of what the theme of the email is going to be. But I almost ALWAYS come back to the subject line and study it very hard before committing. And, if you’re approaching your marketing writing properly, you’ll give everything – including the few words of a subject line – some time to marinate before committing.
After writing out the email, I’ll look through the content and intentionally put myself in the shoes of my perfect customer. What in this email is really beneficial to her? What would she need out of this the most? Of course, hopefully there are multiple values I’m providing in every email but there’s usually one thing that your best fans will grab onto. That’s the point you want to tease out in a subject line. It’s an art, I know. It takes practice. As everything in marketing goes, you will get it wrong as much as you get it right – but this approach will help. And it will train you in finding the point that will resonate with your audience in all of your marketing content.
For extra backup, use a subject line rater or grader. I like this one but there are several out there. They may feel robotic at first but can at least prevent you from a really bad choice. Sometimes, when I have a couple subject line options in mind and I think they’re both strong, I use the email subject line grader to help me pick.
If you found this helpful or are curious about making your emails, including subject lines, more effective, I’d love to read your comment below! Thanks for reading, friend 🙂
View comments
+ Leave a comment