Owning a public relations firm, I know the importance of capturing attention. Received an email today from Alan Zoldan of A2Z MicroMarketing which captured my attention and so wanted to share parts of it.
Subject: In about 2.7 seconds, you’re going to make a critical decision.
If your email subject line isn’t instantly intriguing, your email will get trashed. Game over. In fact, research by ExactTarget shows that the average person spends only 2.7 seconds on a message before deciding if they’ll delete it, forward it, or read it.Just 2.7 seconds.
What You Shouldn’t Put in a Subject Line
- “Hypey” verbiage. Get rid of words like excited, hot new product, free offer,
or special pricing. - Information about your company. No one is interested in your new service
announcements or company updates except you. - Capital letters. Just the first word should be capped. Otherwise it seems like
a headline, not a personal message.
What You Should Put in a Subject Line
- Use a referral. If someone has referred you to this person, put that in your subject line. They’ll want to know why. For example, you might write: “Alan Zoldan said to get in
touch.” - Ask a quick question. If your prospect feels it’s simple and relevant, they’ll take a look. Your subject line might read: “Quick question re: new client acquisition challenges.”
- Capture interest with relevant ideas, news or information.
In a nutshell, effective subject lines must focus on something your prospect cares about. If you do that, they’ll keep reading – just like you are (I hope) right now. There is, however, a big BUT – your email message needs to deliver on the promise of your subject line. If not, you can, once again, count on being quickly deleted.
Ronn Torossian
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