Most email marketing messages are meant to inspire people to take action, ie. make a purchase, register for an event, call today, etc. The writers put a lot of thought, effort and time into those messages, often without considering the most important aspect of email marketing  - the subject line. The truth is, if your subject line doesn't motivate people to open the email, even the world's best marketing message isn't going to be successful. Here are 5 tips for creating subject lines that will have people begging to read more:

1) Know your target audience! What are the topics they are buzzing about today? People are more likely to open emails that are relevant to their needs or interests. So grab their attention by writing about your audience's "hot topics" and create subject lines that include these buzz words (How? See number 2 below). 

2) Think like a reporter. Magazines and newspapers spend a lot of time and money to know exactly who their target audience is and what they want to read about . So take a lesson from them and create strong, attention-getting subject lines suited to your business. Or, if you are really struggling to identify relevant content for your audience, review magazines in your industry. You can learn a lot - without investing all the resources. 

3) Use numbers when possible. Today's consumers are busy. An email subject line that lists "5 Quick Tips" or "Top 10 Reasons to..." suggests a quick read and lets the reader know exactly what to expect.

4) Avoid bait-and-switch tactics. Honesty is the key to building trust. If you are sending out a monthly e-newsletter, it may be perfectly appropriate to simply title it as "XYZ Corp. January News" - or you may wish to incorporate buzz words from one of your news articles. Just make sure your subject line always accurately reflects the content of your email, lest you be known as the company who cried wolf.

5) Test your subject lines to find what works. Segment your contacts into two or more groups and send each group the same email using different subject lines. Using your email provider's analysis tools, compare the open rates. Did one subject line have a greater influence than another? Use the information you gather to help you create future subject lines. Are you unhappy with the analysis tools provided by your email provider? Contact us to learn how easy creating and analyzing your email campaigns can be with ACT! E-marketing.

Do you have a tip you'd like to add? We'd love to hear it! Comment below.

Looking to expand your business in 2011? Sage recently released a white paper that explores how companies can increase their list of highly qualified leads using their Business Info Services for ACT! tool. If you are struggling to find good quality leads, or simply want another source for locating quality leads, you'll want this white paper! I have provided an excerpt below (along with a link to download the full white paper).
Feeding Sales: Find targeted leads with Sage Business Info Service for ACT!
by Sage

The challenge: Find relevant, yet cost-effective sales leads

Your business needs a steady supply of new sales leads so it can grow and acquire more customers. Over time, it can really become a struggle to find sources of good quality leads. Lists often cost too much, focus on the wrong industry for your products, or contain outdated contact information. Soon, you’re spending as much time looking for leads as you are making sales calls—and that’s not a productive way to sell.

New leads can be obtained from a variety of sources, including word-of-mouth from your current customers, rented lists, purchased lists, or doing your own research on individual companies using internet searches and newspapers or magazines. Unfortunately, these methods can result in wildly variable lead quality, and are also time consuming and costly.

What your business needs is a deep source of leads on-demand, with consistent quality, at a reasonable cost. That’s what Sage has introduced with Sage Business Info Services for ACT!, powered by Hoover’s™, a new cloud-based service that provides a rich source of new sales leads and research...

Click here to read more and download the complete white paper.

Busy searching for the perfect holiday gifts? This month we're going to reveal how to simplify your search - in your ACT! database at least - and find your contacts faster, and quickly create custom lists of clients, prospects, candidates, etc. You can search by any field in ACT!, either by right-clicking on the field, or clicking on the Lookup menu and selecting the appropriate field. On the left is the name of the field, then the type of search:

Replace Lookup - searches through the entire database, ignoring any previous searches.

Add to Lookup - adds the contacts from this search to contacts found during the last search (useful for looking up all people with a title of President, then adding those with a title of Vice President).

Narrow Lookup - finds only contacts who meet the criteria of this search as well as the criteria for the last search (ie search for all contacts whose ID/Status is Prospect, then narrow the search and find only prospects in the state of Wisconsin).

Want to save the list as a group for future use? Create a new group, then right click on any name in the contact list and select Add Contacts to Group. Click on the Group name - and the list is set for the next time.