Whether you’re marketing to other businesses, government agencies, or soccer moms, email continues its presence among the leading channels in terms of reach, engagement, and ROI. Composing a compelling email can be challenging. It often boils down to nailing the subject line and grabbing their attention in those first few crucial seconds.
Want to know what to avoid to make sure your lovingly crafted emails don’t end up at the bottom of the virtual trash heap? Then start taking notes!
Words & Phrases that Activate Spam Filters
It’s hard enough to get past a discerning prospect’s gaze when your email enters their regular inbox. Tripping an alert and landing straight in the spam folder makes your chances plummet. Luckily, you can consult a list of trigger words to avoid this disaster.
In short, avoid talking about money, using marketing speak, and using an overly formal tone. Mentioning guarantees or overblown numbers is another surefire way to get ignored. Always have an extensive list of spam triggers when composing subject lines, and you’ll already be way ahead of the curve.
Spelling & Grammar Mistakes
Who’d want to bother with an email from someone who can’t even proofread their subject line? Typos suggest carelessness and a lack of professionalism. Some disreputable marketers may also use them to circumvent automated filters, like writing “b u y” instead of “buy.” Don’t be that person.
While you’re at it, avoid using all caps. It suggests yelling and gets on people’s nerves. Follow a regular sentence structure and only capitalize the first letter, names, etc.
You’ll also want to pay attention to punctuation. Use it correctly and no more than two times. Avoid exclamation marks, as they can trigger spam filters, too.
Long Subject Lines
Do you know what people trying to sort useful emails from junk don’t want to read? Novel-length subject lines. While establishing the purpose of the email is important, don’t try to cram as much information in there as possible; it’s off-putting.
Make the line short, sweet, and to the point if you can catch their eye in 25 characters or less, fantastic! If not, keep it to less than 50 characters, and remember to double-check what the subject line looks like on mobile.
Demand Engagement
No one likes being told what to do, especially without a reason or explanation. Make the subject line about how you can help the recipient with their pain points and introduce CTAs organically within the email’s body. Use visible buttons rather than plain links.
While it’s OK to introduce a bit of FOMO to get people to engage with your email, you shouldn’t create a fake sense of urgency or danger. That’s dishonest and makes your email look like a phishing attempt, especially when links are involved. With the rise of sophisticated schemes such as Google scams, security-conscious people are more likely to not trust, open or even engage with emails that demand taking urgent actions.
Clickbait-y and Irrelevant Subject Lines
Few tactics will tank your credibility faster than trying to get someone to click on a sensationalist email. Unless you’re promoting a YouTube channel notorious for its clickbait content, you’re supposed to exude an air of competence and trustworthiness. Any attempt at deception will completely undermine it.
You also don’t want to follow a subject line with text on a different topic. It’s deceitful and bound to make the recipient mistrustful.
Neglecting A/B Testing
You might be on to something with that new subject line, but why leave things up to chance? A/B testing is a cornerstone of any successful email marketing strategy; not using it may mean you’ll miss out on opens and conversions. Craft several variations on your subject lines and see how people engage with them.
Experiment with changing other elements, too, but only one at a time, so you can accurately gauge the results. Move around pictures and buttons, use different keywords, or try a new color scheme. Whatever else you do, make sure the unsubscribe button is visible. Although, even if you don’t, subscribers might resort to data removal services like Incogni to help their email get removed.
Data removal services specialize in erasing personal information from various platforms and databases. This offers users peace of mind and control over their digital footprint.
Overdoing It with Emojis
This last piece of advice is in a gray area since there’s an ongoing debate on the place and usefulness of emojis in marketing emails. They won’t trip any alerts, but emojis may throw off your character count and subject line’s look.
If you’re going to use emojis, do so sparingly. Keep your audience in mind as well, since fashion-conscious teens are more likely to respond positively to emojis than legal professionals.