Conrad Winter Copywriter

Learn to write email subject lines that readers can’t resist.

If you’re like me, you probably strain over what to put in the subject line of your e-blasts. You ask yourself:

• “What will compel people to open it and not delete it?”
• “How do I make sure my email passes safely through spam filters?”
• “Is there anything I can do to make sure people know it’s from me and not some freak in a dingy back room in Karachi?”

Your subject line, and your attribution line—you know, the “from” of your email—are worth straining over. Because if that adage “if they don’t read your headline, they won’t read your ad” is true for print (and it is) it is 100 times truer with subject lines.

In the case of subject lines, the listless, the over-hyped, or too-familiar end up being trashed before they even have a chance to become an email—or worse yet, they spur people to opt out or tag everything from you as junk.

Let’s not let that happen. Here are some tips I’ve learned from writing emails for the likes of Audible.com, CENTURY21, and the Thinking Creatively Conference.

• Keep it to 69 characters (including spaces)
• If you have to go over in characters (long subject lines display, but not as well) put the important stuff first.
• Don’t be redundant; put your company name in the “from” line and don’t repeat it in the subject line.
• Try packing a benefit to your recipient in the subject line
• Action verbs are best, e.g., learn, see or start.
• Rather than writing a general line about all the great stuff inside the email, highlight one exciting detail.

I could go on and on about subject lines, but I’m going to save something for next post. Stay tuned for part 2.

Subjectively yours – Conrad

How to write subject lines that draw readers in deeper. 

Hope you had a relaxing Memorial Day – and didn’t check your emails too much. Okay, maybe just the ones with the really great subject lines.

Speaking of which, here is the follow-up to Part I of my list of tips for writing subject lines that land in computers and smart phones with irresistible appeal, interrupting quiet walks with your tablet on the beach, luring BBQ-goers off to a quiet corner to read their iPhone, and providing welcome distraction to drivers gridlocked in holiday traffic (only when you’re at a complete stop, now.)

Take a look, and please let me know what you think.

• Focus on expressing a clear idea and don’t worry about writing a complete sentence.
• If your email is part of a series, make all the subject lines distinctly different. You don’t want anyone thinking you’re sending the same email you already sent.
• Feel free to tease; give just enough away to entice without giving away the story.
• Be honest. Make sure your email is related to the email content. No one likes being tricked.
• Avoid spammy words like free, save and money. If your email service is any good, it will flag the “dirty” words for you.

Lastly, take a chance and do something interesting. With the amount of email people get these days, you have to. And if you need help coming up with subject lines or writing of another kind, remember I’m here to help.