The Fed’s rate cut yesterday (September 18) gave us an interesting illustration of how you can play with fear.
Here’s a subtle example.
It doesn’t indicate something bad is going to happen, but it makes you wonder what you don’t know about Jay Powell’s looming decision.
Here’s a more in-your-face angle:
For the reader who was certain the rate cut would boost his portfolio, this email may be a bit of a surprise. You have to read it to find out what’s coming your way.
Now, it’s time to talk about…
The Lie: You can educate prospects into buying.
This is a sticky one.
Because education is a good thing.
We want to have well-informed audience. And the rising tide of financial literacy/intelligence lifts all boats (especially in underserved segments of the population).
But as you’ve probably heard many times before, humans make decisions emotionally.
You’ve seen it happen countless times, right in your face. You explain a product, service or even just an idea to someone… give them an airtight logical argument for why they should move forward…
And they choose a less beneficial option. Or they decide not to do anything at all, even though their situation is likely to get worse with each passing day.
The issue isn’t education. It’s motivation.
So as uncomfortable as it may sound to some, it’s your job to help your potential clients get out of their own way and make the decision that’s best for them.
Your email subject lines can be the tip of the spear.
Appeal to motivational emotions. Grab your subscriber’s attention and trigger a motivated state by speaking to their:
fears and frustrations
pains and problems
dreams and desires.
Not just new information, lessons and strategies.
Again, I’m not telling you to avoid education. Rather, I’m telling you to use education as a motivational tool.
This may be a big shift in your approach, but it’s worth doing.
Truth #1 is that repetition kills readership. If subscribers think they know what you’re going to say, they won’t open your email.
You can avoid that by using various different angles and appeals in your subject lines. Highlighting relevant benefits is great, but it can get repetitive.
I know this is an uncomfortable truth for some. We want to keep things positive. To educate and empower.
But there are some legitimately worrisome realities out there. You know it and so does your reader. It’s a good idea to talk about those things.
Now, I’m not telling you to try scaring your readers pants off.
I’m encouraging you to tap into the fear and/or anxiety your subscriber is likely already feeling.
Here’s an example of creating a little fear without paralyzing the reader:
Firstly, there are few things that get our attention like fear. The human brain dedicates a significant portion of its energy to keeping us safe.
Our senses are fine-tuned to detect and respond to danger.
Secondly, humans hate losing… anything. Behaviorial studies show we’re twice as likely to take action to prevent a loss than to secure an equivalent gain (when the stakes are high enough).
That means fear gives you leverage when it comes to moving people to make a decision.
Don’t leave the reader in a state of fear, though.
Use fear to win attention and focus his mind, then shift into the solution he can take to minimize or eliminate the issue.
Is this a good a subject line for a financial professional or educator?
Why or why not?
I’d say in most cases, it’s NOT a good one, and not because of what your compliance officer might say.
Here’s why.
Listen, I adore my wife. Marrying her was the smartest — and luckiest — thing I’ve ever done.
But when I read that subject line, my instant reaction is “OF COURSE she could.”
No one gets your blood pumping more (in good ways and bad) than the person you love most. So this idea isn’t as shocking as it seems at first glance.
The curiosity factor is weak, too.
A little specificity about how or why s/he’s going to make your heart explode could have gone a long way. For example:
Your spouse’s money habits may cause a heart attack
When you spouse buys THESE, heart attack risk goes up
Those aren’t better, even though they’re too long. But they’re still not great.
What would make it a great subject line? Maybe something like this:
3 money habits that can (literally) kill you
“The heart attack was your wife’s fault”
Money move deadlier than clogged arteries?
It’s aggressive, but the subject line would be even stronger if you implied you could be the one giving your spouse a heart attack…
That said, there are 2 things that I like about the original subject line…
1) If you’re sending the email to an audience that’s nervous about their heart health, they’re more likely to open and read because they want to know about anything that can stop them from having any issues.
2) It’s likely different than any other subject lines you’ve been sending. Predictability is not your friend in the inbox, so there’s good chance a subject line like this will spark some renewed attention from your subscribers.
