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| 7 Eye-Catching Email Subject Lines to Catapult Your Open Rates Posted: 23 Aug 2016 10:10 AM PDT  "OMG, that email subject line totally reached out and grabbed me!" Image source. Psst: This post was originally published in 2013, but we recently gave it a refresh during our two-week publishing hiatus. Since launching the Unbounce Marketing Blog, this post has become one of our top-performing posts of all time. We hope you enjoy the read. The first thing I do when I wake up is grab my phone and check my email. I go through and delete all the unimportant emails so that when I get into the office, a fresh inbox awaits. However, when I see a subject that catches my eye, I typically read that email right away. That’s the power of email. Social networks come and go, but email marketing has been and still is a great way to connect with, engage and convert your audience. But how do we cut through the noise and the huge amount of SPAM that hits your prospects’ inboxes every day? Let’s explore seven powerful email subject lines that you can use to better engage with your list. 1. Your AMAZING photosI used the subject line above in a cold recruitment email and received a 70% open rate along with a 25% conversion rate. Because it was a cold email, I made sure to tell the recipient where I came across their photos in the body of the email, followed by a quick introduction to the company. This subject line shows that flattery is a great way to get your recipient’s attention. However, you want to make sure that you are not baiting your recipients with this subject line and then trying to sell your services. I like to use flattery when I’m either recruiting someone or trying to interview an influential person for my podcast. Key lessons:
 Worried your subject line is less than stellar?Download our FREE Cheat Sheet to learn how to identify bad subject lines... and how to fix them. By entering your email you'll receive weekly Unbounce Blog updates and other resources to help you become a marketing genius. 2. Were we boring you? Were we boring you? Image source. This was a subject line used by Sperry Van Ness. At the time, they were receiving an average open rate of 30%, which is above industry standards. However, the company felt that it was mostly the same people who were opening the emails. So, in an attempt to clean their list, the company drafted an email with the subject line, “Were we boring you?” The opening paragraph included a message about how many of the subscribers were not opening the newsletter. Sperry Van Ness then asked subscribers if they wanted to stay on the list or if there was anything that the company could do to better communicate their message. The open rate skyrocketed to over 50% and they surprisingly did not receive as many unsubscribes as they originally thought. In fact, people actually apologized for not being more involved. Key lessons:
3. How I grew the KISSmetrics Blog from 0 to 350,000 readers a monthNeil Patel is a master of writing catchy blog headlines, and if you’re an email subscriber to his blog, the headlines also become the subject lines of his emails. In fact, email marketing is how he built his first business. In his blog post, he goes into great detail on how you can use email marketing to launch your first business. It’s a must read. The reason why I love this subject line is that it tells a hero’s journey. We all start out as someone looking to build an audience. We don’t have any readers, any listeners or any viewers. The subject line also implies that Neil will provide tactical action items that we can use to grow our respective audience. Key lessons:
4. App business kit (60.34% opt-in rate)I recently saw this subject line used by Trey Smith of GameAcademy promoting his free app business kit. Trey used this subject line as a follow-up email from the previous day. The 60.34% opt-in rate immediately caught my attention. Within the email, Trey explains that he A/B tested five different landing pages and that the one included in the email converted at a whooping rate of 60.34%. Makes you want to click on the landing page doesn’t it? He also goes on to state that it’s one of the highest conversions he’s ever seen. Lastly, he talks a bit more about the free app business kit and ends with a call to action to download the kit (which I did from the first email he sent). This is a great subject line to use when you’re following up on those who haven’t registered for your webinar, downloaded an ebook or signed up for a course. You don’t necessarily need to be A/B testing your pages. You can also share the amazing results you’ve seen from the previous email. Key lessons:
5. Pat’s super secret way to find content to write aboutPat Flynn of SmartPassiveIncome uses the above subject line in his first auto-responder email, and he provides AMAZING content within this email. Pat knows that to build a loyal audience you have to give them your best stuff at the very start on the relationship. And since his audience is primarily comprised of bloggers and online marketers, he understands that at times we all go through dry spells of coming up with great content to write about. That is why Pat shares his super secret tip a day after you sign up for his email. He knows once you read this content that he has your attention for the full span of the auto-responder series. Key lessons:
