Email copywriting has become a pretty big thing lately with nearly all companies starting to move online, and it can actually be pretty lucrative.
However, if you don’t know how to write email headlines that get opened – you’re dead in the water. The way I see it, the email subject line is even MORE important than the headline you'd use for a salesletter or other piece of copy.
Why?
Because with email headlines, usually that's all they can see at first. If your headline sucks, that email isn’t going to get opened. With a headline in regular sales copy, at least they’ll have a chance to look at the pre-head, subhead, and deck copy to see if something sparks their attention.
With that said, let me give you 5 ways to write email headlines that get read:
- Be Original – I see emails that come to me ALL THE TIME that are pretty much duplicates of something else I’ve read. This is even more true during product launches when people are pushing other peoples products. And you guessed it - they don't get read! If you want people to open your emails, do something a little different.
- Get Crazy With It – Another thing that ALWAYS works is getting a little crazy with your email headline. Say something shocking in it, be completely bizarre, or even just showing a lot of personality works well too. People like to see things that are a bit “off the wall” and doing it in the subject of an email is a great way to do it
- Pretend Like The World’s Ending – You probably know that I hate being negative, but if you really need something to work, it works like a charm. In almost all cases, a negative subject will out-pull a positive subject. Make it seem like something horrible will happen if they don’t read the email and you’ll get incredibly high clickthrough rates.
- Be Unpredictable – I know many gurus (usually Internet Marketers not copywriters) who are worth millions, yet they write horrible emails. And it’s because they’re SO predictable. Instead of coming up with a unique headline promoting a new product they put something that doesn’t grab your attention and just says the entire message of the email within the email headline. The one and only purpose of your subject line or title is so people will think it's interesting and open the email...that's it!
- Give An Incomplete Thought – This is something you’ve probably never heard. Instead of telling them what they’re about to learn, say something like “At First I Thought She Was Crazy, But Then I Realized…”. See how that email headline would make you want to find out what I’m talking about?
If you simply stick to 1 of these 5 techniques for boosting your open rates with riveting email headlines that get read, you’ll have a HUGE leg up on most of the other email marketers out there.
After all, figuring out how to get that email opened and read is the first and most important step.
So take these guidelines and start putting them to use. Then check your email stats and watch your open rates go through the roof.
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