Spring is officially here, heralded by the spring equinox yesterday. The sun is peeking out and it\u2019s spring cleaning season \u2014 time to air out closets, clean house, and switch your wardrobe for warmer weather. It\u2019s also the perfect time to air out your subject lines and freshen up your email campaigns with seasonal flare.<\/p>\n
Just as you\u2019re ready to be done with being bundled up in a winter coat, hat, and scarf, the folks on your email list might be getting tired of the same old subject lines. They\u2019re probably also ready for something light and refreshing in their email inboxes after the months of hard selling they endured during the lead-up to the end-of-year holidays. Spring gives you a chance to breathe new life into your email campaigns. You can do this with subject lines that capture attention as well as the spirit of the season, and with compelling campaigns that capitalize on what people are experiencing as the seasons change.<\/p>\n
Anyone who\u2019s ever engaged in email marketing \u2014 or opened a promotional email, for that matter \u2014 knows subject lines make all the difference in getting your message opened and read. An eye-catching, curiosity-piquing subject line convinces recipients to open your email. Dull ones mean the recipient will delete your email before the next one in the queue loads on the preview screen!<\/p>\n
Spring clean your email subject lines with these four tips:<\/p>\n
The dark days of winter are slipping away and the bright colors, sounds, and scents of spring are here. People are feeling lighter, and they\u2019re ready to enjoy a chuckle \u2014 or a belly laugh. Give it to them by infusing humor into your subject lines. You can do this in a number of ways, from connecting together two things that don\u2019t normally relate, to poking fun at current events. For more advice on how to infuse humor into your subject lines, check out our blog\u00a025 Comical Subject Lines + Tips for Funny Writing<\/a>.<\/p>\n All marketers have their go-to words that they rely on to create interest and excitement in their subject lines. You probably have some too, but spring is a great time to try out some new action words. Active verbs and vibrant nouns capture the reader\u2019s attention and encourage recipients to open up your email. Need some ideas for fresh word choices? Check out our blog on\u00a0choosing words that sell<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sure, Christmas gets the accolades for being the most joyous time of year, and Valentine\u2019s Day is all about love, but spring is also full of some very emotional cultural events. With Easter, Mother\u2019s Day, graduations, and Father\u2019s Day piling up throughout spring, speaking to recipients\u2019 emotions is a great way to freshen up your subject lines during this warm, fuzzy season! (Pro tip: Check back next week for a whole post on springy subject lines!)<\/p>\n Spring is a great time to practice making your subject lines shorter and pithier. A\u00a0Marketing Sherpa study<\/a>\u00a0found that subject lines of 61-70 characters (about 15 words) get read the most. However, the second-highest read rate goes to subject lines of 91-100 characters and 51-60 characters, and the third-highest for shorter ones of 10 characters or less. What do these wildly divergent results tell you? Generally, brevity is better but if you\u2019re going to go long, be brilliant! Just be sure to double check you\u2019re not writing a \u201csubject line sin<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Whatever your product or service, chances are there\u2019s a seasonal element to your business. If you\u2019re in retail, maybe your emails in the last quarter of 2015 were full of special offers and sales pitches. If home repair is your bag, you might have spent the end of last year sending informational emails on common winter maintenance tasks. If you\u2019re an accountant, you probably barely have time to read your email, let alone send any out, between Jan. 1 and April 15; but once tax season dies down, you might turn your attention to financial education.<\/p>\n Spring means it\u2019s time to seasonally adjust your email campaigns to give recipients information that\u2019s relevant to them at this time of year. Here are three ways to spring ahead with seasonal emails:<\/p>\n Email providers like VerticalResponse offer a variety of templates to choose from when you\u2019re crafting your email campaigns. If you\u2019re still using the same template and colors you chose for winter promotions, why not switch things up by trying something new? A clean, fresh design in brighter or lighter colors will fit well with seasonal content. We took a look at our six\u00a0most popular email templates<\/a>\u00a0if you need inspiration.<\/p>\n What\u2019s on your customers\u2019 minds this spring? Are they thinking of buying or selling a house? Getting a child ready for graduation? Enjoying some time outdoors on their decks or working in their yards? Finding just the right gift for Mother\u2019s Day or Father\u2019s Day? Tie your email campaigns into what\u2019s going on in their lives this season. For example, an email newsletter with spring cleaning tips or an offer for a Mother\u2019s Day discount on select merchandise will appeal to customers with information that\u2019s relevant to them at this time of year.<\/p>\n Spring is a great time to freshen up your email list to make sure you\u2019re sending to valid addresses and to ensure you\u2019re reaching the right customers with the right offers. If your website doesn\u2019t already have a page where new and existing customers can sign up to receive your emails, it\u2019s time to add one. If you already have one, review how well it\u2019s doing. Is it compelling? Is it easy to find on the site and does it make enrollment simple? Check your open, read, click-through, and bounce rates. Weed out bouncebacks and send out a ping email asking subscribers if they\u2019re still interested in receiving email from you.<\/p>\n2. Try out some new action words<\/h3>\n
3. Tug on their heart strings<\/h3>\n
4. Move things along faster \u2026 or better<\/h3>\n
Spring ahead with seasonal email campaigns<\/h2>\n
1. Update the look<\/h3>\n
2. Offer something relevant to the season<\/h3>\n
3. Work on freshening your mailing list<\/h3>\n