We’ll going to talk more about email subject lines for financial service pros, educators and coaches in the next few posts.
If you’re even a little nervous that your subscribers yawn when they get your messages, you’re going to like what we’re talking about today.
If you’re confident your emails are interesting and you’d like to crank up your must-read rating to an even higher level, this will be good for you, too.
I’m going to show you one of the best emails I’ve ever written.
It’s from a few years back, but you can’t help but learn something from this beauty.
And if you’re writing financial copy, there’s no reason you couldn’t use something like this right now.
Here we go.
(Eeesh! I just spotted a typo. Hilarious.)
Quickly, there are 3 main ideas you can take from this:
1. This email is essentially one big pile of PROOF.
Four high-caliber economic experts are all saying the same thing at the same time.
A large percentage of emails make claims and just expect readers to believe them.
Another sizeable percentage of emails make claims and explain them… but don’t offer actual proof.
Now, proof doesn’t automatically make copy interesting.
But overwhelming proof creates a forceful argument that’s hard to ignore (even if it’s unpleasant).
2. There’s a hint of conspiracy at play.
If all the former Fed chairs are talking about recession, why is the current chairman sweeping it under the rug?
And why is no one else talking about this? And why isn’t the current Fed chair Bazooka Jay Powell addressing it?
When your emails evoke meaningful questions in your reader’s mind, you give him reason to keep reading, clicking, and even buying.
And when you regularly create that experience for readers, they give you endless opportunities to sell them.
By the way, it’s worth pointing out that ANYONE could have written this email. The quotes are in the public record. Zero claims are made about the company sending the email.
So when people ask, “how do I sell my services when I don’t have much or any experience.” This is a decent place you can start.
3. It oozes urgency.
The danger this email talks about is just around the corner. You can’t really afford to think about this later. It demands immediate action.
Investors don’t want to get crushed, so they’ll pay attention and consider taking the action recommended.
Your emails are most effective when you address an urgent opportunity or danger. If your reader can push off a decision until later, he will.
You can’t always control that. Still, I encourage you to make every effort to add urgency to the ideas you share in your emails.
During my guest appearance on The Financial Rebel Show, this email came up:
Of course…
No one knows how brilliant and urgent your copy is until they open the email.
In my book Subject Line Science, I share 11 “made you look” secrets and dozens of examples to help you entice more subscribers to open you emails – and open in the right frame of mind to take action.
Worth checking out if you’d like to write hard-to-ignore emails.
(The “made you look” secrets also work for social media, video hooks and other places you need to grab attention.)
Subject Line Science: 11 “Made You Look” Secretes to Get Emails Opened and Read.
Seems like everyone’s been asking for this.
It’s a quick read, but it dives deep into my process for creating impossible-to-ignore subject lines.
When you devour the lessons in this book, you (or your marketing team) will have the tools to write must-open subject lines that win attention, make subscribers excited to read and open the door for big sales.
You’ll also get some of the AI prompts I’m playing around with to give you even more fresh subject line options.
One of the 11 “made you look” secrets revealed in the book is what I call the “Tootsie Roll center of persuasion.” Here’s an example:
You’ll get a whole lot more insight about this in the book.
Subject Line Science will be officially released on November 17.
But when you preorder the book now for just $9.99, you’ll also get access to 3 exclusive bonuses for free:
The audiobook (also on November 17)
104 Steal these Subject Lines templates
Big Ideas for Unforgettable Emails video training
If you take action, this information can transform your email marketing results AND your business as a whole.
A smart entrepreneur asked me a question you might be wondering about right now:
“What are some subject lines to use for my Black Friday emails?”
I had some ideas and examples to share. I thought I’d share them with you.
(What can I say? I’m thoughtful like that.)
Depending on your offer, here are a few ways you can approach your Black Friday subject lines (that’s plural because I hope you’re sending multiple emails):
1) Only 3 hours left for [offer]
Lead with strong urgency. A screaming deadline is a great motivator.
