The Importance of Subject Lines

The second most important part of your email is the subject line. It's what people look at and a well thought out, clever and interesting subject line will help people decide if they should open your email or not. The subject line can be regarded as one of the most important parts of your promotional email.

There's not a lot of space for your subject line, so you need to use the space wisely - keep it short and concise. If you can provide a summary of the contents of the email (tall order!) in your subject line, you are in effect pre-selling the reader about the contents of the email. Think of the subject line as a very mini sales page! Ensure that your subject instantly grabs the attention of your reader and intrigues them enough to open up your mail. Just because someone is subscribed to your mailing list does not mean they will actually open your emails!

You subject line must make it an absolute must to open the email! They just can't resist it! However you want to make sure you don't create a misleading subject line otherwise this will only serve to annoy the reader once they open your email and find that there is something other that what they thought contained in the email. You must create a desire and emotion strong enough to make the reader open the email. Remember many people simply scan the subject lines, so those that don't make the grade won't be opened!

Think about subject lines that begin with the persons first name, as this makes the email more personal. All autoresponders allow you to put in the first name of the subscriber. Then consider using powerful words like, discover, how to, find out. Remember however that certain words will not get past spam filters, such as free, price, cost, etc. Your autoresponder will most likely have so spam detection software and will help you identify if your email message may be regarded as spam.

Another effective method is to ask a question, for example, "Are you sick and tired of your job?" Or "Is your boss always on your case?". When reading those questions it's very easy to subconsciously answer yes. Now make sure the content of the email reflects the answer or solution to the question posed.

It is of course possible to write in a style that commands your reader to do something, for example - "Act now and get this once in a lifetime opportunity", or "Double, triple and even quadruple what you are earning in one year". A subject line like this will show the benefits of your product or service and also add urgency.

Be creative with your subject lines but remember to ensure that what the subject line says relates to the body of the email.

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