This past week was Thanksgiving weekend and in addition to enjoying the time with friends and family I stole a few minutes away to keep an eye on email campaigns and noticed an error that is sure to suppress your open rates.
Here’s what I saw:
First. Some of you may have noticed this. These three messages ended up in my junk folder. Now that’s not the issue here. I’m interested in something else. I do wonder though if Crate and Barrel knows some portion of their messages get filtered straight to junk.
I know I could whitelist the From address but I like to see where emails go unfiltered.
Anyway, notice if you will the subject line. They all look ok and demonstrate current trends in headlines and subject lines. Each one is designed to get me in the email.
But here’s the disconnect.
The role of the subject line is to get the right reader into the email. Don’t forget many people will view the email using a preview pane. (like in the image above)
The preview pane shows me the first sentence or two from the email.
Make your first sentence count!
The most effective emails are ones where the first line in the email body copy is fully in synch with the subject line.
In this case you see the copy is virtually gibberish. When you introduce the technical concept of how to view the email right at the moment when your brain is trying to process a marketing message you’ve killed the mood.
It’s like when you are watching TV and when a commercial comes on, I immediately ask: “Can you hear this ok? Is the volume right? You can click on the volume up button to fix it” You suddenly aren’t dealing with the advertising.
The center of your brain, where good marketing messages are supposed to grab you, (by the emotions) are getting interference from email marketing “best practices”.
They are certainly best practices from the people who built the software you use to send messages but they are KILLING your open rates.
Here’s why.
When your subject line does it’s job and gets your readers attention, the next step is to seal the deal and get the reader to go into the email. The first sentence in the message MUST support that goal. It has to help pursuade the reader to carry on to the message.
Do this instead.
Get rid of any intro message that is generated by your software provider that doesn’t support your marketing. Then make sure your first viewable sentence is part of your marketing message.
Your email campaign will thank you!