A couple of weeks back, I posted about writing emails that don’t get deleted. Full credit for the content went to Jill Konrath, sales guru extraordinaire.
She’s done it again, this time with a wonderful post on writing email subject lines that get people reading.
Again, her point is that an email typically gets 2.7 seconds of attention before readers hit the “delete” key. And who can blame them? The typical worker bee can get 50 missives a day, and executives must get pretty deluged. With that kind of onslaught, you’ll want to make sure that you’re not doing something to turn readers off from the get-go.
Here, according to Jill, is how to ensure that your message will get the old heave-ho:
- Be salesy — trumpeting “hot” and “free offer” will do it.
- Mention company news or that new product announcement — If you’re not solving a customer’s problem, who gives a rip?
- Use title caps — A short sentence is what you want here, not something that looks like a headline
Jill’s got some great suggestions that go a long way toward beating the odds that you’ll get deleted. The first is to shamelessly name-drop, as in “John Smith suggested I contact you.” Of course you’d only do that if John Smith really said it was ok, right? You can also use the subject line to ask a question your prospect will find relevant or offer ideas and information they care about. Or you can mention something that’s going on in their company.
In my opinion, this takes email selling off automatic pilot and requires that you know what your prospects want and need. It takes more work, but hey, if it gets you past that magic 2.7 seconds and into real engagement, it’s got to be worth it.
Leave a Comment