I usually prefer more intrigue in a subject line, but for Black Friday/Cyber Monday, people are actively looking to spend money. So I have no reservations.
Don’t offer a discount on a product/service — offer a discount on that transformation.
The distinction is huge, even for e-commerce store owners.
Example:
Oh So Silky Smooth Hair: 40% Off thru Friday
“Goat Herder to Royalty” Blueprint: special discount
#1 Secret for Meeting Good, Good Clean Girls (and save 50%)
3) Lead with guarantee
If you’re feeling enthusiastic, maybe you come up with a unique Black Friday guarantee. If not, you can use your regular risk reversal as a unique way to grab attention for your offer.
Example:
Find Love in 40 Days, Guaranteed (ends at midnight)
30-Days Risk Free: Mop Stick Self-Defense Mastery
Special Guarantee: 200% Money-Back until 11/24
4) Specific amount dollar savings
It’s easy to forget this one.
The truth is, most people can’t instantly do percentages in their heads. And they’re probably not pulling out calculators.
Make it plain for them, especially if your discount is less than 50%.
Example:
$10 off Cleo’s Delicious Pigs in a Blanket
Save $400 on tickets to Zamunda
5) Testimonial subject line and email body copy
If you can find a one-liner from a customer success story or review, you can probably make a strong subject line.
Then use that testimonial to tell a story demonstrating the value of your Black Friday offer. Let your buyers do the bragging for you.
I recommend using quotation marks catch the reader’s eye and signify there’s a story inside.
Example:
“To be loved… Oh, what a feeling!”
“That’s when the BIG bucks start rolling in.”
Success Story: “My son works!”
6) Announce video demonstration plus special offer
Or they’re not clear on exactly what they’re getting.
Can you answer those questions and erase those doubts with a video demonstration.
Example:
[Video] Finding Queen’s Common Parts – plus a special offer
LIVE: Marrying an African Prince (and a limited-time discount)
— — —
I know, that was a lot.
Hopefully there’s something helpful in there.
Again, you should be sending several emails, so you can try a few different angles.
If you have time, I encourage you to A/B test, so you can try 2 version for each email touch. Send them to 20 or 25% of your list and let the winner go out to everyone else.
Interested in seeing my best, most swipeable subject lines? Check out my Subject Line of the Day videos. Here’s the latest addition:
What’s a subject line that works to get people to sign up for a webinar?
What are the best subject lines to sell high-ticket coaching?
What’s a good subject line I can use to invite people to my nephew’s bar mitzvah?
There’s rarely one clear-cut winner that works in every situation, but I can usually share a handful of suggestions based on my experience.
But since entrepreneurs and other copywriters are constantly asking me that question…
I came up with an easy way to share some of the best subject lines I’ve written… and some of the best I’ve read from other top marketers.
Sharing My Top “Subject Line of the Day” Candidates
… as Youtube Shorts.
I’ve committed to uploading a video every day for the next 100 days… so this is going to become a valuable resource over time.
This has been the most popular one so far:
I want to point out another one I think deserves special attention.
Everyone’s heard of “fearof missing out,” right? This subject line example flips FOMO on its head and addresses the lesser-known “fear of holding on too long.”
Check it out:
Get a bunch of email marketing ideas, inspiration and insights in a flurry of 1-minute videos.
If you take my suggestions, you’ll have more than 3 months worth of subject lines — and that’s if you email your list daily. If you’re mailing weekly, that’s 2 YEARS of subject line templates.
Email less than once a week… shame on you.
I encourage you to subscribe to my channel to decrease the chance that you’ll miss any of these copywriting nuggets.
Full disclosure: I may not share any good bar mitzvah subject lines in the first 100 days.
This will also be a great opportunity for you to see every shirt I have in my wardrobe. You know, if you’re into that sort of thing.
**Update: Here are all the subject lines in swipeable format**
I decided to do 101 videos — and a few of them highlighted 2 or 3 subject lines.
Several people have shown me their open rates shooting through the roof…
… and one brother told me he’s ADDICTED now.
