Highlight the Topic and Offer in Email Subject Lines
To maximize view and click-thru rates, test multiple email subject-lines. The likely subject-line winner will include:
-
the topic within the first 15 characters (to fit typical "Blackberry" screens)
-
the "benefit" within the first 45 characters (to fit typical desktop email-browser windows)
Here are a few good examples:
111111111122222222223333333333444444
0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345
Re-Elect Wilson Bumper Sticker for Your Car
Jewish Petition for American Muslim Rights
Camping Tips to Prevent Forest Fires
In the first example, the topic is "Re-Elect Wilson" (concluded by character 14) and the benefit is "Bumper Sticker for Your Car" (concluded by character 42)
In the second example, the topic is "Jewish Petition" (concluded by character 14) and the benefit is "for American Muslim Rights" (concluded by character 41)
In the third example, the topic is "Camping Tips" (concluded by character 11) and the benefit is "to Prevent Forest Fires" (concluded by character 35)
Writing concisely takes practice and multiple revisions. Summarizing the topic and benefit into 45 characters will force you to get to the heart of the matter, and will likely improve the precision and persuasiveness of the entire email.
Unless you have a trusted relationship with your recipients (who would therefore open any email you send), avoid the temptation to use subject lines that are "clever." For instance, subject lines such as "Choose Life!" and "How can you let this go on?" and "2 million more deaths" are likely to be outperformed by, "Pro Life Judges: Voting List for November 8"
There are always exceptions, so keep testing. But, in general, specific headlines inspire more action than vague headlines.
