If you knew that something as simple as changing a few words could make your email marketing campaign more successful, how long would it take you to implement those changes? You would probably implement them immediately because you want to maximize results from every campaign. That’s good because you are about to learn about some of the simplest mistakes that email marketers sometimes make. If you identify them as problems for your own campaigns, get ready to take action and fix those errors.

Say What You Mean

Creativity is fun to play around with, but it doesn’t always work well with email subject lines. Recipients want to know what is inside your email and why they should spend their time reading it. You can add fun symbols like hearts and stars, but your recipients are just as likely to be annoyed by that as intrigued. You can create slogans that grab attention, but if they may not make a reader curious enough to open the message.

You don’t have much space to make a subject line work, so use it wisely. Get to the point and speak directly to your reader. Why should they spend their time listening to what you need to communicate to them? Give them that urgent message directly so that they want to hear you out.

Keep It Positive

Internet marketers are experts when it comes to playing on the emotions of their targeted audience. Unfortunately, playing on negative emotions like fear do not work for most consumers when it comes to email subject lines. Studies have shown that readers are far more likely to open a message that makes them feel hopeful or happy rather than fearful or scared.

Any word that is associated with a negative experience or emotion could hold your email campaign back. Some words to watch out for are “cancelled,” “reminder” and “eliminated.”

Make It Exclusive

Can you offer a “limited” deal to “select” customers? What about an “exclusive invitation” just for special customers? When you make individuals feel special, they are likely to click your message open and see what you have to offer. You don’t have to limit the number of people who receive these email messages. The goal is to make every recipient feel like they are a member of a select or chosen group.

A Note on Personalization

It is now commonplace to add a recipient’s name into their email in order to make a personal connection. While that has shown to help with opening rates to some extent, research is showing that it isn’t always enough to get someone to open a message. If you can add the name of the recipient and somehow hint that time is running out or the deal is only good for a limited amount of time, then the personalization may work more in your favor.

If you have the technology to insert personal names in your email subject lines, it doesn’t hurt to add that personal touch. Just don’t expect that alone to get your recipients to click your message open.