It all starts with the subject line. Prospecting email subject lines are crucial in getting prospects to open your email. The subject line will determine the success or failure of your campaign. You want prospects to feel like they must open, read and act on your email. When your prospect is not expecting to hear from you, or may not even really know you, so probably has not built that trust for you, the subject line can present quite a challenge.
Let us share some of our top email secrets with you. These are some great techniques to help your e-mail get opened and read:
- Keep it short. The subject line should be a maximum of 50 characters.
- Be specific. Make it clear what your email is about and who it is from. This is more important then flowery language.
- Always send the e-mail from an actual person instead of ‘’[email protected]’’.
- Avoid spammy words like ‘’Help’’, ‘’Guarantee’’, ‘’100% free’’, ‘’Attention’’, ‘’Act now’’. Mailchimp identifies their three worst spam offenders as Help, Percent Off, and Reminder.
- Add the recipient’s name, if you can. This adds a feeling of rapport.
- Go easy on punctuation. Nothing screams spam like a bunch of exclamation marks.
- Add preview texts to emails.
- Ask a question. Questions are a great way to focus your readers’ attention and peak their curiosity.
- Be controversial. Take a contrarian viewpoint, as long as it’s something that makes sense for your brand and you’re genuine about your take on the position.
- Hit a nerve. Your prospects are your prospects for a reason. They have a problem that you can solve or a frustration you can address. Mention that problem or frustration in your subject line, and your prospect will be more likely to click through in search of a solution.
- Offer value. You want prospects to feel like they must open, read and act on your email
- Use a number. Numbers stop wandering eyes. Using numbers in your headline has shown to increase reader engagement
- A/B test to see which subject lines get the best results.
The success of your e-mail is pinned to your subject line. A good subject line entices prospects to open and read your email. More readers means more click throughs which means more leads. No opens, means no action at all which also means that all of the time you spent on the e-mail contents means nothing. Out of the billions of emails that are sent every day, make sure that yours stands out.
