If you do any email marketing, chances are you’re familiar with your newsletter open rate, which is simply the percentage of people who view the email you sent. Naturally, the goal is to have an open rate that is as high as possible.
Although there are lots of factors to consider when sending promotions, such as timing, sender name, and so forth, the subject line of the newsletter is perhaps the most important. With an enticing subject, the reader is more apt to open the email. For example, a subject line like, “Check this out,” almost guarantees your message will be deleted and/or flagged as spam. But a good subject line, such as “Invitation to Our Next Event,” stands a better chance of being opened and read.
Writing good subject lines is simply good copywriting. It takes time to master, but that doesn’t mean trial and error is the way to go about it. If you spend just a little time researching the dos and don’t you’re apt to find yourself reaping much better returns from your e-mail marketing efforts. A short but sweet article on this subject can be found on Mailchimp’s website, where they’ve spent a good deal of time analyzing what works and what doesn’t.
For those who feel they could use a little help, today Mailchimp announced their subject line suggester. As the name, ahem, suggests, you provide Mailchimp with phrases from the subject line you’re thinking of using and they provide you with examples of wording changes that will likely make it more effective. The suggestions are based on their analysis of subject lines used by their customers and the open rates those subject lines garnered.
As with any automated tool, use good sense when considering the recommendations.
