One thing that seems to have taken the internet by storm recently is Clickbait, specifically in Email Subject lines. Notice the title of this blog? I’m sure you’d agree it’s a little bit over the top. Well, this is an example of what clickbait is like.

Clickbait: “A sensationalized subject line or title designed to entice people to open/click that has no direct correlation to the content”

With new companies establishing at a record pace of 80 an hour in the UK this year, many businesses are resorting to sneaky forms of marketing in order to keep up. Clickbait is one tactic they’re using.

While clickbait can increase the number of people opening your emails, the ‘openers’ are often surprised to learn that the content is quite different then what was suggested in the subject line. This causes them to stop reading through.

People who are tricked into opening an email often become frustrated and unsubscribe–or even worse, mark the email as spam! If you are using a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system, being marked as spam can really damage your reputation and may result in your account being deactivated.

The aim of most mass emails, which are sent out to a database, is to attract business and enlighten prospects about offerings. If you are drawing them in under false pretences, they won’t read the email or click through to any content, which means they don’t stand a chance of converting into any business.

Instead of falling down that never-ending path that so many others have taken, start to research the best ways to subject your emails. If you are taking the time to create an email that is both interesting and informative, it’s vital that you take the necessary time to formulate a subject line that summarizes the content and entices the reader to open the email.

There are things you need to consider when thinking about how you can style a subject line;

• Who are you targeting?
• What kind of tone are you taking?
• Have you recently been in touch?

Once you have considered all of those questions, you can then choose what kind of subject you wish to go with. Here are a few title types you may want to consider:

Benefit

The Benefit format is simply where you promise the reader some “thing” by the end of your email (and deliver it!). This is the regular “how to” material that’s been central to B2B marketing for decades. Some examples of how these can be written are: “How To Get Red Wine Out of a Tablecloth” OR “How To Retain More of What Your Read”.

Curiosity

With the Curiosity format you want to spark the reader’s interest by ‘giving’ them the answer to something they hadn’t thought possible. You often phrase it as a statement. Some examples may include: “If You Read Nothing Else About [Your Industry] — Read This” OR “My Favorite Ads from 2016”

Contrast

This format is when you use two contrasting ideas in one subject line to intrigue the reader. Examples may include: “How to Become a Success When You Have No Experience” OR “Create a Website From Scratch Without Lifting a Finger”.

Controversial 

This format is anything that goes against what people typically believe or are assured by. They are usually phrased as statements such as: “The Ugly Truth About Facebook Likes” OR “Content Is Dead”.

Having decided on the type of title you’re looking to try, and after having considered whether it takes into account your answers to the questions above, you are ready to tackle the subject line head on. Not only should you see an increase in your open rates, but the clicks will be genuine with a higher chance of clicking through to your website.

Once you have started to see an increase in click throughs, download out guide on “The Self-Managing Client Attraction Process” where we can talk you through how to deliver a stream of new business enquiries.