The first live webinar I was exposed to at Mequoda Group was the Email Subject Line Smackdown.

It was a very refreshing 90 minutes with three of America’s top copywriters, Peter Fogel, Mark Everett Johnson and Peter A. Schaible. Years of experience were shown through the guest panelists’ commentary and the light-hearted nature of the webinar, which made it quite enjoyable.

Among the highlights from this webinar was the “Smackdown” portion. We had asked attendees to send us their best performing email subject lines, which we then asked our team of copywriters to re-write.

Each copywriter created his own email subject line based off the previously submitted entries. The panel then discussed the reasons why they created the new email subject in the specific manner they did.

From here, we let the audience vote on the best subject line. Who would win? One from three of our copywriters, or the control? Despite the original subject lines being considered “best performers” by the publishers who submitted them, in every Smackdown the prevailing subject line was never the control.

These tips will get your email read

The Email Subject Line Smackdown taught a lot about the art of copywriting. Nowadays, I feel the information from the webinar can be utilized more than ever as everyone from CEOs to interns are asked to create original promotional copy.

During the webinar, Mark Everett Johnson offered four tips to follow while writing copy for email subject lines. They are as follows:

Email Subject Line Tips:

- Offer a quick and easy way to do something.

- Talk about the readers’ self-interest. While doing so, give something that benefits them and they will be more responsive.

- Give your readers information that is newsworthy. It helps greatly when the news is good news.

- Arouse curiosity in your readers. This works the best when it directly relates to the previously mentioned guidelines.

Other helpful information on email copywriting

The average email user gets dozens of emails per day, while others may receive hundreds of email messages per day. As a publisher I’m sure you’re aware of this. An email subject line that fits the above criteria has a better chance of getting read. If you don’t follow specific guidelines while sending out email promotions, there’s a good chance your messages may be labeled as spam or end up in your recipients’ bulk folder. Pay close attention to the words you use, and be sure to familiarize yourself with these spam trigger words.

It’s true; the explosion of electronic media has put the burden of copywriting on different team members, many of whom do not like to write in the slightest.

If this applies to you or your team members, don’t worry too much. There are resources that can be utilized to learn the art of copywriting and we can help provide these resources. For instance, do you know about all the email copywriting archetypes that exist? We have compiled and named them for the benefit of all writers. All of these archetypes can be found in The 17 Best Email Subject Lines white paper for free.

If you were part of the Email Subject Line Smackdown, or wish you were, be sure to attend our upcoming Email Copywriting Workshop for more insight and critiques from Mark Everett Johnson. Register early for the chance to submit your own email subject lines.

Isn’t it great when you can use an absolute single metric when going through your customer data? With this simple ratio you can figure out the amount of money you make per subscriber while engaging in email marketing. This is a ratio you will use often as the size of your email list changes. Hopefully each time you use this formula your total revenue per subscriber will increase. If you adhere to our Mequoda best practices, your chances of increasing revenue will be very possible, as we have seen the revenue per subscriber for clients double, and even triple, within 12 months.

The ratio

To calculate revenue per subscriber take your total email revenue and divide it by the average number of email subscribers. For the more visual readers out there, the equation may look like this:

Total email revenue / Average # of email subscribers

As an example, let’s say your total email revenue is $100,000 and you have an average of 10,000 email subscribers. Our equation would look like this:

$100,000 / 10,000 = $10 per subscriber.

This example would make each subscriber worth $10.

Considerations

You now can actually see the value of a subscriber. Of course there are additional values to subscribers, such as the possibility of receiving word-of-mouth promotion from them as just one example, but the monetary value is worth noting. It is a simple way of expressing your growth, or lack there of, throughout different time periods of your company’s life.

Ways to potentially increase your numbers

Look closely at your email strategy for email marketing. If you do not have a calendar for it in place, then take the measures to design one. Decide when and how often to promote for certain products and outline this on your calendar.

Play with your product mix. This step may entice you to offer new products if you so choose. Regardless, pay attention to the days you promote for a certain product. Try increasing or decreasing the frequency depending on how popular a product is. If you have a time sensitive product like a live webinar, you will most likely want to begin promotion 4-5 weeks in advance. Allow for more time if this is an in-person event where your audience would need to travel to the destination.

Often times the higher the price of your products, the higher your revenue per subscriber will be.

Finally, treat email marketing as a quarterly-based initiative. Go through your data each quarter, decipher your revenue per subscriber and evaluate your email schedule to stay current with trends and statistics.

What’s normal?

For B2B with special interest topics, it is normal to have revenue per subscriber that is one half the average product price. So if your average product price is $30, then the revenue per subscriber would most likely be $15 per year.

For B2C, 10% of your subscriber base will typically make a purchase. 20% of your subscribers will make two and a half purchases.

Hopefully this information will be of benefit to you. Use it while you build your email circulation and develop your publishing schedule. You will stay current with subscriber habits and the revenue you’re generating by doing so.

Your email conversion rate (ECR) has control over revenue and profitability for your online business. Do you ever wonder what your ECR is, or what other publishers are doing to get better results?

