by Danny Rubin
E-newsletters are a marketing and public relations essential. In fact, I wrote a blog post in July called “7 Reasons Your Business Must Have an E-Newsletter.”
The seven reasons:
1. Visibility is Key
2. Be the Authority
3. Engage Your Audience
4. Social Media is Not the End-All
5. Your Competition is on Email; Where are You?
6. Content is King
7. Go Take What’s Yours
Yep, seven solid tips to dive into the world of e-marketing. Before you begin, there’s one more crucial part of the newsletter game I want to break down.
The email subject line.
You might have written the greatest, most informative e-newsletter of all time, but if the subject line is boring, people won’t open the email. That’s why your subject line is just as important as the content inside.
5 Worst E-Newsletter Subject Lines
Here are the five worst e-newsletter subject lines. A person sees each one and says “Meh, what’s next?” You may have seen these subject lines in your inbox or variations on them.
1. September 2014 Alumni Newsletter
2. Monthly Update to Members
3. Latest Blog Post
4. Message from Our Sponsor
5. Company Newsletter
Why are all five subject lines ineffective? They don’t capture the reader’s attention or make a person want to click for more. They are generic and in a crowded inbox too often ignored. Let’s revise those five subject lines with some sizzle.
1. 5 Reasons You Still Miss Life at College
2. Did You Hear the News?
3. Why Your Company Needs Google Reviews
4. The Best Day of the Year. Are You Coming?
5. We’re the Talk of the Town!
If people are on your email list for a while, they know you send them updates and announcements about the company or organization. So forget subject lines like “Company Newsletter.” OF COURSE it is.
Instead, follow these three principles:
1. Be fun and interesting
2. Be brief
3. Make the reader think “Oh, I GOTTA know what this is about.”
Find a compelling piece of info inside the newsletter and use it to tease the reader in the subject line. For instance, if your company landed a big story in the news, don’t make the subject line “Company Newsletter — September 24.” How would anyone know about the media mention? How would they know anything, really, about what’s inside the e-newsletter?
If the subject line is “We’re the Talk of the Town!” then it makes people curious and want to know more.
The best part?
With a creative headline, people will find your content more appealing and click through more often. That means a higher open rate and additional people who interact with your brand and message. Win Win.
Any more questions about e-newsletter subject lines? Leave a comment below!
If you’d like one-on-one help crafting subject lines, give me a call at 757-456-5212 or send me an email at danny@rubincommunications.com.
