How National Geographic Can Punch Up Your Subject Lines Print E-mail
Email Marketing
Written by Lyris HQ Staff Writer   
Wednesday, 12 July 2006
What's In Your MindIf you want to write better subject lines, article titles and teasers, reach for a National Geographic magazine cover and study the taglines. In just three to five well-chosen words, they draw the reader in past the classic yellow-rimmed cover with its gorgeous color photography to the cover story and secondary material.

In the same way, an attention-grabbing subject line gets your email noticed in the inbox. Teasers – short lines of text at the top of a newsletter that hint at the full story – are essential if you designed your email message to deliver key content to readers who view their email in a preview pane.

Don't worry if your early efforts don't match the Geographic's for brevity, wit or intrigue. Blather is easy; tight, clear writing is hard. Look for strong, simple words, active verbs and keywords that resonate with your readers.

Review your metrics over the last few campaigns or newsletter issues. Which articles or offers got the most opens, clicks or conversions? Which subject lines were associated with high open rates?

We know, for example, that any article in The Intevation Report that has "subject lines" in the subject line, teaser or article title gets appreciably high clicks and opens.

Finally, remember that you have to put the most important copy in the first 50 characters, including spaces, to ensure that key words and characters aren’t cut off in some email clients.

Need some concrete examples? Review these recent covers from National Geographic; click on each cover to review the taglines:

Chasing Tornadoes  The Heavy Cost of Fat  Great Whites of the North
 Searching the Stars for New Earths  Harp Seals  Why We Love Caffeine

 

More tips for writing email subject lines:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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