Did you know that the average salesperson sends and receives an incredible 116 emails a day?
This means that you need to stand out from the crowd to get your prospect to open your email pitch, or run the risk of it languishing in their inbox forever. The best way to do this is to have the perfect email subject line that will pique the interest of your prospect and encourage them to click through to read the body of your email.
Here at Funnel Boost, we have decades of experience in writing email subject lines that people want to read. Here are our tried-and-tested tips for composing stupendous subject lines…
Don’t be dishonest about what you are selling
People are wary of sales emails, with Adobe claiming that over half of prospects feel that marketing and sales messages are a bunch of lies. You only have one chance to make a good impression with your subject line, so be honest and clear about your product or service and do not make promises that you can’t keep.
Keep your subject lines as short as possible
Your prospects are busy people and do not have time to read massive lines of text, so you need to keep your subject line as concise as you can.
According to Total Send, subject lines less than five (5) words long perform 65% better than subject lines that are eight (8) words long,
Short subjet lines have another benefit if your prospect is reading their emails on mobile, where subject lines longer than 50 characters are truncated.
So, be as direct as possible and cut the fluff in your subject line.
Focus on their problems
We all love to talk about ourselves. Harvard University said that talking about ourselves stimulates the same areas of our brain as delicious food… sounds like a winner, right?
You need to lead with your prospect’s problems rather than your product. Doing this will make them more likely to open your email and start a dialogue.
For example, pose your subject line as a question that will entice your prospective customer into wanting to find out more, or state clearly and concisely what you can do to help your prospect in their role.
Personalise your message to each recipient
Gone are the days when salespeople would send an identical email, subject line and all, to several hundred recipients. You need to gear your subject line to each person you send to.
There is a psychological theory called ‘The Cocktail Party Phenomenon’ which goes into detail about how our brains are wired to focus in on the ideas and information that we like and filter out the ideas and information that don’t interest us. You can use this to your advantage when sending emails.
Tailor your subject line to the pain points that cause your prospect problems. If they are looking for a -effective solution, mention that in your email. Are they looking for something that will save them time? Lead with that.
Even adding your prospect’s name, company or job role into the subject line will make them stand up and pay attention to your email.
Avoid salesy language
Your prospect’s brain is hard-wired to filter out certain words, so avoiding words that come across as salesy, like ‘sale’, ‘free’ and ‘open now’ will increase the chances of prospective customers opening your email, as well as seeing your company as trustworthy. Here’s a good list of words to get you started.
Cutting out these words will also reduce the risk of your email ending up in their junk mail filter too.
Use social proof
It’s all very well and good telling your prospect that your product or service is great, but they are more likely to believe a glowing review or recommendation from another company.
The Social Times reports that nine out of ten consumers trust recommendations from other people over branded content.
For example, LeadGenius found that the email subject line ‘I found you through [name of referral]’ earned them an astonishing 87% open rate!
Don’t forget to test!
You need to review your open rates for all emails you send, so you can see what is working and what needs to be changed. Different companies and different prospects will require different approaches, so use the feedback you receive to inform any future campaigns that you do.
