Part of the guide: Network Marketing Lead Generation
Email marketing is a huge subject and can be used for various things. Above all is driving traffic and making money. But how do you write an effective email? Well…
You need a killer subject line and email body. I guess it depends on how you define effective. For the sake of this post, we’re going to call an effective email one that gets a high open and click-through rate. Basically, there are 2 core elements you need to “master” in order to write effective emails. Let’s start with the subject line:
The Subject Line
The subject line is what makes people open your emails. In my opinion, it’s the most important component of an effective email. It’s what makes people take a second look. You have to remember; most people ignore emails, delete, or just open and delete them.
Few people open and click the links in all of their emails. Most people will only open and click the links in a select few emails. The emails that attract their attention via the subject line. So obviously you need to spend some time crafting an amazing subject line.
You really have 2 options for subject lines. Super weird, random, and awesome lines or direct subject lines. The super weird, random, and awesome subject lines are completely random and somewhat misleading, but they get extremely high open rates. Subject lines like:
- Crazy Lunatic Escapes Asylum And Makes Millions Online
- Random Homeless Guy Strikes It Rich On The Internet
- Frank Kern V.S. Chuck Norris
- Terrorist Threatens To Destroy The Internet
The super weird random headlines attract a load of attention. You’ll always get high open rates when you use lines like that. BUT – where’s the relevance? That’s for you to find. Here’s something very important: A good subject line gives a hint about what the email is about.
It should basically give a brief summary/explanation of the email, that way people know what they’re in for when they open the email. By defeating the element of surprise, you’ll get a pretty high click-through rate. I know you may have thought the opposite, but it’s a fact that most people don’t like weird surprises.
Saying that, if you can craft a really weird, random, and funny subject line that’s relevant to your email, then do it. Otherwise, use the safe option, be direct, and describe what your email is about – in a cool and interesting way.
A few tips for writing subject lines:
- Be Current
- Use Symbols
- Be Upfront/Use Secrecy
The Body
The body is the actual copy of an email. It’s what your subscribers see when they click the subject line and what will make them click through to the link. Before I reveal my exact body formula, here are some guidelines:
- First Sentence – Make the first sentence intriguing, people can see it without opening your email.
- Size & Width – You don’t want to write long emails, not long in width anyway. Keep it short.
- Link Placement – Use at least 3 links in your email, 4 works well.
Basically, your email body should build curiosity so your subscribers want to click through to the site/page you’re promoting. Also – always have a strong call to action in your email body linking to whatever you’re promoting. It’s all about pre-selling. Pre-selling is the art of building up people’s desire to buy something before they know what it is. Ninja stuff – really.
Just like with subject lines, you have 2 options for your email body. You can use secrecy to build curiosity around your links. This forces people to click your links – thanks, human nature (LOL). The next option is to be direct and tell people exactly what they’re going to see when they click the links. You can tell your subscribers what they’re going to get and directly say “click the link to get XX”.
The P.S. Line
The P.S. line is arguably the second most important element of an effective email. It’s the last element of your email and is responsible for a high percentage of click-throughs. You know…
P.S. Click here to get XXX
Always write a P.S. line with a link to whatever you’re promoting. Little people know this but – a lot of people will open your emails and scroll right down to the P.S. line. So you absolutely must have a P.S. line with a strong call to action.
In Prosperity,
David Wood
P.S. Like my stuff? Feel free to leave me your thoughts, comments, and questions below.
Comments
Nayara Rivas
November 15, 2011
This article really opened my eyes to how important a strong subject line can be. I never thought about using something random to get attention, but now I see how it can work. Thanks for the tips!
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Ezriel Duarte
November 16, 2011
I’ve been struggling with getting my emails opened, and this post gave me some great ideas to try. I’m definitely going to experiment with these subject lines in my next campaign.
MarketingGuru99
November 18, 2011
Wow! I didn’t realize how much a simple subject line could affect the success of an email. This is a game-changer for my marketing efforts. Great post!
EmailMaster
November 19, 2011
I’ve always known the importance of a subject line, but I never considered the idea of using random or humorous ones. Can’t wait to test these out and see how they perform. Thanks for the insight!
Alexandro J.
This post is incredibly helpful! I’ve always struggled with writing effective emails, and your breakdown of subject lines and email body is just what I needed. Thank you so much for sharing these tips!
Cecilia M.
I’m a little skeptical about the idea that a random, crazy subject line can actually get better open rates. Do you have any data or case studies to back up these claims? I’d love to see some real-world examples!
Felix R.
I understand the importance of subject lines, but what do you recommend for improving the body content of an email? Should I focus more on storytelling or direct offers?
Sylvia L.
I have to say, I disagree with the emphasis on using random or quirky subject lines. It might work in some cases, but for my audience, a straightforward approach seems more effective.
Marvin G.
Elena P.
This post reminded me of a time when I sent out an email with a subject line that was too vague, and it completely flopped. I’ll definitely be using your tips to improve my next email campaign!
Omar K.
If anyone is interested in further improving their email marketing, I recommend checking out Mailchimp for automation or ActiveCampaign for better personalization options. Both tools are great for increasing engagement.
Kira N.
Thank you so much for this post! I had no idea how much of an impact a subject line could have. I’m definitely going to implement these strategies and see how they work for my emails.
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‘Crazy Lunatic Escapes Asylum’ is funny until you remember someone has to sit there split testing which weird lie gets opened best. I write two emails a week around night shifts. There’s no spare hour to test five subject lines, so I just say what’s in the email and move on.
3-4 links ‘works well’ — over what sample size, what list, what time frame?
Open rate and click-through rate are being used almost interchangeably here, and that matters because the post’s own logic argues they trade off. A ‘Crazy Lunatic Escapes Asylum’ line lifts opens through a curiosity gap, but if click-through depends on the email matching what the subject implied, a mismatched line should tank clicks relative to opens even as opens climb. So a high open rate on its own isn’t evidence the weird-line strategy works — you’d want the ratio of clicks to opens, ideally measured over enough sends that novelty has worn off the list. None of that is in the post.
We argued this exact thing in 2009, we just called it ‘benefit headline versus curiosity headline’ back then and it never got resolved either. Thirty years in and the honest answer is it depends on the list, and anyone telling you one wins outright hasn’t run it long enough to watch it stop working.
Small correction, Raj: what you’re describing already has a name, click-to-open rate, and some marketers do track it separately for exactly this reason. Doesn’t change your point — the post just doesn’t mention it.
I think what’s being missed here is that the post isn’t claiming the weird line always wins — it says be direct unless you can make something weird relevant too. Raj is right that we don’t have numbers behind the open-rate claim, and Yuki’s right to ask for a sample size, but the underlying advice — that a subject line should still hint at what’s inside — holds up regardless of which style anyone picks.
The line I’d push back on gently is ‘defeating the element of surprise.’ With clients I do the opposite exercise: write the P.S. line first — the one honest sentence about what you actually want the reader to do — then build the subject line backward from that, instead of forward from a hook. Curiosity stays attached to something real instead of floating free of it. What’s the one honest sentence in your last email?
Two options for subject lines. Two options for bodies. Real inboxes don’t sort that cleanly.
Fair, though I’d take it further. The whole piece assumes you’re comfortable manufacturing curiosity and half-hiding what an email is about until someone clicks. Some of us built a list by saying, plainly, every single time, exactly what the email contains, and open rates were never the problem — trust was what took the actual work.