6. Would you like to unsubscribe?I know what you’re thinking, the money is in the email list! Why in the world would I ask anyone to unsubscribe? Well it’s simple. We want people who want to hear from us. We often get email addresses from lead generation sources such as conferences and webinars. And while these leads may have been interested in the initial offering, they may not be interested in hearing from us ever again. What we’ve found is that these people will most likely unsubscribe the next time you send any type of email, so we make it easy for them by sending an email dedicated to unsubscribing. By doing this, we scrub our list from those who will likely never engage with us and also earn the trust of those who open the email and didn’t unsubscribe. As an example, think of Jiro Ono, an 85-year-old sushi master and owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a Michelin three-star restaurant. He is also famously featured in the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. He attracts sushi lovers from all around the world who call months in advance and pay top dollar for a coveted seat at his 10-seat restaurant. However, there’s a twist. Customers must eat whatever Jiro is serving that day and are not allowed to add anything to the sushi, which means no soy sauce and no wasabi. He treats sushi as an art and spends hours and hours crafting the perfect piece. While he could easily expand his space and triple his revenues, he wants to make sure he attracts the right customers, so if you’re looking for a bento box Sukiyabashi Jiro is probably not the right place for you. Key lessons:
7. Steve, where are you?I used the subject line above to send a final reminder email for a webinar. It’s the very last email in a sequence of four emails I send promoting a webinar. With this email I was able to achieve a 43% open rate and a 15% click-through rate. To give you a little perspective, the industry averages are 24% and 4% respectively (according to Mailchimp). This subject line uses the psychological trigger (or internet slang) called FOMO (fear of missing out). It’s the feeling that one gets when you stray away from your normal social routine. FOMO is emblematic of the social age, made popular by sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. When we scroll through photos and status updates, the worry that tugs at our minds is set off by the fear of regret, according to Dan Ariely, author of “Predictably Irrational” and a professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University. He says we become afraid that we’ve made the wrong decision about how to spend our time. While the subject line will gain your recipient’s attention, you must make sure your content is also worth the attention. Key lessons:
Even with the proliferation of social networks, email marketing is still a powerful tool. The problem is crafting the right subject line to cut through the noise and get your readers’ attention. Use the subject lines above as a template or as an inspiration to craft your own. What successful subject lines have you used in the past? Of the list above, which one is your favorite and why? Share your comments below. |
| Producer’s Pick: 5 Call to Action Podcast Episodes to Put in Your Queue Posted: 23 Aug 2016 12:00 AM PDT  Our five fav episodes of the Call to Action podcast — so you don’t have to sort through ’em all. Image via Shutterstock. Hey everyone! I'm Stephanie Saretsky, Unbounce's Multimedia Producer. I'm also the host of the Call to Action podcast. It's our weekly marketing podcast that has been running for just over a year and a half, and has featured some of the brightest minds in the marketing field. If you're new to the show and want to start listening but aren't sure where to start, then I've got you covered. And if you're a long-time listener looking for a refresh, well, I've also got you covered. These are my favorite episodes that we've done over the last year in a half. I think you’ll like them too. They strike a really good balance of educational and entertaining. Let's walk through each episode. 1. Retargeting, As Explained by Nerf Guns
We discuss how to retarget without weirding out prospective customers, and how an IRS company increased ROI 20 times over with retargeting. Plus, listen through to the end of the episode for a wonderful Beyonce/Taylor Swift/Aaliyah mix-up. In a PPC episode? Yep! 2. Ginny Soskey on HubSpot's Epic Blog Publishing Experiment
I really like this episode not only because Ginny is incredibly smart and a real pleasure to interview, but also because it's chock full of interesting analysis and discoveries they made when they decided to tackle the age-old question: publish more often or publish better content? Content marketers can learn a lot from their experience (heck, we just did our own two-week publishing experiment!) 3. Lessons Learned from Year 1 of the Call to Action Podcast
I come from a radio background, so I find chatting like this super engaging because its conversational nature allows for more improvisation. Scripted is good, but sometimes a friendly chat to switch things up goes a long way! Plus, we give you so many podcast tips and secrets, like the struggles we've had with reporting, and how a launch actually works. It was a lot of fun to look back on the podcast's history and see how far we'd come. 4. Why Dungeons & Dragons Can Make You a Better Marketer
This was a really fun episode to produce, as Ian gave listeners an extremely novel way of looking at the marketing funnel. I don't know how many of you have likened your jobs to playing Dungeons & Dragons, but it makes for a pretty powerful comparison. Along with his explanation for why marketers are not storytellers but world builders, Ian also gives you tips on how to get your friends to play D&D with you. So many things to learn! 5. The No-Shortcut Approach to Building a Credible Content Marketing Strategy
Jay really gets to the bottom of why you shouldn't cut corners in your marketing, and shares a really interesting anecdote about how one of his posts went viral — which may sound like every marketer's dream, but he had mixed feelings about it. What about you?So there are five episodes of the Call to Action podcast to get you started. Those are my favorites, but what are yours? Let us know in the comments. Also, let us know what you'd like to hear about next on the show.  |
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