Internet Marketing Digital_marketing_for_dummies | Page 291

Never round up your numbers up. Doing that makes you sound like a liar. If
you have only nine amazing ideas for holiday décor, say you have nine amazing ideas.
Saying that you have ten and then delivering only nine makes you look dishonest.
Keep your subject line short. The best subject lines have six to ten words, or 25
characters. Short subject lines are easy to read and view on a smartphone while still
piquing customer interest.
Use a second subject line. Most email providers have a second area of displayed
content on every email. In many email systems, this area is referred to as the
description, but if it’s left blank, it defaults to the first line of copy. Instead of accepting
the default, write a second, strong subject line and place it in the description section to
tell your customers more about your email’s content.
Include symbols in the subject line. Using a symbol in the subject line can increase
opens by as much as 15 percent. This symbol can be professional, such as a
copywriting symbol, or playful, like a snowman for a winter holiday promotion email.
We find loads of great symbols to use in subject lines at
http://emailstuff.org/glyph . The site offers cool things like a clock to symbolize a
sale that’s about to end. Tick-tock.
Press Play. Instead of including a link, embed a still image of a video with a Play
button superimposed on top. This technique can dramatically increase click-through
rates in email campaigns.
Ask customers for their thoughts. This strategy results in the highest click-through
rate of all campaign types we run, so we replicate it and get high click-through rates on
emails again and again. This strategy involves asking a question and listing four to five
answers, each with a link (see Figure 11-9). All the links go to the same place, where
customers can find answers to the questions.
Combine video and questions. Video consistently yields high click-through rates and
high customer engagement. Include a video and a “your thoughts” question in an email,
and have subscribers watch the video to get the answer.
Many marketers worry that they don’t have the charisma or budget to make
highly professional video. Don’t be afraid! Because email is about relationships, a
simple conversational video can show your personality and voice to your subscribers,
and allow you to connect with them in a new way.