I sincerely hope it is obvious that I indulge in a great deal of research on email marketing, as well as other related forms of marketing. I actually enjoy researching. In fact, I get easily sidetracked and an hour or more can go past where I’ve wandered off onto other subjects just because I found them interesting. I expect that’s obvious as well.

Broader search criteria in Google can often provide useful results, and it’s something that everybody in the business should experiment with if they are looking for new ideas. I entered ‘what’s hot in email marketing’. On page 1, the majority of the returns were along the line of email marketing trends for 2021, the only significant difference in the title was the number examples quoted. The normal figure was in the region of 5 to 7. There was just the one which bucked the trend, promising an eye-watering 65+.

Subscribers will click on your marketing emails to satisfy a need or desire. Promise them something specific in the Subject Line, such as, ‘We can solve your printer ink problems’, and they are more likely to open it even if they are fairly happy with regards ink cartridges. Promise them you can solve all their printer problems from pricing, size, noise, reliability . . . they are unlikely to bother.  

Research suggests that many people want instant gratification, and having to read 65+ headings is anything but. Tell them what you have simply. If it’s personalised well, you stand a greater chance of them opening the email as they understand what you are promising and it’s what they want. Imagine a B2B email, on a Friday morning, with a full inbox, with the number 65. It’s not going to cut it, is it.

‘We have 3 ways of increasing your returns on eggs’. Such a marketing email promises improvement as well as limited engagement time. The subscriber will know they can decide if any of the items are going to be useful to them within a few seconds. That’s probably all the time they have available. Not only that, but they are more likely to open subsequent emails.