Your ECR is a simple ratio: The number of unique visitors that come to your website during a 30-day period, divided into the number of visitors who join your database by signing up to receive your free email newsletter during that same 30-day period.

If during a given month you have 100,000 unique visitors that arrive at your website (according to Google Analytics or a comparable measurement tool) and 1,000 of these unique visitors become new email subscribers (according to your email management program or service), your ECR is one-percent (1,000/100,000 = .01 or 1.0%).

Do you have some work to do in order to get your ECR higher?

Properly designed website architecture is supposed to make email conversion rate its number one priority. It places great focus on capturing the email addresses of casual visitors and compiling them into your database.

Is your website working as efficiently as possible? Our Mequoda System websites have an average email conversion rate of 5%. If you aren’t receiving an ECR of at least 5%, then some improvement can certainly be made to your approach.

Suggestions for increasing your email conversion rate

Irresistible offers make it hard for visitors to not sign up. It all starts with your content. After reaching a point of satisfaction with your content, make an offer that is worth the exchange of an email address. At the most basic level, we recommend giving away a free special report in exchange for your user’s email address. One way to present your free report offer is via the use of floaters.

-Floaters – Floaters may look like pop-ups, but they aren’t. In fact, they are simply a layer of HTML code, and because of this, cannot be blocked or banned. Users may find floaters similar to magazine blow-in cards. However, floaters are almost cost-less, which gives them an advantage over magazine blow-in cards.

Website publishers we’ve talked with have reported a two to three times increase in conversion rates when floaters are used over pop-ups.

Be careful when using floaters as with any other type of promotional piece you use. Overuse of them can be annoying to website users, but thankfully their effectiveness in increasing email conversion rates is undeniable.

Using floaters will be helpful in increasing your email conversion rate. As a constantly evolving subject matter, increasing email conversion rates is always deserving of attention. Methods, like the topic itself, often evolve.

To increase your email conversion rate and learn the 17 ways to build email circulation, attend our Seventh Mequoda Summit in Napa Valley.

Two of our articles have discussed the first four components needed for a strong email reputation. “How Much Do You Know About Email Reputation?” and “Two More Components in Maintaining a Good Email Reputation” have highlighted and elaborated on these important concepts.

The length of time you’ve been sending email and the technical infrastructure you use are the last two pieces making up your email reputation.

Length of Time

The longer you’ve been sending email, the better your reputation will be. This is so because with a history of email sends, it is possible to predict what your future actions will be.

Do everything in your power to assure that this prediction is in your favor. Since the length in which you’ve been sending is important, make each email enhance the way email recipients view your pieces by supplying valuable content. This way, the length of time you’ve been sending email will not only grow, but it will also be incorporating the highest quality you can produce.

Sending consistently, and using the same domain name and IP address will improve your reputation. Consequently, if you change servers or IP addresses often, you may appear to be a spammer.

Technical Infrastructure

To be effective in your email newsletter or email marketing pursuits, your email program should comply with some basic technologies. These include:

-Automatic removal of bounces. Remember, a bounce rate of 30% or more will damage your reputation. Eliminating any undeliverable addresses will keep your rate low and assure that future emails will not go to an undeliverable address and receive another bounce.

-Subscription to ISP feedback loops. If your emails are being labeled as spam, you should be aware of it. This subscription will alert you when a complaint is made.

-Clean HTML code. Having clean HTML code can be the difference in getting delivered to the inbox and ending up in a spam folder.

Using email validation programs will clean your HTML code by removing unneeded tags, checking the article’s spelling, and eliminating code errors that would result in page errors.

If you choose to clean the code yourself, edit with the same criteria in mind.

-Proper email headers. Avoid having your header look like a spam message. Also, make sure your article’s content is expressed through the header. Misleading a reader may result in them unsubscribing from your list. For further assistance in creating effective headers, and many more components of creating quality email newsletters, download our free white paper 10 Email Newsletter Design Best Practices.

Many ESPs typically comply with these practices, so if you already use an ESP, you are probably covered. In-house systems often have the aforementioned problems, so be sure to monitor accordingly.

To fully summarize, the six components that make of email reputation are:

-Volume of email sent

-Bounce rate

-Number of spam complaints

-Email sent to spam traps

-Length of time you’ve been sending email

-Technical infrastructure

Focus on these components as they are all ultimately in your control. For more information on these subjects and detailed insight on the other six necessary pieces addressing email delivery, join us for our Solving Email Delivery Problems webinar on December 15^th with email expert Jeanne Jennings.

Last week we asked, How Much Do You Know About Email Reputation? We discussed two components of email reputation and how to be proactive while handling them.

To quickly recap, volume of email sent and the bounce rate will have an affect on your reputation. Consistent attention and action behind these will yield better results for you.

Remember, as in-depth as we have discussed email reputation, it isn’t the only contributing factor in improving email delivery rate. For more on this topic, attend our Solving Email Delivery Problems webinar on December 15th.

Today, we continue with two more components of email reputation.