But I know it takes a long time to watch 101 videos — and it’s impossible to quickly scan through and see if one fits for the email you’re sending out today.
So I’ma hook y’all up…
Here are all 101 subject lines from my Subject Line of the Day series:
A tour of my $200k office
Is THIS the missing piece of your [BLANK]
The Rise & Fall of [BLANK]
Since you didn’t watch the video
Steal these Subject Lines
[Name], here’s your private invitation
5.99… SERIOUSLY, [NAME]
Real estate ISN’T the best investment right now
Have you given up on this, [NAME]
Getting revenge in marriage
Your advisor would NEVER show you this chart
3,000-year old tonic melts 33 lbs in 28 days
A six-figure shortcut for rookies
The “more sex” shortcut for horny husbands
I made a grown man cry on Christmas Eve
… and they left the cocaine
Are you on Facebook, [NAME]?
Know, Like & Trust is a LIE
The $7 Biden Survival Blueprint
3 Email Secrets from My $17M Year
My #1 Rule: Don’t Buy Options
[NAME], did you mean to miss this?
Homeless folks need Netflix, too
Another Pawnshop Christmas
The Truth About [Well-Known Person]
The Stupidity of Going Vegan
Copy-Paste JPMorgan’s 99.52% Winning Trades
Cooking video goes BAD
It took lots of wine to make this happen
Grant Cardone is an idiot
This is why your cold emails get ignored
He earns $500 a Day from YouTube
don’t EVER do this
The most dangerous idea in finance right now
A Nice Guy’s Guide to Manipulating Others
Breaking: 4 shampoo brands cause Alzheimer’s
Thank God for Russian hackers
10X More Valuable Than the Internet?
Final hours to save 27%
Get Drunk and Make 4X Your Money
Reverse Engineering a ??? Real Estate Biz
If I could only buy one book this year
Top 10 Stocks for 2022
Do Not Take Vitamin D (unless…)
The Almost-Perfect Sales Call Script
10 Reasons to Stop Picking Stocks
Oops! (I can’t believe I let this happen)
Urgent: Don’t file your taxes just yet
5 Reasons Your Man Is Tired of You
Email Copy Secrets that Are Better than Sex
Do you make these mistakes with cold calling?
[NAME], You’ve Been Upgraded
Thank You, [NAME]
“You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out, Kid”
Time Flies When You’re Having Rum
This family has 6 billionaires. Here’s how they did it
Are you coming, [NAME]? // See you tonight, [NAME]
Scam of the century, Paris 1925
How the richest get richer every single day
Nearly Triple Your Profits… Automatically
“The Best Strategy I’ve Ever Seen”
Your First Profits from Stock Options
Airline CEO confesses… the end is near
Being broke on Mother’s Day sucks
Freedom First. Safety third
Tired? Stop overdosing on coffee
[Name] Get Your Free Book Today // Should I Give Your Copy to Someone Else? // Where Should I Send This? ($0 Shipping)
The 1 Reason Why I Make 300 Times More Money Than Most Kindle Publishers (Just This 1 Thing)
The “top secret” Google-military play
Dept. of Energy calls this a game-changer
Bill Gates Wants to Nuke the World
Sell These Stocks By 9:30am ET Monday // Sell These Stocks Right Now // Dump These Stocks ASAP
Almost anyone can “cash in” on real estate now
WARNING: This New Tech Could Be Hidden on Your Phone
The noise. It’s not going away
Free Ticket for [NAME]
Ooh, you’re expensive [NAME]
Why So Many Women Cheat on their Husbands
You’re Taking Viagra and Don’t Even Know It
“Bazooka Jay” breaks all the rules
Leaked Game of Thrones Episode Reveals Controversial Marketing Truth
This is SO screwed up, [NAME]
The Lies that Hold You Back
Death by Lottery Win
The George Costanza School of Client Attraction // Clark Kent Guide to Sneakily Strong Copy
1000s of companies are BEGGING for this tech
President’s Secret to Protecting his Prostate
10 Commandments of [BLANK] // 7 Deadly Sins of [BLANK]
They’re Spying on Your Children
Alert: West Nile Virus Reported
My Life As a Psychopath
How Often Should You Email Your List
My boldest prediction yet // 7 Shocking Predictions for [Event]
How to murder your perfectionism
5 tips to get over your fear of writing
I Sent This to the Vatican 10 Minutes Ago
Bitcoin isn’t the bubble. It’s the pin!
