Is Your Email Subject Line Honest?

email-marketing
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Your Email subject lines are critical when it comes to capturing the attention of your readers. In the world of right and wrong, when it comes to your Email subject lines, you should never be misleading or deceptive.

Doing the right thing

Human beings make ethical choices based on what they understand about right and wrong. However, when it comes to Email and whether you have the right to mislead your Email recipient regarding the Email’s topic as you choose, the answer is definitely that you don’t have the right. You should present your Email in the most open and honest way possible so that the recipient can make an informed choice about whether they want to read the Email to the end. It is just a chance that you will have to take.

Grabbing the recipient’s attention

Of course, it goes without saying that your Email subject line should be compelling, exciting and really capture the attention of your recipient. However, you need to write the subject line in such a way that the attention that you Email receives is obtained honestly. This is exactly where your creativity comes into play. You have the power to write truly grabbing Email subject lines that will entice your recipient to read on. You need to tap into your creativity and give it your all. In fact, if you want your recipient to open your Email, you have no choice but to intrigue the person. If you can accomplish this, you will be in control of the situation and you have a good chance that your recipient will become loyal to you and to your business.

What makes a compelling subject line?

Of course, it goes without saying that you need to present new, creative, compelling subject lines each and every time in order to keep your recipients interested and intrigued. It doesn’t matter who you are. No matter what, people don’t like boring. It is more than worthwhile that you reach down and come up with the most exciting subject lines that you can. It will all be worth the effort. There are a few tips that will help with your subject lines if you are struggling with them at the moment.

  • Use a casual tone: It is known that people will be inclined to open an Email with a subject line that affects them in some personal way. If the subject is person or the Email comes from a person they know, they will be interested enough to open it and read it.

  • Make sure that your “From” is effective: This goes along with the first bullet point. If the recipient knows the person (or is even acquainted with that person) who is sending the Email, they will open it. The building of loyalty will have already begun.

The difference between creative and deceptive

If you are trying to grab the attention of your recipient, inserting “FW” is not a good way to go. It creates a perception of the Email being so interesting that it was worth your forwarding it. However, it that Email was actually written by you and never forwarded to anyone before that point, you are not being honest. Roping the person in only to be disappointed just beyond the subject line because you are going to be trying to sell them something is really slimy and you shouldn’t do it. You are trying to build relationships, not destroy them. If you intentions are pure, you will be fine. However, you need to build your relationships the only way that they can be built: with a lot of hard work, care and consideration. One way to determine if you are on target with your subject line and your Email topic is if they connect to each other easily. If you read your subject line and you (if you can put yourself in the shoes of your recipient) are compelled to open the Email, you are doing the right thing.

Conclusion

Subject lines are critical to your business’s success. They are the vehicle that compels your recipient to read the rest of your Email and to react to you in some way (by having a desire to interact or to do whatever you ask in your call-to-action). You need to make sure that you come by the admiration and interaction with your recipient in an honest way. Otherwise, the relationship that you share with the other person will not be solid, enduring, and meaningful. Writing and publishing a deceptive subject line is unethical and can be illegal as well. It isn’t worth indulging in that sort of behavior. It may be considered spam and there are laws in the United States that protect people against spam.

[signoff][/signoff]

 

Author

  • Michael Cohn

    Michael Cohn is the founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol Communications. He has decades of experience in IT and web technologies. Michael founded CompuKol Communications to help small businesses and entrepreneurs increase their visibility and reputation. CompuKol consults, creates, and implements communication strategies for small businesses to monopolize their markets with a unique business voice, vision, and visibility. Mr. Cohn earned a Master’s degree in project management from George Washington University in Washington, DC; and a Master’s degree in computer science and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ.

1 Response

  1. Rajkumar Chaudhary (Raj) says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: Fans of Mashable
    Discussion: Is your email subject honest?

    honesty has no place in Advertisement, subject should be attractive.
    By Rajkumar Chaudhary (Raj)