When you send an email, you need to make sure you perfect your email subject line. According to a study by Task Husky, email is the preferred method of communications at work.
That’s why businesses looking to develop warm leads use email to reach targeted business prospects in their market.
It’s no secret that Americans check their emails several times a day. As a matter of fact, the average American spends 1.69 hours a day checking and responding to emails.
With so many people working remotely, that number is bound to increase. Not only that, it’s tough to unplug. The vast majority of Americans (75.7%) check their inbox when they’re bored, on vacation (69.3%), and even when watching television (63.5).
A few more very telling statistics:
60% of responders said it was important to have no unread emails in their in-box. Consequently, 57% of responders feel it’s important to respond quickly. Most respond to non-urgent emails within 4 hours.
Bottom line, it’s obvious that Americans are looking at their email. The challenge for marketers is getting them to open theirs.
Your email needs to compel readers to open the message.
Focus on subject line
Constant Contact has a lot of great information for marketers looking to fine tune their email marketing skills. These are 10 suggestions they are making in terms of creating a great subject line.
- Shorten your subject lines – Keep it under 40 characters or about five to seven words. Remember, many people are reading their email on their mobile phones. They need to see the subject line quickly. It has to make a quick impact
- Avoid Spam Words (like free) in your subject line. Click HERE for a list of spam trigger words
- Ask an open-ended question. This may inspire a reader to want to find the answer
- Consider a deadline to give your email a sense of urgency. Harness FOMO
- Give a clear command. Tell the reader what you want her to do
- Make the reader smile. It’s OK to be irreverent.
- Use a list. (example: 7 top ways to create a subject line)
- Use a teaser. Tease their interest to get them to read on
- Make an announcement. (example: The winner of the holiday contest is…..)
- Be unique
Focus on from line
The “From” line is what our addressee sees right next to the subject line – even before they open the email. The “From” line, like the email subject line, should be consistent with your subject, message, and the purpose of the email.
- You have up to 21 characters.
- Use both upper and lower cases. If you use all caps, it might be looked on as spam/
- Use a name people can recognize. Since you are sending business emails, you will want to have your business name visible. Avoid sending emails from info@businessname. It looks like bulk email and will probably be deleted
- Be consistent. Use the same From Line in your email marketing so people get used to seeing it.
Testing
No matter what you decide to do, test. Most CRM systems let you do an A/B split of your email so you can see which subject line or from line gets opened more often.
Very often the test results are different from what your gut thinks is the right way to go.