Sometimes Boring Subject Lines Work

photo by Tal Bright

I spend a lot of time obsessing about email subject lines. That's an easy thing to do when you're constantly working on email marketing campaigns.

The email subject line is so important. It's as big as a factor as the email marketing message, copywriting, offer and followup. It's the difference between a click and a delete.

You know that you should keep your subject line short and clear. Let's look at a few subject lines that have worked well for me:

• Orange Email Marketing Newsletter
• An Invitation from Orange Email Marketing.
• Upcoming Events at Orange Email Marketing

Those subject lines are kind of boring, huh? The thing is though, they worked. They were clear about what the subject of the email was. It was clear who sent them. They weren't vary sales-y.

Here's a few subject lines that didn't yield good results:

• Orange Email Marketing Holiday Sales Event
• Need More Advertising Value From Your Marketing Partner?
• Now Offering Orange Email Marketing Services

They didn't seem all that bad at the time. Results proved otherwise though. They were probably "too sales-y", too "special offer-y". Anything that appears to cross the line of the "hard sell" doesn't always work. People on your email list get a lot special offers in their inbox, it's hard to convince them to click yours.

It could also be a problem with segmentation. Did someone sign up for a newsletter list but then end up on your special offer list?

Wait, do you even have more then one list? If not you need to offer options for better targeting. Create a separate list for those special offers and you will see your click through rate increase, even with your sales-y subject lines when you know that what you list expects to see.

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