Bettison Copywriting

Email copywriting with Integrity

email marketing

10 Real Life Subject Lines Companies are Using and Why They work

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Subject lines are crazy important for your email. If you don’t believe me, check out your inbox. It’s probably jam-packed with lots of emails vying for your attention.

How do you decide what you’re going to read?

Some of that decision is based on who the email is from, but part of it is also based on the subject line.

The subject line of an email is very much like the headline of an article. It’s your subscribers’ first point of contact with your email. It’s the thing that lures them in and gets them to read your message.

With that in mind, let’s look at famous subject lines and why they work. It will give you ideas for subject lines you can use in the future.

“Hey” – The Obama Campaign

“Hey” was the simple one-word subject line the Obama campaign used five times. They kept using it because it kept getting opened. Why would this subject line work so well?

It’s casual, like something a friend might write to you. The familiar tone piques your curiosity when you see that it’s from Barack Obama and not from a friend.

Casual, friendly language in the subject line shows familiarity and will make your subscribers pay more attention to your message.

One-word subject lines are also good because they pique curiosity.

Another subject line that the Obama campaign used was “Dinner?”

It’s another example of a one-word subject line that piques curiosity.

What one-word subject line could you use? Remember that your subject line needs to tie in somehow to the body of the email you’re sending.

“You’re missing out on points” – JetBlue

People hate the idea of missing out on something. Whenever you can imply that they are not getting something someone else is getting, they’ll open your email.

People are much more sensitive to losing something than gaining something. It’s called loss aversion. You can read more about it in Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.

“10 Bizarre money habits making millennials richer”- Refinery 29

This subject line works for so many reasons.

People love lists that will teach them something new.

The word “Bizarre” makes them curious. They’re expecting to see unusual financial advice they haven’t heard before.

The subject line also goes against what’s commonly reported in media about millennials not being able to find jobs and having way too much student loan debt.

Whenever you can have a subject line that runs contrary to commonly held beliefs it will get your readers’ attention.

“Pairs nicely with spreadsheets” – Warby Parker

I’m a giant nerd, so I love this subject line.

This subject line is perfect to make people wonder what on earth could possibly pair well with a spreadsheet.

If you want to look at a good example of e-commerce emails I suggest signing up for Warby Parker’s email list. They do a really good job with follow-up emails and keeping the subscriber engaged.

“Products the celebs are wearing” – Sephora

In this celebrity-obsessed culture, most people are interested in what famous people are doing. People are especially interested in what celebrities are wearing if they could just go to their local Sephora and get it themselves.

This taps into curiosity because it doesn’t tell you what the products are. It taps into the desire to look like a celebrity and the fear of missing out on the latest, greatest products that the rich and famous are using.

“25% off all your favorites” – Guess

This is a classic subject line for e-commerce sites that are having sales.

Just announcing to people that there is a sale will get them to open. According to a poll, 68% of all millennials said that they made purchases because of an email. That’s a heck of a lot of people.

When you do have sales make sure you market them through email.

“Stop wasting time doing mindless work” -Evernote

This subject line points to a common pain point that the Evernote customer has and promises that help them.

If you can tap into the pain that your ideal customer feels and help them solve it that is a great way to improve your open rates.

Remember though you always have to deliver on the promise. That promise can be delivered on in the email itself or in the link that you provide to your website.

“Get more kitchen space with these easy fixes” – IKEA

Here’s another example of helping your reader with a common problem. The bonus here is that the fixes are easy. People love it when you show them an easy solution to a problem that thought would be hard to solve.

“The price dropped for something in your cart” – Target

If you have an e-commerce business and you don’t have an abandoned cart sequence shame on you.

This type of email is brilliant because you already know the person was thinking about buying the item. Maybe they didn’t buy it because the price was too high. Telling them about a price drop is a way to get them to come back and make that purchase.

“Mary, check out these hand-picked looks” – Guess

Personalizing your subject lines works. That’s why people still do it.

Try adding your subscriber’s name to subject lines and giving them suggestions that seem personal. Here they achieve this with the use of “hand-picked.”

When coming up with subject line ideas remember that subject lines with these traits get more open rates…

  • casual tone
  • curiosity piquing
  • personalization
  • problem-solving
  • promising to teach something unusual, new, or different
  • tapping into loss aversion
  • tapping into fear of missing out

I hope this short list of subject lines companies are using gives you some ideas the next time you sit down to write an email for your business.

3 Easy Ways to Keep Your Subscribers Opening Your Emails No Matter What

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Email marketing is dead! Now everybody panic!

If I had a puppy for every time I heard this I’d have a whole lot of puppies and would be so overwhelmed by cuteness that I might spontaneously combust. Luckily, puppies don’t just appear in your life because people around you are making ridiculous statements. That’s what this whole email is dead thing is.

Rest assured that the person telling you that email is dead is selling you something to take its place. There’s no shortage of people hawking the latest greatest thing. What is it now? Bots? I don’t even know and I kind of don’t care.

Right now about 3 billion people have email accounts and that number is only going to continue to grow.

Most of those people check their email at least once a day. Let’s be real here, if they are anything like me they check their email at least 20 times a day.

No matter what marketing gurus say people are still going to use email. They’ve continued to use it even though other things have tried to take its place.

“I have an Instagram account now so I guess I’ll never check my email inbox again,” said no one ever.

Most recently I heard a podcast about how Apple introducing the ability for users to create temporary email addresses. That means they can create an email address to get your free offer and then somehow that email will self-destruct like something from Mission Impossible.

Now email marketers are in a panic, running around like the sky is falling. Hold your horses, Chicken Little. The world is not ending … yet.

No matter what kind of self-destructing email tech there in the world there is still room for email marketing.

