Author: Patrick Griffin

Patrick Griffin has been marketing online for 15 years. He's a serial entrepreneur and an avid email and content marketing enthusiast with a background in publishing and journalism, including a UK Press Award.

Subject Lines Don’t Need To Be Personalised

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Subject Lines

Sometimes people agonize over whether they should personalize their email subject lines.

I am not sure that adding the recipient’s name to the subject line generally adds very much value, if any at all.

Of course it is good to add the name to the main body of the email but do you really want to do so in the subject line as well?

The danger of adding a name so the subject line is that makes the email have too much of a marketing feel to it.

It can put the thought in the recipient’s mind: “I am going to get pitched here. I don’t want to know,” and that is is exactly the opposite effect you want it to have.

Remember that the only purpose of the subject line is to get your email opened in the first place, so spend your time in making it captivating and engaging instead.

But if you really want to personalize a subject line then go ahead and try it. Do some split testing and chart the results to see how your open rates are effected.

 

The Long And The Short Of Writing Emails

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Writing Emails

Generally when writing emails for your RocketResponder subscribers you will want to keep them short and to the point.

Give people small bite-sized chunks of information a piece at a time rather than the whole lot at once.

The advantage of this is that your entire message is more likely to be read and understood and you can send the information out as a series of emails on the same subject or theme.

People generally look forward to a series and will eagerly await the next installment when the subject matter is of interest to them.

So an email series of short emails is a great way of capturing people’s attention ahead of a product launch or building up to announcing a new product for example.

It is also good as a training or information series in its own right – remember the purpose of sending emails is more than just to gain sales.

Part of the purpose of sending out emails is to build up a rapport with your subscribes, establish yourself as the authority figure or expert and generally get them to like you.

So every now and again take the time to mix things up a bit and send out a longer email. Make it personal, about you.

You could share some of the things you like and dislike, talk about the highs and lows you have recently experienced or include some pictures of you on holiday or having fun.

Remember that you are more than just an expert in your given niche. You are also an individual and a human being so don’t be afraid to let people see the personal side of you, the real you.

Take time to talk about yourself and you will come across as a more rounded person and someone people will really want to get to know more.

Don’t overdo it though – if you are always talking about yourself then you will come across as self-centered and arrogant and you want to avoid that at all costs.

Learn From Others When Sending Email Newsletters

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Sending Email Newsletters

It might be that you are sending email newsletters to your list of subscribers.

If you do this, as already mentioned in a previous blog post, you must be certain that you have enough content to make this work.

There is absolutely no point in promising a monthly newsletter if you only have enough content for two months and then it all fizzles out.

So if you are starting a newsletter then you could start out by being ultra conservative.

Maybe start off with a three-monthly newsletter to begin with.

This would not eat into too much of your time and it would not give you a massive headache of having to find acres of content to fill it. (If you can’t find enough content for a three monthly newsletter, then you should not really be considering writing an email newsletter at all.)

If you are considering sending out your own newsletter then you might like to check out this resource – newsletterarchive.org – where you will find a huge archive of newsletters from a wide and varied group of organisations.

Even if you are not considering sending out your own newsletter it is certainly worth taking a look at the different styles of newsletters people are already sending out.

Basically you should take every chance you can get to see how other people communicate with their customers and subscribers.

 

Email subject lines – six more real life examples

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Subject line tips

Subject line tips: Continuing our look at real examples of email subject lines, we discuss a new batch of emails.

Remember it is the job of RocketResponder to get your emails delivered but it is your job to get them opened.

Use a good subject line and you will get your emails opened and read.

Here are six more real life subject lines:

  • Almost like having an ATM at home… – This is one that I wouldn’t open because the suggestion is that it is promoting a program where you don’t really have to do anything to get lots of cash. Look, earning a living requires time and effort. I can see why many people would open this email though so I would not be surprised if it didn’t get a decent open rate.
  • Famous program. – I can’t help thinking that absolutely no thought has gone into this subject line at all. If the subject line reads like a crossword clue than I am not going to waste my time trying to work out what it might mean. (On the other hand if you make your subject line deliberately look like a crossword clue then you will certainly get my attention.) “Famous program” just does not do it for me though I am afraid.
  • BRAIN ABUNDANCE presents BRAIN FUEL PLUS – Every word is in capitals except for one. Why? What is brain fuel plus? How would it be different to brain fuel?  What even is brain fuel anyway and who or what is brain abundance? A subject line which prompts you to ask questions is generally good. The trouble here is that I have no desire to know the answers to any of these questions.
  • Command Control Cash In… – Alliteration works. Using the same letter to start each word can capture the reader’s attention so well. I would have used a commas to separate the words (Command, Control, Cash In…) but that is just a minor point. Great subject line.
  • Dont Be Ordinary Be Awesome – Yay for being awesome. I would open this just to find out what is in the email. The subject line has sparked my curiosity enough to open and read it and that is all it ever has to do. Awesome.
  • Do NOT build an email list – I hate random capital letters in subject lines but I love this subject line. Why? Because the use of capitals for the word “NOT” is both deliberate and highly effective. It is not just a random capital word thrown in for effect. This is a subject line which would stop a lot of people in their tracks…including me. Already opened. Best of the bunch this month.

Look out for more subject lines next month.

Three Quick Email Tips Your Customers Will Love

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Quick Email Tips

We know that getting your emails opened is half the battle because just because someone has agreed to receive emails from you is no guarantee they will look at them. Here are some quick email tips your customers will love.

Once you get them opened you need to get them read and that means by providing content that your recipients will find interesting and useful.

By doing this you will find that people actually look forward to your emails and this, in turn, should mean that, over time, it gets easier to get regular customers to open your emails.

Here are three quick content tips which your customers will thank you for:

  • ask for help – most people love to be helpful and will happily do so if asked. Email is a great way of doing this and building up a two way flow of communication with your list. Examples might be you want to update your website, newsletter, blog, product line etc, so you want to know what your most valuable customers would like to see before you make any changes.
  • early bird offers – one of the huge benefits of email is that they are fast so you could encourage your customers to open your emails by making email-only offers available to them. So if you are having a new promotion launching on  your website you could give your a list a headstart by informing them about in advance of the general release.
  • bullet points – the traditional bullet point list looks exactly like this one – written as a vertical list. However as people increasingly read business emails on smartphones, where space is at a premium, one trick is to make your list of bullet points horizontal instead of vertical, so that it looks like this:

Main benefits of x: * super fast, * cost effective,  *looks fantastic

Do you have any email tips which work well for you? If so then feel free to leave your comments below.