Here are the email subjects of a few representative messages in my inbox:
- Good Afternoon
- ASTD April 2007 Newsletter
- Contact Info
- Directions to 2007 Support Staff Conference
- An Experiment
- Writing
- 4 Steps to a Client-Attracting Web Presence
- Pet Sitting Rate Increase
- Your Crowne Plaza Hotel Reservation Confirmation
- If You Use WebI, Read This and Sign Up for Training
The vague ones (1, 3, 5, 6) give me no real idea what the message is about. I must open the message, and I won’t unless I have the time and interest to do so–especially if I do not know the writer.
The other subjects give me all the information I need to know how to handle the message (2, 4, 7-10). Even number 8, the bad news message about the pet sitter’s rate increase, is instantly clear about its purpose.
But 7 and 10 grab my attention. If I want to attract clients, I will open “4 Steps to a Client-Attracting Web Presence” (a message from marketer Steven Van Yoder) as soon as I can. The phrase “4 Steps” suggests I will get useful information to act on.
My favorite subject is number 10, “If You Use WebI, Read This and Sign Up for Training.” The email came from my friend Margaret, who sent it to me to share her success. She had labored over the message to 200 people at her company. Its purpose was to get people to sign up for a training program without phoning or emailing Margaret with questions.
Success! Within 75 minutes, 53 people had signed up for training, and only one person had stopped her in the hallway to ask a casual question about it.
Margaret grabbed the right people with her subject (users of WebI), and she told them what to do: Read and Sign Up.
Although it is efficient to tell people what to do in your subject, it is not always necessary. In some cases–for example, the message whose subject is “Directions to 2007 Support Staff Conference”–what readers should do is clear without telling them to do it.
Your subject can make a big difference in your reader’s responses. I still haven’t opened the emails whose subjects are “Good Afternoon” and “An Experiment.”
Lynn