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2 . Catch the eye with your subject line . Not with the actual words – we ’ ll cover that in a moment - But with symbols , capitalization and so forth .
Check your inbox and you will likely notice a few fancy symbols and emoji . These might be check-marks , snowflakes , hearts , faces , etc . These are actually Unicode symbols , and they ’ re easier to install into your subject lines than you may think . Here ’ s a brief tutorial on how to do it …
http :// www . gen3media . com / how-to-insertsymbols-into-your-subject-line /
One note : Don ’ t go symbol crazy . Generally one per subject line is plenty , 2 is questionable and with 3 or more and you just look like spam .
About using capitals – If you use all-caps , you will stand out . But use this tactic sparingly since it ’ s tantamount to shouting . Best bet – use all-caps on your keyword only .
3 . Use specifics .
First , you need to be absolutely clear on what your goal is . Are you promoting something ? Are you giving helpful information ? Do you have a story to share ?
Let your customers know what they ’ re about to read . Being honest and upfront will get you opens . “ Coupon Inside , today only ” “ Free Report : New Killer Traffic Source ” “ Twitter ’ s Dark Secret : The Real Story ”
4 . Ask a question in the subject line .
This is a great way to raise curiosity and get the customer involved with your topic before they even open the email .
For example , for a Christmas email involving Santa Claus , you might ask , “ John , have you been good enough ?”
Or if you ’ re promoting a book on persuasion , you might ask , “ Who will you persuade with your new powers ?”
6 . Mail a series and let them know which day they ’ re on .
For example , maybe they joined your list to get a series on building more traffic . You could title each email with , “[ Day 1 ] - Traffic Builders Course ” This also makes it easy for them to go back and find the emails they missed .
7 . Optimize the preview text as well .
Remember that the first line of text shows up in most desktop email clients . This means the recipient sees not only the ‘ from ’ field and the subject line – they also see the first sentence .
The last thing you want is to have it say , “ To unsubscribe from our list ” or any other housing keeping type of content .
Instead , think of your first line as an extension of your subject line and keep it interesting , intriguing and highly relevant .
One last thing : Become a fanatic about testing . You hear it time and again ; test , test , test .
But are you doing it ? If you ’ re really serious about improving your open rates , testing is definitely the way to go .
5 . Whenever possible , personalize the subject line . Not just with names , but with other pertinent information as well . For example , “ John , getting the most out of your new
XJ524 Printer ”