Writing Email Subject Lines to Attract Qualified Sales Leads
The competition for qualified sales leads is fierce, and if you want your email marketing piece to get read, a key component is your subject line. Subconsciously, prospects aren’t looking for a reason to click on your email; they’re looking for a reason to delete it. In order to capture the attention of someone navigating a chaotic inbox, your subject line must be strong enough to elicit interest and express value. The first part of an ongoing conversation you’re trying to create with a qualified sales lead IS the subject line.
There are many tried and true methods for drafting an effective subject line – and of course we define effective as having a relatively high open rate. SalesStaff has a very mature email marketing process and so we’ve uncovered some very effective best practices around subject lines.
- Keep it short and sweet. Subject line real estate is valuable. Many email clients like Outlook have a pane where only a portion of the subject line is visible. Often for follow up emails, our experience shows that something like “Confirmation” or “Thank you” tend to work well. Keep in mind that if it’s a first time email, you may need to get a little more specific than just “Confirmation” – but you still want to maintain a shorter subject line.
- For initial emails or as part of an email marketing campaign, use the prospect’s name or company name in the subject. We’ve noticed that we have a full 110% better open rate when using this technique. We often draft email campaigns with the subject “[COMPANY NAME] Sales Leads” with wonderful success. Many email marketing platforms allow you to mail merge the company or first name field into the subject line.
- For those of you that prefer to be more specific with your subject lines, get hyper-specific and infer that the email contains some useful information. Instead of a subject line that reads “Weekly Sales Newsletter,” try “Interesting Article on How to Sell into Tough Markets.” Consequently, the use of the word “interesting” tends toward a better open rate, we’ve found.
- Test, test, retest, and test again. As marketers, you should be familiar with the concept of A/B testing. Send an email with two distinct subject lines to similar prospect samples, and see which performs better in terms of open rate. Keep a score sheet of subject lines and their open rates.
Your qualified sales leads have as chaotic an inbox as you do. You have to be on top of your game to get your email opened, much less clicked. Please share additional techniques you’ve uncovered that work for you and your organization.