This should change in your marriage every 90 days
You have $20 in your account
Why most people are constantly REBUILDING their business
Subject lines are the sexy part of email marketing.
Everyone wants to know the secret… the specific sequence of words that works every time.
Such secrets do exist.
But in reality, word choice is just one part of the magic of great emails.
Let me illustrate with a real-world example from this week.
Check out this screengrab. It’s showing the performance of a promotional email we sent out Wednesday.
The stats are ridiculous.
If you can’t read the pic, it’s showing an 84.5% open rate and 45% click rate. That means more than half of the openers also clicked through to the order form.
(More importantly, nearly half of the people who saw the order form also made a purchase.)
When someone sees those numbers, you already know what the first question will be 9 times out of 10:
And yes, the subject line was perfect… and the preheader text was brilliant (I’ll reveal them in a minute)…
But we had a lot more going for us than just that:
You may have noticed this email went to 197 people. This is a very targeted segment of the much bigger list.
The “guru” has built great rapport and a ton of trust with subscribers. Becoming known as THE expert your subscribers look forward to hearing from is probably the greatest secret to email success.
There’s been a bunch of engagement with this segment recently to drum up anticipation.
Those factors will help you get opens. And they’ll definitely impact clicks.
But how did we get clickthrough rate so high?
(By the way, the last time this same offer was made to this same segment – before I started working with the client – the best CTR was less than 13%. As you recall, we got 45% this time.)
Focus on exclusivity
Social proof
Emphasis on emotional benefits over product features
Subtle validation of the reader’s self-worth
Obviously these results are specific to this effort. The point is… subject lines ARE important, but you need more than just tight subject lines to maximize the impact of and revenue from your emails.
Alright, I’ll finally reveal what the subject line and preheader text were.
Subject line: [First Name], here’s your private invitation
Preheader text: Congratulations! (shhh… it’s a secret)
The combination of personalization, an anticipated invitation, “congratulations” and a secret helped this achieve a spectacular open rate.
Again, the biggest win here is the insanely high clickthrough rate and the conversion rate on the sales page.
In a way, open rates have always been overrated. Just because someone appears to have opened your message doesn’t mean they actually read it. And if they didn’t take any action, how good was the email, really?
Clickthrough rate is a much better measure of engagement. And sales is the ultimate metric, of course.
Speaking of open rates, have you heard about how the coming update to iOS 15 will make it basically impossible to track open rates for Apple users?
Some marketers are worried this will cause a disaster.
Email marketing results are measured in a few different ways: open rate, clickthroughs, revenue, etc. Open rate is one of the most widely-used and probably the one we have the most control over as marketers.
Emails that don’t get opened don’t accomplish much else, so it’s a good place to start.
I wanted to share the best email subject lines I used in 2014, as measured by open rate. These results are from my own email newsletter. Subject lines from my client work went as high as 81%, which is more of a testament to the quality of the client’s relationship with his audience than my copywriting abilities, all the way down into single-digit percentages. I don’t like to talk about that part.
Here are my top five from last year, and why I think they worked so well. There is also a quick summary at the end with key takeaways you can use right away.
#1: Kindle Book Giveaway from Two of My Favorite Marketers – 47.3%
No matter how overused it seems, “free” still works. But in a time when there’s so much information available for no charge, even free stuff needs to be sold.
Because I’ve earned the trust of my subscribers, and they know I won’t put anything in front of them unless it’s valuable (or fun), they listen to my recommendations most of the time. Pointing to a helpful free resource sounded like a good idea to them.
