A short guide to best practices for hooking your prospects with the right email acquisition subject lines!
Writing eye-catching email subject lines – and therefore effective at getting customers to open them – is one of the best practices that marketers have mastered. Perhaps even a little too well… to the point where they often base their email acquisition strategy on these very precepts.
That's normal! The little reflexes of CRM quickly reappear when the line between the methods to be deployed to reach either of these two targets is too blurred. Yet addressing a customer and a prospect are not really comparable: what works well in CRM may not work at all with prospects.
Imagine trying to lure onlookers into a club with a few knowing winks… A guaranteed flop, if not a slap in the face!
The principle? Two rooms, two atmospheres… The pat on the back, the slightly silly joke and the good old-fashioned dedication (we're in the '80s) are for the regulars. When you're talking to strangers, you need to adapt your approach so as not to miss out on what could be a great event.
As a reminder, the same applies to email content, which needs to be sculpted according to your line of sight.
But let's get back to our prospects and make sure they push the door and get past your nightclub… In other words, how do you adapt the content of your subject lines to acquisition emailing to boost your open rate?
Emailing prospects vs emailing customers… sometimes the same battle!
So yes, it's true, even if we're not addressing the same target, there are still some rules we can't break. There are do's… and don'ts!
The trio of highly objectionable practices
Email subject lines that are too long
No matter who receives the email, the inbox is the same. If it's too long, the preview of your email subject will often be truncated. It all depends on the email provider, but on average, a maximum of 50 characters is required for the full subject line to be visible to the vast majority of Internet users. Of course, don't forget to give priority to keywords. And if you've got more to say, complete your message with a pre-header.
Spam words
As with CRM, the subject line of an acquisition email should banish words that could flag your message as spam. The list of spam words on the email providers' radar is long and fluctuating…
Capital letters, special characters and massive punctuation
Your email subject lines, whatever they may be, shouldn't resemble your (grand)mother's text messages. With all due respect, we all know that she overuses emojis, doubles or triples question marks and, when she gets carried away, switches to capital letters. So opt for sobriety to improve the deliverability of your messages. If you imitate Granny, your communication risks ending up as spam.
Play on emotions
Never forget that you're not the only one trying to attract onlookers to your dance floor. Your prospects' email inboxes are teeming with a wide variety of solicitations. To stand out from the crowd and entice them to open your email, you need to choose wording that appeals to their sensibilities and arouses a positive emotion. Here are four examples…
Urgency
You can set a deadline like “Outlet: only 24 hours left to take advantage”. This short deadline will encourage the prospect to open the email to avoid missing out on an opportunity that's within their reach. This is a version of “happy hour for half an hour”.
Opportunism
This is the typical “good deal”, highlighting your discount offer. Example: “Up to -60% on our best sellers”. The recipient feels privileged by the opportunity. You arouse interest and the desire to discover the bargains behind this invitation… and they can't resist opening your email.
Curiosity
Asking a question is always powerful. Keep it simple; subjects that start with “How…” are among the most effective. Example: “How can you save money on your electricity bill?” To find out, the prospect quickly opens the email.
Mystery
“Fiber at this price, you won't believe it…”. Or in front of the club: “Would you like to have a drink in the same club as a Hollywood star…?”. It promises something big and concrete, but leaves a taste of unfinished business. The prospect wants to know more.
A final tip common to both targets: tone and wording vary from sector to sector and advertiser to advertiser. To refine your email subject strategy and adapt it to your audience, you can opt for A/B testing. This will help boost your open rate.
How to reach your prospects with an effective email subject
As you can see, the atmosphere is quite different. You don't have your prospects yet, and you still have a lot of work to do to lure them into your fold. That's why the approach won't be the same as with your customers, with whom you already have established ties. Here's a short guide to best practices for hooking prospects with the right email subject lines.
Clarify the email subject line
To capture the attention of your prospects, your first priority is to make your subject line clear. On this important point, two mistakes should be avoided.
Wording too corporate
Many advertisers overuse subject lines that play the proximity card. Typical example: “Happy days are here!”. While the message may be clear in CRM, where the audience is familiar with your brand and offers, it will be a flop with prospects. Customers can associate this type of subject with an already identified appointment. Prospects, on the other hand, won't grasp the allusion or subtext at all. The subject of your email will evoke nothing. The result is a low open rate.
Presumption of notoriety
The other mistake is assuming that prospects necessarily know you. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Your brand may be completely unknown to them, and people are taught very early on not to respond to strangers, especially if the message isn't explicit enough.
That's all very well, but it doesn't say who you are or what products or services are included in this offer.
There's a slight difference: even if you're well known in your sector, your prospects don't always know what's included in your offer or collections.
No matter how famous you are, you must always help and encourage prospects to come or return to discover exactly what's behind your offer.
It's essential to remember that the subject of your email, combined with the sender name, must faithfully reflect the content of your email to boost your open rate.
Avoid personalizing your email subject lines
We keep telling you: two rooms, two atmospheres. On the CRM dance floor, customers like to be recognized. Personalization is therefore often favorable in terms of KPIs.
But it's a different story if third parties relay your campaigns. Firstly, because they don't always have the necessary data. But above all, because Internet users may have made a typo when registering. There's nothing worse than receiving an email with a truncated first name.
Trust the publishers
Some marketers like to define their own subject lines for acquisition email campaigns for two main reasons:
- The search for consistency with CRM campaigns
- The certainty that publishers will use a unique subject line validated by the brand
While this practice is well intentioned, it is unfortunately counterproductive for acquisition campaigns.
The spam flag threat
A single, widely distributed subject line multiplies the chances of being flagged as spam by ISPs. This is also true for CRM, and even more so if a single subject line is used for both targets. In both cases, your open rate will suffer.
To each his own
Publishers know their databases extremely well. They know what type of subject line works best and have no interest in sending campaigns that don't open. Trust the specialists.
A good compromise: the subject line list
If you're reluctant to give up control completely, you can propose a list of subject lines for your campaign. Suggest at least four or five options. This allows the publisher to vary the subject lines and select the one most likely to boost your KPIs.
Last but not least: be original
In acquisition emailing, distributed via partner publisher databases, it's essential to stand out through wording, especially during key commercial periods such as sales, private sales or Black Friday. Inboxes are heavily solicited, and the same applies to CRM.
Using these terms directly in heavily relayed acquisition campaigns risks drowning you in the mass or sending you straight to spam. This is the moment to demonstrate creativity and ingenuity.
What are your goals? Bypass these potential filters skillfully and capture your prospects' attention.
You're now an expert in email subject lines, and we can help you set up a campaign with high ROI potential. Just click here.
