What makes you pull a book from the shelves of Waterstones? All you have to go on are the title, author and publisher yet, after a quick perusal, you will be able to pick a book that, even if you do not buy it, it will probably interest you. You can see why authors will agonise over what to pick for the title, almost as much as you do for the Subject Line of a marketing email.

A bookshop browser, probably with their head tilted to the right, will run their eyes over a number of books and then stop. They will often touch their favoured choice with a finger. They will consider if it is worth their time and then, normally with a practised hand, pull it off the shelf in one smooth move.

Seems familiar? The success of your email marketing campaign depends to a great extent on whether the Subject Line generates enough interest in someone glancing through their inbox to click on it. If it fails to, then it doesn’t get opened.

A book title will often state, although not in those words, what genre it falls into and will also show why this specific one is so much better than the others. Many a murder mystery will have dead, or a derivative, in there somewhere. Many a marketing email will have reduced, or similar, somewhere in the Subject Line.

One way authors grab the attention is by intriguing the browser. ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ was a classic as the format was common, but the final word startled. How many, other than me, decided to have a look at the book just to see. This can be useful in email marketing. How about, ‘Want to pay a bit more for your holiday?’. Of course you don’t, so subscribers might wonder why you asked.

If you promise a benefit, then deliverability is an essential. If your Subject Line says ‘Your printer ink problems solved’ you must offer them something that answers their problems. Otherwise your email marketing list subscribers might not take your next email off the shelf.