Note: the 3rd highest open rate I achieved in 2013 also pointed to a giveaway, also a Kindle Book. “One of the World’s Most Trusted Email Marketers Wants You to Have This” got a 48.6% open rate.
#2: Why You Should Stop Thinking Big – 45.7%
Taking a position opposite what is popular also gets attention and generates curiosity. Common advice is almost always to think big. Saying that someone thinks too small is an insult.
Bigger isn’t always better, as Volkswagen has proven.
Subtly, this subject line also implies that the reader is doing something wrong, something they never even thought to question. Curiosity and self-interest practically force him to open the email to find out if he’s making the mistake of thinking too big, and how he can fix it.
#3: <First Name>, This Is Probably the Main Thing Holding You Back – 44.2%
This subject line also speaks to the reader’s self-interest. If you’ve felt held back at all…if you you haven’t made as much progress as you had hoped…you want to know why. And how to fix it. This wording implies that there’s “insider information” as to what’s preventing you from being as successful as you want to be and offershope that there’s a solution close at hand.
I believe the body of the email offered some darn good insights that helped my readers move forward.
Adding the recipient’ first name to the subject line may have also had an impact. I rarely do that, so this subject stood out as extra personal.
Taken in isolation, this is the most profitable single email I wrote all year.
A lack of assertiveness is a major pain point for me. A good portion of my list share some of my personality traits, so quite a few of them have the same problem.
On the other hand, many entrepreneurs, leaders and people in sales positions (who make up the majority of my audience) have no problem with being assertive, but they may worry about coming on too strong. I wasn’t aiming this email at that crowd, but I’m sure some were drawn in anyway.
In fact, I wrote this email because of how much havoc my passive disposition was causing in the way I managed my time. Because a lot of my readers are a lot like me, I researched and wrote for myself, knowing it would help them as well.
A lot of your readers are a lot like you, too. Or, they’re a lot like the persona you’ve created for your business, brand or spokesperson. That perception of interpersonal similarity and shared values goes a long way. Make the most of that resonance.
#5: Writing Copy to Sell Your “Crazy” Offer – 44.1%
My newsletter supposed to be about copywriting. Most of my readers connect with me for that reason. So it makes sense that subscribers would open an email that explicitly states it’s about writing copy.
Also, everyone on my list would like to get more sales. I’ve made a promise in the subject line to help them out in this area.
This subject also connects this email to the previous one. Anyone who had read the previous newsletter (which was the 7th most-opened email of the year) would see a connection and probably want to follow the “continuing saga.” The tie back to the last email opens a loop that can only be closed by reading the current email.
Speaking of crazy offers, have you heard about this one from Art Van Furniture?
Who wouldn’t like free furniture?
This store is driving action (sales) by making a crazy offer: if it snows more than 3 inches on Super-Sunday, anyone who buys furniture during the promotional period will get a full reimbursement.
Key Takeaways for Writing Subject Lines that Get Emails Opened
— Freebies still work. But just because they’re free, doesn’t mean you don’t have to work hard to sell them.
Speaking of free, Creating Business Growth, a book I’ve co-authored, is available on Amazon Kindle for no cost until January 5th. It has already reached bestseller status in several countries. Get your copy here.
— “Curiosity is the strongest human incentive.” Claude Hopkins
— Appeal to the self-interest rather than the coolness of the thing you want to talk about. (E.g., this email is about email subject lines that have worked well for me, but I’m writing it because I know you’re looking for ways to continually improve your email marketing results.)
— Solve problems. Offer hope.
— Remember the values you share in common with your subscribers. More than we tend to realize, people are looking to connect with people who are like them. When they see themselves and their values reflected in others, it’s naturally attractive. As C.S. Lewis said, “Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another: ‘What! You too? I thought that no one but myself…'”
— Email series work well. Leaving open loops from one message to the next increases readership. Talking about your chosen topic more than once also helps drive the point home.
— Make big offers. You can’t bore people into opening your emails.
For exclusive training to help you write better emails, faster than you may think possible, check out Inbox X-Factor.
