Compelling Subject Lines to Get People to Open Your Email

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Using the phrase “You are not alone” as the subject of your Email gets people’s attention like no other phrase. The reason that it draws so much attention is that it touches them on a personal level. It touches emotions.

Interestingly, if you use that phrase in the subject line, you can send just about any Email (of any length and on any subject) and people will still be interested enough to open it because of the subject line. “You are not alone” is a compelling phrase that touches people universally. By using that phrase, you are letting people know, without a doubt, that whatever they are feeling does not isolate them. There are other people who are going through exactly what they are going through. It gives people a sense of belonging. There are several ways to appeal to your readers emotionally with Email subjects. The right approach will make your Email extraordinarily effective. However, you need to make sure that whichever subject you use isn’t regarded as spam. There are ways to avoid it, such as the following:

Give a clear message to your reader about being on their side

No matter what you are trying to sell to other people and no matter what your branding is all about, it is critical that you make the reader understand clearly that you understand their issues and that they don’t have to go through it alone. If you can truly accomplish this, they will trust you and you will be someone whom they respect. You need to be consistent in your message and you need to make sure that they regard you as someone they can count on. The more you communicate with them in that fashion, the better your chances are of taking on that role permanently. Of course, you must understand that the subject line text is only the door opener for a (hopefully) long and fruitful relationship. Once you have been able to grab the readers’ attention, you need to drive the concept of WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) home in as powerful a way as possible. In other words, you need to make them understand without a doubt that you have the ability to solve their problems. It is not about you. It is about them. Once you have gotten to this point with the reader, your goal is to get them to reply to you so that a great deal of exciting interactivity can occur. If your readers are kind enough to respond to you, make sure that you keep the discussion going. That is how you are going to build the relationship together.

Identify the needs of your audience

When you convey to your readers that they are not the only people to experience what they are experiencing, you are appealing to their basic needs. If you expect to have a successful relationship with them, you need to give them what they want and need. You need to touch the core of who they are as people. Once that falls into place, everything will follow as it should. If you wish to discover what your readers really want and need, try to identify what makes you lose sleep. Exactly which situations cause you to have some emotional reaction? If you share the same professional needs as your readers, which in all likelihood you do, what eats at you will probably also be the same.

Negativity draws attention

If people read negative headlines or negative teaser paragraphs, they will pay attention and want to read more. Once that has occurred, you can address the situation and rectify it. By doing so, you have succeeded at gaining the trust of your readers. You come out as the hero in that situation. People really respond well when you are able to make their problems go away.

Conclusion

Using “You are not alone”  in the subject line of your Emails grabs your readers’ attention on a very basic, emotional level. Those four words (in a matter of a few seconds) makes them understand that whatever issues they are experiencing are shared with other people. By diluting the power of the issues, the solution to the problem seems much more attainable. Human beings need to feel like they matter and will respond very positively if you make them your top priority. The more appeal your subject has, the more people will want to be involved with you.

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Author

  • Carolyn Cohn

    Carolyn Cohn is the Co-Founder & Chief Creative Services of CompuKol Communications. Carolyn manages CompuKol’s creative and editorial department, which consists of writers and editors. Her weekly blogs are syndicated globally. She has decades of editorial experience in online editing, and editing books, journal articles, abstracts, and promotional and educational materials. Carolyn earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo.

11 Responses

  1. Ryan Biddulph says:

    Hi Carolyn,

    Touch your readers on a deeper level. Excellent headline. Speak directly to your readers. Help them realize that you have been there. Or you are with them. The idea is to build a strong connection through your subject line and carry the connection through the email.

    Keep the bond strong. Stay on topic. No deviating. Stick to your clear, concise message. Shorten some emails if need be; better to catch and keep your reader’s attention, then to lose their interest. Grab them emotionally, deliver your beneficial message and exit stage left.

    Thanks Carolyn!

    Ryan

  2. Stephanie Fischbach says:

    Although several of your points are valid and hit home, I can’t get past the suggestion you give the reader to utilize the subject line ” you are not alone.” I understand connecting with your reader and getting on the level with them, but I think it’s a little bit more tricky than that.
    Honestly, if I ever received an email in my inbox and the subject line was “You are not alone,” I would delete it immediately, based on that. Because it’s generic, played out and is extremely vague, it triggers my brain into interpreting it as SPAM before I even look at the return email address/organization.
    I definitely agree with you and some of the other commenters that relevancy is key for your subscribers. If the content is as relevant and valuable as you say it should be, then describing the content or summarizing it in the Subject line should be sufficient.

