We all know that email marketing is still an incredibly viable option for marketing to your current customers. By doing so, you are able to foster and further develop that highly important relationship and encourage customer loyalty. Email marketing is a great tool for doing exactly that! Create loyal customers and they’ll bring you new business. When you utilize email marketing your customers will share and forward your email campaigns! In this blog post, I want to share with you how important your “From” and “Subject” lines are and how you can ensure that they’re the best they can be!
Research suggests that we only have 2 seconds to capture the attention of our readers. That’s right, we used to think it was 8 seconds and it was but that has changed. Our attention spans are not as long as they used to be. Just think about how quickly you scan through the emails on your smartphone. You swipe your finger up and through emails in a very quick motion. How can you get your readers to stop and open your email? It’s all in your From and Subject lines.
Years ago we were most interested in the subject line that told us what information was coming to us. However, that is no longer the #1 item that causes someone to open your email. We are most interesting in knowing who is emailing us so the “from” line is what we look at first. Do we trust who is emailing us? Am I already connected to this sender? Am I interested in hearing from this person or company? If your ‘from’ line is clear and makes it easy to see who the email is from then you’re getting your reader past the first obstacle. For instance, make sure your ‘from’ line has your name and/or your company name. It needs to be a name that your reader knows and will recognize.
Now that you’ve gotten your reader to recognize who the email is from then you need to craft a subject line that compels the reader to want to read more and therefore open your email. Consider the 2-2-2 rule. Your subject line needs to attract the attention of the recipient within the first 2 seconds, with the first 2 words of your subject line and they need to act or open the email 2-day. So consider the following examples:
March Newsletter
– VS –
Tomorrow – Need 3 Hammers. Can You Help?
The first example of “March Newsletter” might come on March 2nd but gives me no reason to open it. I might see it and file it in the “later” pile and come back to it on March 20th. What happens if in my “March Newsletter” I’ve asked readers to come an event on March 18th? My subject line needs to compel me to open it RIGHT NOW. The second example says I need you tomorrow. I want to open that one today. It is a much more effective subject line.
Think about what causes you to open your emails. As you’re flying through your inbox and filtering your emails, some of them you open right then and there and some end up in the ‘later’ category while others immediately get deleted. Typically those “later” emails end up as “never”. Most people do not really go back to that “later” file. So your email needs to be opened immediately! Make your subject line work for you right now.
Don’t forget about the 2-2-2 Principle as it applies to both the from line and the subject line. These are the two most important pieces of information in your email that makes the reader want to dive in. Our Constant Contact Email Marketing specialists are Master Certified Solution Providers and are Louisiana Authorized Local Experts with Constant Contact. We know email marketing and we can help. Get started today with a free demo account or contact us to jump in right away.