Whether you’re offering a deal or spreading the news about your latest product, there are countless reasons to master the art of the promotional email. But while promotional emails offer a low-cost and efficient way to communicate with consumers, they can be tricky. Given the amount of emails many individuals receive each day – especially spam – what motivation do users have to open and read your message? The answer is little – unless you have a killer subject line.
Having a great subject line is key to increasing your click-through rate, or CTR. Click-through rates are used to assess email response, and are measured by the percentage of recipients who click on a link included in the email. Most promotional email marketing campaigns aimed at consumers typically have a click-through rate of about 2-12 percent. Behavior-based email campaigns (emails sent to recipients based on a behavior they showed, such as clicking on a product link or visiting a specific website) are often in the 15-50 percent CTR range.
Subject lines have a lot to accomplish in such a small space. Make them too short and readers may not have enough of an incentive to open the email – but lengthy lines are a turn off, too. So what can you do RIGHT? Here are some tips:
- Keep your subject line at 35 characters or less.
- Consider asking questions. Speak to the voice inside the consumer’s head: the one that is constantly asking questions and making decisions throughout the day. Prompting your email recipient to answer your question can be an effective way of prompting them to open that email.
- Unless it fits with your company’s overall brand and tone, avoid humor. It’s hard enough to be funny, let alone in 35 words or less.
- Avoid “spammy” behavior. That means steering clear of all-caps subject lines, unnecessary exclamation points and of course, those spam words: free, click, cheap, cash, now, etc.
- Stretching the truth won’t get you anywhere. If you entice your reader with an irresistible subject line, then fail to deliver on any promise or simply appear to have misled them, they won’t forget – and are unlikely to open your emails in the future.
There are a variety of ways to test the effectiveness of promotional email campaigns. But no matter what the results show, never underestimate the power of your subject lines to prevent recipients from clicking ‘DELETE.’
