Sometimes you get an email with a subject line that makes you open it immediately. For good or for bad, you take notice and take action.
There’s No Such Thing As Bad Attention
Okay, you’re right. That’s not the right wording of the famous saying (“There’s no such thing as bad press“), but is it true? In a world full of noise, is any attention good attention?
Let’s use a more concrete example that applies to the startup marketer.
Fact One: Very few people have heard of your company
Fact Two: You have a database of people that have signed up for your product or service, have indicated interest in what you have to say, etc.
Fact Three: With people inundated by emails, it is increasingly difficult to get someone’s attention with nothing but an email subject line
Given these three facts, you can see why spammers will do anything they can to get you to open an email. They really have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Just a few minutes ago I got an email from staples that looked like this:
The subject line: Thanks for your purchase! Open for more great products.
What? I didn’t just buy something from Staples! I’d better open this up and see what the hell is going on….
Ahhhh. I get it. I bought something in the store, not online. Clever.
Is Opening The Email The Ultimate Goal?
Like anything else in marketing, let’s ask the question: What is the goal of this campaign?
If the goal is simply to get someone to open the email, Staples did a great job here. If, however, the goal is to get them to click over to the site or to buy more pens, I’m going to guess this isn’t the campaign they’re looking for.
Or if the goal is simply to remind people that Staples exists without getting them to unsubscribe…..(and write blog posts about them)…….
Some Common Tricks You Can Try
Staples has an advantage in that they only send this email out to reward card users that have just purchased something, but there are a couple of common tricks you can try in your email subject lines:
- Re: Getting started with [Product Name]– This is an old one but a clever one. Makes you think someone is actually replying to what you wrote, giving it that personal feeling.
- Fwd: New Office Rules– Not quite as strong as the Re: email, but this makes you think that a close acquaintance sent this your way. The new office rules gives it a nice touch as well.
- Question For An Article: This one works every time, as it makes you think someone sees you as an expert and wants your opinion. Use this with caution, however, as opening this way and following up with a product plug makes you look like a dick.
- Are You Going On Thursday?: Coming from a personal address, this can confuse someone into thinking a friend or acquaintance is inviting you to something or seeing if you’ll be at an event.
