When it comes to marketing online there is one goal that is valued more than others. While you might be thinking “sales!”, it is actually engagement.
We live in a distracted time. Multitasking is at an all time high. Drivers text while they drive leading to all sorts of terrible outcomes. Many people check their email just before bed and check again the moment they wake up.
Some studies indicate that people even check their phones during sex!
Because of these distractions, the hardest part of marketing is not advertising or copywriting or web design. It is getting people to pay attention to your message. To open and read your email. To read your blog posts.
As much as my readers like me (thank you!) CrazyEgg tells me that only 20% of readers make to the bottom of most of my articles. Even the short ones!
Like most professional marketers, I have been studying this trend and working hard to make sure my message gets through.
After all, if people don’t read what we write, or read the emails we send, then helping them is out of the question. And if you aren’t helping people you certainly are not going to make sales.
To help you increase engagement in your content marketing and email marketing, I’m happy to share these six proven subject lines.
Feel free to use these in any way you want.
Copy them. Publish them on your blog. Give them to your friends. Just use them somehow because they will help you.
These have been developed in my own marketing, and the marketing consulting I do as well. I will share each and then share a few words about why they work.
I will add an underline where your main benefit or area of focus should appear.
The #1 question about _______
This subject line works in email and as the title of a blog post as well. The reason it works so well is that it creates both curiosity and a desire for a shortcut.
When used in email it creates higher open rates because people want to see if what you are saying is “the” number 1 question is their question too.
HINT: If you use this in email do not reveal the answer in the email. Get them to click a link to get the answer.
The one thing every _______ needs to know about _______
This works well every time for a simple reason; it helps the reader connect to the message in a powerful way.
Let’s say your subject line is “The one thing every man over 55 needs to know about testosterone”
The reason this subject line works is that it is specific and addresses a problem you know men over 55 have. Experiment with this one and you will find that it is both powerful and versatile.
The fastest way to get started with _______
This one works well because people are all in a hurry. Everyone wants everything now. Our society went from postal mail to faxes to email to text messages in less than 2 generations.
With each advancement in technology our patience has worn thinner and thinner. While you might have expected a response to a fax in a few days you now expect a response to a text in minutes or seconds.
You can benefit from that trend by providing readers with the fastest way possible to get the benefit you offer them. That’s what they want anyway, so why not give it to them?
The top three ways to _______
While people often want “the” answer to a thing they also want choices. They sometimes don’t trust that we are giving them “the” answer and want to make their own decisions.
This subject line satisfies readers because it objectively presents the three top alternatives and lets the reader choose which fits them best.
The three must have resources if you want to _______
People love tools. They love resources. People have an innate sense that what is missing in their experience is the right tool.
While the right tool can make a huge difference for us, many mistakenly think that using the same tool as some guru will help success come faster.
I have been SO guilty of this over the years it’s almost embarrassing to admit.
You can tap into the idea that the right tool can make all the difference by using this subject line.
The top three mistakes to avoid when you want to _______
This appeals not to a promise of gain but more to a fear of loss. All of us fear making mistakes, especially online where even the terminology can be confusing.
When people are not succeeding on the level they want (and most are not) they blame themselves and feel they are making mistakes. Even if they don’t know what the mistakes are, their lack of success must be their fault, right? Or so their thinking goes.
If you can share what not to do you can help readers just as much as telling them what will work for them.
I would not recommend using this one too often, because the promise of gain is a more positive and effective approach overall. But do make sure to have this arrow in your marketing quiver.
So there you have it – six tested and proven subject lines you can use in your email marketing, on your blog, or both. Try them and see what happens.
If you are like most of my clients you will see an increase in opens, clicks, and best of all, engagement with your content.
And engagement, well that is a beautiful thing indeed!