  3. Rod Perlmutter says:

    Stephanie Fischbach wrote, “If I ever received an email in my inbox and the subject line was ‘You are not alone,’ I would delete it immediately.” I agree with Stephanie. I would read that, think “Spam!” and delete, and I wouldn’t think twice about it.

  4. Mark Mendelson says:

    I am more in agreement with Stephanie in that, it can get the receiver’s attention, my experience has increasingly been that it is more likely to be SPAM or a scam — a trick of sorts. I may read it, but I am more likely to discard it if I cannot determine, after a 1-2 second scan, that it might be something valid to me.

    Your statements that, “Human beings need to feel like they matter and will respond very positively if you make them your top priority,” and “It is critical that you make the reader understand clearly that you understand their issues,” are absolutely correct.

    Thank you for an article that, for me, is a reminder. You write good articles, Carolyn. Keep ’em coming.

  5. Joe Langen says:

    I agree with the other responders who find the exact words “You are not alone” unappealing. However I think you are on the right track. I agree that people want their difficulties and challenges to be recognized and addressed with some fresh ideas. Rather than a general statement, perhaps it would be more enticing to suggest a particular difficulty people face and suggest that you have some ideas about dealing with it. Of course not all readers will be wrestling with the same topic at the same time. But after posting on enough topics with personal meaning to them, they will come to trust your comments and look forward to them. Thanks for your thought provoking ideas.

  6. Skip Reynolds says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    • Group: Business Consulting Buzz Group
    • Discussion: Compelling Subject Lines to Get People to Open Your Email

    Getting people to open emails is much like fishing. The best fishermen know: What type of fish they want to catch, what bait they like to eat and how to present it. The key is to be at the right place at the right time. Ocean fishermen “Chum” to attract fish. Fly fishermen repeatedly cast into a target area, and most of us hook up a worm, cast out and hope. Pro’s know the time, place, temperatures, colors, casting techniques, and depth to present their bait. So: Know your markets, know your target audience’s issues, present idea’s that attract buyers who will actually buy, and know when to present your message. A wise old fisherman once told me the key to catching fish is all in the way you hold your jaw. All kidding aside, some of this is luck, but mostly it is about getting your message to the right people at the right time. Fish where they are, not where they’re not.
    Posted by Skip Reynolds

  7. Jane Mackay says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    • Group: “Write It Down”-A Website for Writers
    • Discussion: Compelling Subject Lines to Get People to Open Your Email

    Carolyn, with all due respect, if I saw that subject line on an email from someone I didn’t know, I would mark it as spam without even opening it. I might even do that even if it were from someone I did know, because I would think that their email account might have been hacked by a spammer.
    Posted by Jane Mackay

  8. Paul Strunc says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    • Group: Medical Education Communications and Pharmaceutical Marketing
    • Discussion: Compelling Subject Lines to Get People to Open Your Email

    As long as the subject line is in correlation with the email you are fine, if it is only a grabber I personally dismiss the email and lose confidence in the sender
    Posted by Paul Strunc

  9. Raymond Richard says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    • Group: “Write It Down”-A Website for Writers
    • Discussion: Compelling Subject Lines to Get People to Open Your Email

    Carolyn, I agree with Jane. Email can be business or personal. IF the sender is a personal friend I might accept that subject line but from someone I don’t know it would be a personal subject on a business email and thus not accepted.
    Posted by Raymond Richard

  10. Brian Crook says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    • Group: “Write It Down”-A Website for Writers
    • Discussion: Compelling Subject Lines to Get People to Open Your Email

    To writers of marketing communication, the subject of “leads” is key. The writer does indeed want to “hook” the reader to get him/her to read the rest of the message. Books have been written on this subject.

    That said, “you are not alone” is a poor lead for the reasons stated above, among others. I would guess that only a small minority would open an email with that subject line.
    Posted by Brian Crook

  11. IVNS Raju says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    • Group: “Write It Down”-A Website for Writers
    • Discussion: Compelling Subject Lines to Get People to Open Your Email

    Subject lines are line psyches. Those with similar psyche would respond.
    But one subject like that evokes a natural human reaction is “I seek your help”
    Those who wish to explore every possibility to help others in whatever way they can, would certainly open that email. These are the human beings designed to be natural by the Divine force behind this Universe.
    Posted by IVNS Raju