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Video Transcription:
How do I get people to open my emails? If you've done email marketing you know that one of the biggest challenges is getting people to open your email.
Studies show that 80 to 85 percent of all emails go unopened.
There's a bunch of things you can do to improve your open rates, but today I'm going to talk about the biggest one: your subject line.
To find out how you can write better subject lines that increase your open rates, keep watching.
Hi, I'm Tom, founder and president of EZMarketing, a digital marketing agency in Lancaster, and you're watching Ask EZ. This is where small business owners go to get real answers to their marketing questions.
Your subject line is the headline of your email. It is the most important thing that you're ever going to write. On average five times as many people are going to read your headline as are going to read the body copy.
So how do you write a good headline for your email?
It needs to evoke an emotion.
So let's talk about the "what's in it for me?"
I have hundreds of emails in my inbox every single day. Why should I spend my precious time reading yours?
Tell me what I'm going to gain or lose. Make the benefits crystal clear.
Don't Say: "Spring Savings."
Say: "Save 25% on Your Lawn Care this Spring."
Be as specific as possible. This is where numbers come in. Numbers usually -- but not always -- improve email open rates, and it's because they make the benefits seem more specific.
Good: "How to Grow Your Email List Fast"
Better: "How to Get 1,333 Email Subscribers in 30 Days"
>>Related Video: How Do I Grow My Email List?
My second tip is to evoke an emotion.
Look, people make decisions based on emotions whether they want to realize it or not. They may justify them with logic, but the split-second decision of whether or not to open your email or delete it is probably a gut reaction.
Your subject line should evoke some sort of an emotion that makes them want to open it.
Let me give you four categories and examples of how you can evoke an emotion.
The first one is missing out, so the fear of missing out. So you could use "20% Off Coupon Expires Tonight."
Another one is curiosity. So an example of that is "The 7-Step Secret Formula to Relationship Success."
Another way you could do this is to hit a pain point, right? People don't want to lose something, so "The 13 Email Mistakes You're Making Right Now (And How to Avoid Them)." Do you see how that elicits some level of pain?
And finally, we could use desire. So here's an example: "How to Survive (and Yes, Even Thrive) in a Recession."
We all have emotional needs and desires. A good subject line will trigger that emotional response and make us want to open your email.
OK, let's recap. So how do you get more people to open your emails?
You're going to focus on your headline. You're going to tell your readers what's in it for them and be specific about the benefits.
And of course, don't forget to evoke that emotion so that they want to open your email.
OK, here's your homework.
If you're doing email marketing right now, I want you to go back through your last ten emails that you sent. If you're not doing any email marketing, just go back through your inbox and look at the last ten marketing messages that you were sent.
And then you're going to look at each subject line and you're going to say, "What's the benefit this email's promising?" And then you're going to say, "What emotion does it make me feel?"
The more you look at the emails that you're receiving and that you're sending, the better you're going to get at these subject lines.
If you're not doing email marketing right now, you're really missing out. Give us a call, and we can help you get started on an email marketing campaign. And, if you sign up in the next 30 days, I'm going to give you $100 off your first email.
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Learn more about email marketing - watch How to Get People to Open Your Emails - Part 2.