Prospects like to hear from brands they like. The missing piece of the puzzle here is not how can I trick people into opening my email after they get my free offer. It’s how can I make people look forward to reading my emails.

In the world of self-destructing email addresses and bots, how can you keep people reading your emails? I’m glad you asked.

Here are three things you can do to make sure you never get the self-destructing email address on your list.

1 * Put up useful content online that is truly helpful. There are some who rag on free content and say that free ruins sales. I disagree. Most people need more specific guidance than what they can get from free content in order to make real progress.

When a prospect is serious about wanting to grow and get to the next level they will buy. There are freebie seekers in every niche, but those freebie seekers don’t negate the buyers.

2 * Write good emails. Write useful, entertaining emails that your subscribers can’t wait to open.

  • Include studies and interesting facts.
  • Don’t be spammy or overhype your services.
  • Always make an offer at the end.

When I say don’t be spammy or overhype I don’t mean, don’t sell. I think you should sell in every single email, but you don’t have to be sleazy to sell. In fact, selling in a way that is relaxed and not sleazy will get you a better result. If you need help writing emails, book a discovery call with me and we can talk about how I can help you with that.

3 * Be a real person. People are more likely to buy from someone they know, like, and trust. Be knowable, likable, and trustworthy.

For most of you reading this that means just being yourself. Don’t be afraid to let your personality out. Sure not everyone will like you, but the people who do resonate with what you have to say will really like you. If they like you they will want to read what you have to say.

Follow this simple advice and you’ll have a thriving profitable email list.

If you need help figuring out what to write for your list you can check out my free guide.

24 Reasons You Should Be Using Email Marketing in Your Business

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Email marketing is dead. That’s what certain online marketing gurus would have you think, but email keeps hanging on despite what all the gurus have say.

Just because you say it over and over again doesn’t make it true. Just because you have a fancy new technique using a snazzy new tool that you’ve been yelling at everyone about all over Facebook doesn’t make all the old tried and true techniques obsolete.

All that glitter ain’t gold, my friend. Email is still alive and kicking because it works. No matter how many times the gurus pronounce it dead, it just won’t lie down and die already.

Do you want to know why you should keep using email even though people keep saying it’s dead? Here are 24 big fat reasons …

You Own Your List

Your email list is yours. If you decide to start using another email service you can download your contacts and take your whole list somewhere else. You can’t do that on social media.

Total Control

You have the ultimate control over your list. You decide who sees certain messages. You decided when those messages go out. You decide it all.

Your Customers Already Use It

The average person checks their email at least once a day. If they are anything like me they check it 57 times a day (keepin’ it real here). Not everyone has a Facebook account or Instagram, but most people have email.

Your Customers Prefer Email

Customers would rather get promotions from you through email than social media and are more likely to buy from a promotional offer sent to them via email than one they see on social media.

Build Relationships

The inbox is a personal space. When you show up in a customer’s inbox with stories about your business, advice, sales, and whatever else you decide to send, you become part of your customer’s life. If you write your emails well they’ll look forward to hearing from you.

Build Authority

Nothing builds authority like showing up in someone’s inbox and giving them useful information.

Great ROI

Email is killing over social media when it comes to Return On Investment all day long. According to Campaign Monitor businesses can expect to earn $44 for every $1 spent on email marketing.

It’s Easy

Setting up is easy these days. There are so many tools to choose from.

It’s Cheap

Considering the ROI on email it’s not a big investment. Some services like Mailchimp and Mailerlite even allow you to host small lists for free.

Countless Opportunities to Sell

Every time you send out an email you, have an opportunity to sell something to your customer. You shouldn’t hard sell every time because you’ll wear your list out, but a soft offer at the bottom of every single email is a great opportunity.

Helps You Find More Customers

Use a lead magnet to attract more potential customers to your list.

Follow Up With Customers

Once someone buys you can use email to keep in touch. Give them hints about how to use what they bought from you. Make suggestions for other purchases. The possibilities are endless.

Keeps You Front of Mind

When a customer sees your name in their inbox on the regular, your name will be the first one they think of when they have a need.

Scalable

Want more people on your list? Using tools like advertising and content marketing make it easy to send more people into your funnel.

Reaches Customers Where They Are

Email is accessible on so many devices. Your customers can access it on their computers, phones, tablets. They can read your emails in the office, at home, in the car, and let’s be honest here, on the toilet.

Categorize Customers

Email programs make it easy to target specific customers these days. Use tools like segmentation and tagging to separate the people who buy from the people who don’t. You can even use it to track what people buy.

Earn More

Email allows you to make as many offers to your list as you want. Need some fast cash, have a sale and let your list know about it.

Trackable

Need to find out what’s working and what’s not? You should want to. See your open rates and clickthrough rates at a glance.

Makes It Easy To Learn More About Your Customers

Find out what your customers really want. Send them a survey.

Drive Traffic Anywhere

Use email to send traffic wherever you want. Promote a specific page on your website, send people to listen to a podcast, sent people to a special offer or affiliate link. The world is your oyster.

Testing, Testing, Testing

Do you want to know what works and what doesn’t? You should and email makes that possible.

Personalize It

Deepen your relationship with your customers by personalizing messages.

Automate It

Set up automated messages to introduce prospective customers to your products and services. Set up automation for offers. You can send customers through countless evergreen funnels to make your life that much easier.

It’s Fun

Email is a blast. There is so much you can still do with it, so get out there and start experimenting.

Need more help?

Not sure what to send to your email list? Sign up to get 30 Fabulous Email Ideas you can start sending to your list today.

Mix and match ideas for endless possibilities. You’ll never run out of ideas to send to your list again.