Does Your Subject Line Grab Your Readers By The Throat?
Writing by Brick Marketing on Tuesday, 2 of October , 2007 at 7:35 am Leave a comment
Subject lines are the most important part of your e-mail. You’ve got to capture people’s attention. And you just have a few words to do it in.
The most important thing about your subject line is the verb. What does it say? Does it compel your reader to click and read your e-mail? If not, why not? This is absolutely critical because if you don’t capture your readers’ attention with that subject line they’ll just delete your e-mail.
There are different kinds of subject lines. The best ones promise a benefit. Your readers are looking for what is in it for them. You have to give that to them in the subject line before you give it to them anywhere else. If you hook them in the subject line then they’ll be more willing to walk with you through the rest of your e-mail.
Take a look at the subject line of this blog. Does it grab you? It must have, you’re reading. But why does it grab you? It does two things primarily:
- It asks a question. That may not seem like much, but a carefully worded question in your subject line asks the reader to think about something, which leads me to the second thing …
- It promises a benefit. The benefit this rhetorical question promises is an answer. Not outright, but implied. The reader thinks that I will answer the question posed, “Does your subject line grab your readers by the throat?” Well, the obvious answer is “Yes,” or “I hope so.” But the reader wants to know why he should grab his readers by the throat.
The subject line above also likely startled you. The image of something grabbing you by your throat made you think of pain. Why would you want that? By associating a negative with a positive, you can spark curiosity in your readers. There is no better reader than a curious one because she will stick with you to the end. Capture that curiosity in the subject line and your reader will marry you.
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