Those wonderful, carefully written marketing emails you send out to small businesses – how often do business owners open them? Is it a large percentage of the time?
If not, don’t worry.
In fact, few businesses have very impressive “open rates” (click here for average rates by industry). If you’re like most businesses, you have plenty of room to improve. Well, we’re here to help! The tips below will help you craft more effective subject lines that should quickly boost the returns you see from email marketing.
Please note that it may be difficult to incorporate each tip into a single subject, given that character display limits can be restrictive. Instead, experiment with each strategy and see which produces the best results for your business.
Spark a mystery
So long as you’re not making a ridiculous promise, or one that has come to be associated with a scam, there’s nothing wrong with inspiring a little bit of curiosity with subject lines like:
• How did ABC Co. cut their cooling costs by 48%?
• You’ll never use a car again.
• Know anyone who wants free inventory?
Some may sound corny, but you get the idea. Spark a mystery and a business owner might take a peek to see what you’re on about. Keep in mind, however, that they’ll probably be impatient and skeptical, so you should be quick to deliver in the body of the email.
State a benefit
Sometimes we get so caught up in our own sales pitch that we forget to focus on the customer. Tell business owners what you’re going to do for them, up front, and they’ll have a reason to read more.
Also, the benefit should be specific. For example, claiming that you’ll help someone “make more money” is probably too general. Instead, say that you’ll, “Reduce import taxes by 30%,” or something similar, to make the benefit tangible.
Be direct
We love our own clever writing. But the problem is, email recipients rarely respond to it because it’s too ambiguous. Don’t focus on wordplay and miss the point of your offer. If you’re having a sale on printed posters for businesses, a solid subject line is probably something like, “20% off posters for your business!” as opposed to “Post no bills (unless you get them cheaply from us)!”
Ugh.
Personalize the message
If your business sells equipment to pool cleaning companies, it may be good to use the phrase “pool cleaners” in your headline, or even something like, “Illinois pool cleaners,” although that’s borderline cheesy (because it’s a transparent attempt to personalize without actually taking much effort to do so). If you can find a way to call out your audience in the message, however, go for it.
Set a deadline
“20% off - sale ends Friday!” is a good subject line to set a timer and boost the chances that someone will check out your offer. They know it won’t last, so it adds a reason to read your message.
Messages with no deadline can wait, right? And wait. And wait. And then get deleted.
And you don’t want that.
Set a deadline, and your message stands a better chance of being opened than one without it. That’s what boosting open rates is all about!
Also be sure to check out Bizness CRM — which makes selling to small businesses easy!
