Chapter 4:
Writing Compelling Email Headlines
Synopsis
Now that you’ve learnt how to build your list, let’s head on to the concepts of email marketing.
Headlines
The most important component of an email is your headline. If your headline fails to grab your reader’s attention within the first few seconds, the whole email is wasted – They won’t even open it!
So what are good headlines, exactly?
It has to ignite the emotions of curiosity and don’t seem like blatant pitching. You have to word it in a way that makes it seem interesting, in a way that would make someone want to open it.’
For example:
Subject: “This Hopeless Beggar Turned Into A Self Made Millionaire Within 6 Months!
A title like this creates curiosity – People would like to know how someone as disadvantaged – Like a beggar turned his life around. If even a beggar could do it, so could he/she!
Recently I came across another headline which caught my attention because it managed to include sexual vibes without coming off as spammy. Sex is a powerful emotion and strong motivator and often gets people (especially guys!) to look.
The title went something like this: “Subject: Don’t let your wife know you’ve seen this!”. As suggestive as it sounds, it worked in getting people to open it.
Try to play around with your words to find the right balance between curiosity generation and getting the message across.
Last but not least, it is highly important that your headline be relevant to the content of the email body, or else you’ll be essentially training your subscribers to treat your emails like rubbish!
