In this week's Copy Conversations, we will take a look at an email from Natural Health Sherpa.
If you do any email marketing for your business, jump on "The Sherpa's" list because they are innovating email.
This video isn't about how to write a good subject line. It's about taking a good subject line and adding some secret mojo to make it GREAT.
Transcript
This week's Copy Conversations is all about email, subject lines.
And when it comes to email subject lines, there is one company out there that is very innovative, and they're selling a ton of affiliate products.
So I thought I would show you an example of one of their emails today.
Of course, we're not going to concentrate on the email, which was great, but I wanted to in particular look at this subject line here.
"At 61 years old, Jill lost 40 pounds, 26 inches, and 12 percent body fat."
There are a few things that make this a very powerful subject line.
Something I look for in a subject line is words and numbers that make your message stand out in the inbox.
… and natural health Sherpa did a great job of that right here.
Two things stand out.
Number one is the word "at."
I'd be willing to bet if you scroll through your inbox right now, you probably wouldn't see any emails where the subject line began with that.
So that automatically makes it stand out.
And then right into a number.
My eyes were just drawn to the subject line as I was scrolling through the feed.
And I think this is an overlooked thing when it comes to writing emails, is that the ability to make the subject line stick out isn't only about copy or using some template or something exciting.
Sometimes it's just a matter of grabbing the attention of the eyes.
So those first couple of words you're using, try to make those stand out by not being something that you usually see as your eyes move down the page.
Let me show you an example of my inbox.
Here you can see Lemon is the first word. Anti-inflammatory or anti.
Wipe away... take 2 drops.
Then we just saw 61 years old one.
You can see none of these email subject lines is a standard who, what, why, when, or the other things you may learn from a course on copywriting.
Now, let's retake a look at this one.
Another thing you're playing on here that is not as obvious is curiosity.
And I say that because we're talking now about a 61-year-old who lost 40 pounds, twenty-six inches around their waist, and 12 percent of body fat.
It builds curiosity because, with this particular market, you're dealing with women who have a tough time losing weight.
This is just going to trigger an amazing amount of curiosity. Natural Health Sherpa knows who they're talking to, and they've designed this subject line with that in mind.
A good subject line has, whether it's an email or a headline or any copy, is it is specific.
And I don't know if you can get more specific than 40 pages, 26 inches in 12 percent.
Body fat builds credibility when you can be specific like that.
Another thing about a good headline, and again, this one isn't super obvious.
But is it controversial taboo, or is it shocking?
And this goes back to the same thing is curiosity.
It's shocking that a 61-year-old drop 40 pounds.
And it makes me want to find out how.
Another thing I like to look for is it topical, and this one isn't.
Does it have any credibility?
And I have to say that this subject line doesn't have any inherent credibility.
But what helps build a little credibility is they're telling me a story about a real person.
It makes it very hard for someone to say, no, that's not real, because that is someone's personal story.
Another thing I look for is, does the subject line include some drama or a story?
Again, it's indirect, as I just said, for the credibility.
We are telling the story of a 61-year-old that lost weight but is not directly in your face.
And the last thing I like to look for is benefits and headlines.
And this one's packed with benefits without ever saying, "Hey, this is a benefit."
I know if I'm an older woman trying to lose weight, that 40 pounds, 26 inches, a 12 percent body fat will be huge for my health.
Now, I just listed eight things I like to look for in a subject line.
Now, any one of those would be right on their own.
But if you can combine as many as possible, your subject lines will be even more powerful.
And as you can see here, Natural Health Sherpa is using multiple angles in one subject line.
Which is why they're killing it right now, an email.
And one last thing I want to point out is they aren't afraid to have a long subject line.
They know if they pull you in on the first few words that show on the email browser, they're going to get you to open.