Here are some subject lines of some successful emails I’ve sent out to my Google AdWords customer list: When Google is NOT the Best Way to Get a Customer Are Google Employees Spying on You? Subject: ZIGBEE AND THE GEEKS’ REVENGE Leslye was the girl who made my heart go pitter-patter in junior high school. And the latest Geek Revenge these days is . ZigBee is sort of like wireless instant messaging for sensors and smart devices. Storytelling works when marketing to them, no differently than people in any other profession. If it’s more than that, your message isn’t matching your market. After people buy from you, send them a series of messages that show them how to use your product more effectively and share features they might have missed. All the people who aren’t interested in herbal stuff are now going to be less responsive to everything else you do—even if they don’t unsubscribe. The smart marketer will have different lists for each topic—different sublists. You’re not a faceless corporation; you’re a person.
Use these smart strategies to improve your email success.
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The following excerpt is from Perry Marshall, Mike Rhodes and Bryan Todd’s book Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords. Buy it now from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | IndieBound
Run-of-the-mill advertisers have little respect for the personal nature of email. But smart email marketers know how to talk to their customer as individuals. Here are six ways to do just that.
1. A “From” Field That Shows You’re a Real Person
Consider the different impressions these “from” lines create:
- Bill Kastl
- William Kastl
- William D. Kastl, Nakatomi Corporation
- Nakatomi Sales Department
- Bill Kastl, Nakatomi Sales
You want your email to be warm and personal without looking like spam. The key is to say something that’s so specific to readers’ particular interests, they know no spammer would ever come up with it. Pick a “from” field that your customers will understand, and stick with it.
2. A Provocative Subject Line
The most important thing about email is that its success or failure is all about context. Email subject lines work not because they follow standard copywriting formulas but because they tap into what specific people are interested in at a particular time.
Here are some subject lines of some successful emails I’ve sent out to my Google AdWords customer list:
- When Google is NOT the Best Way to Get a Customer
- Are Google Employees Spying on You?
- Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” and All That
- 5 Insidious Lies About Selling on the Web
- Fistfight at the Board of Directors Meeting
These headlines don’t assault the reader with cheesy-sounding promos — they hint very strongly at a story. They provoke curiosity rather than scaring people off.
3. Everybody Loves a Good Story
B&B Electronics sells industrial communication hardware—a “boring” geek business if there ever were one. But when Perry Marshall writes its monthly newsletter, he turns that dull, geek image on its head and interrupts a dreary day of engineering with wry humor.
The method? Storytelling.
Subject: ZIGBEE AND THE GEEKS’ REVENGE
Leslye was the girl who made my heart go pitter-patter in junior high school.
I was always sure to take the long way to Social Studies, down the stairs to first floor, past her locker, then back up to second. Just checkin’ up.
I wasn’t the boy who made her heart go pitter-patter. She liked…
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