Do your health club or wellness center’s marketing emails and newsletter subject lines actually work?
Or are they the last thing you write, with the least attention?
That’s a big mistake. Because your subject line determines whether your subscribers spend even a second looking at your email.
Use these six tips to craft interesting and curiosity-provoking subject lines for your marketing emails and newsletters that always pass the “made you look!” test:
1. Write a unique subject line for every email
“September Newsletter” is quite possibly the least interesting subject line ever written.
If you’re trying to position your wellness business as a source of expertise and authority on the latest developments, your newsletter subject lines should hint at your top articles.
If you’re a fitness or nutrition business promoting free trials, subject lines should emphasize the no-risk payoff your prospects can expect.
2. Hint at what’s inside
Give readers a hint at the content they’ll find in your newsletter. You don’t have to come up with a cute or clever description – it’s perfectly OK to be factual. In fact, “salesy” or over-the-top subject lines tend to be ignored because they look spammy.
Promising examples include:
“SmartCookie Newsletter – Banana Pudding Makeover”
“Latest News: Yes, Short Workouts Make A Difference”
“This Week: Preview New Group Fitness Lineup”
3. Puns are not marketing
October’s “Fall Into Savings” subject line and April’s “Spring Into May Savings” subject lines aren’t marketing. They’re just tired puns that don’t really say anything meaningful. And they certain don’t pass the “made you look” test.
Subject lines like “Last Week: Camp Registration” instantly connect with anyone who’s actually interested in summer camp and create a sense of urgency.
Remember: your goal’s not to get everyone to open every email. Your goal is to catch the eye of everyone who’s interested in a particular topic.
If they don’t look because your subject line was uninformative and unhelpful, you’ve completely missed the boat.
4. Know which words work and which ones don’t
Our experience has been consistent with Adestra’s study which found that the following words typically boost open and click rates for promotional emails sent to consumers. Note: these findings do NOT apply to B2B open and click rates.
And of course, your mileage may vary with your particular group of email subscribers–so pay close attention to Tips #5 and #6.
Typical examples of subject-line words which increase opens and clicks for promotional emails:
- New
- Sale
- Latest
- Preview
Examples which typically depress open and click rates:
- Free
- Win
- Trial
- Deals
For content-focused emails like newsletters, words like these boost open and click rates:
- Alert
- Bulletin
- News
- Review
- Video
5. Watch your numbers
Track the trend in your open rates each month. When do you see spikes? When do you see dips?
Take seasonality into account, and then look for themes in your subject-lines that provide insight into what works best for your particular subscribers.
6. Test competing ideas
You’re convinced that “This Week Only” will work better than “Final Week”, which is your marketing manager’s idea.
Don’t argue, test! Platforms like MailChimp make A/B tests easy. Send one email with one subject line to half of your subscribers. Send the same email, with the alternative subject line, to the other half of your subscribers. Give it a week or two and then compare open and click rates between the two emails.