-Number of Spam Complaints. Similar to bounces, with any volume of email, there will be spam complaints. Regardless of the effort you put into your mailings, it will happen. Don’t worry too much about it if the number of complaints is low. People may forget they signed up to your list or may have not recognized the sender.

Each internet service provider has their own limit as to when spam complaints become an issue. Contact your ISP or do some research on the topic to be aware of their guidelines.

An email feedback loop is a device that can be provided to an email sender when a spam complaint is made about them. Using one can be helpful in knowing which subscribers want to be taken off your email list and what types of complaints are being made.

Eliminating those who do not want to be on the list will ensure that they will not complain again, thus potentially lowering your spam complaints. Also, understanding the complaints subscribers have will help you redesign the email methods you’re using or the content involved within them.

If you are working with an ESP, they should monitor email marketing spam complaints for you.

The best defense against email marketing spam complaints is having users explicitly opt-in to receive mailings. Those who are interested in what you have to say are less likely to complain to an ISP.

Finally, having your own IP will help in the battle against being labeled as spam. All actions from this IP will be your own, so you cannot be blamed for someone else’s emailing behavior.  Treat it accordingly to the beginning.

-Email Sent to Spam Traps. Email addresses that are posted publically but don’t act to engage actual communication are called spam traps. They are never used for opt-ins. Avoid stumbling upon these and emailing to them at all costs because anyone who sends to them repeatedly is typically a spammer. Thus, you would be lumped into the classification of being one yourself.

If you do fall into the trap by sending to them too often, your email reputation will be damaged.

The safest way to avoid sending to spam traps is to double opt-in. In this process you won’t be immediately added to the list. Instead, a confirmation email will be sent, needing action in order to add the name to the list. If none is taken, then the address will not be added. This allows for a lower risk in being labeled as spam.

Are you feeling better about your email reputation yet? Hopefully you are one step closer to completely understanding what components make up your email reputation and how to keep it at a positive standing. For more on email reputation and the bigger picture of improving email delivery rate, sign up for our December 15th webinar on Solving Email Delivery Problems now.

If you’re an email newsletter publisher or marketer, you have four tasks: You need to get your offer delivered, opened, read and converted.

You know that defeating email subject line spam filters is easy. Simply avoid using about three dozen phrases that are flagged by most email subject line spam filters. But getting your email opened and read — well, that’s a bigger challenge.

Don’t miss the chance to submit your subject lines to expert copywriters Peter Fogel, Peter Schaible and Mark Johnson in our Email Subject Line Smackdown where you will learn:

• The 17 best subject line formulas for getting your emails opened
• How to create an Email Performance Report that tracks mailing dates, subject line archetypes, subject lines used, and open rates
• How to interpret the patterns. Do the poorest performers indicate an archetype that doesn’t work for your audience?
• Which subject lines perform best for your products and services

REGISTER NOW

This webinar is sure to bring you new email marketing ideas and strategies for getting your emails opened and selling more products or advertising. We encourage your participation! Please register now.

Using a seasonal subject line can be tricky; you have to be sensitive to different cultures and religions.

On the other hand, seasonal email subject lines have proven to be very effective at both building personality into your brand and as good excuses for sales.

The seasonal email subject line references a holiday or time of year. Often your control mailing can be adapted to use a seasonal reference, thereby increasing response.

Seasonal subject line examples:

• Your New Year’s Resolutions for Losing Weight

• Columbus Day Sale Starts Today

• Unique Gifts for Dads and Grads

• Huge Savings on Holiday Overstock

As the holiday season approaches, we’ve seen a lot of publishers already starting to take advantage of using a seasonal subject line.

On November 3^rd, PC World sent an email newsletter entitled “Photograph Spectacular Christmas Lights“. This email newsletter was for their “Digital Focus” email subscribers and included a link to the main article as well as related articles from the writer.

On November 5^th, USA Today sent an email newsletter to their “Entertainment” subscribers entitled “Entertainment news: Christmas films already?” This newsletter opened with a link to their feature article on the new A Christmas Carol movie, with links to other entertainment news.

On November 17^th, Canadian Living sent an email newsletter entitled “Plan a flawless holiday cocktail party“. This newsletter included links to recipes, but was actually a subtle promotion for their 2009 Canadian Living Holiday Celebrations special issue.

Other email subject lines we’ve seen recently:

Beading Daily - Create Sparks and Sparkle this Holiday Season
with 12 New Jewelry Projects

eMarketer Daily - eMarketer Daily – Holiday Web Shoppers Hit Social Networks

Ceramic Arts Daily – Ceramic Arts Bookstore – Top DVDs for the Holidays

Knitting Daily – Decorate with Knitted Holiday Ornaments

Marketing Experiments - Order path test nets 69% gain; ecommerce holiday playbook

If you can see the pattern, both B2B and B2C publishers can take advantage of the seasonal subject line, since it’s often associated with hot trigger words this time of year.

Join our Email Subject Line Smackdown on November 24th an information-packed 90-minutes with three of America’s top copywriting experts, who will analyze your subject lines and offer up their own alternatives.

When you register for the Email Subject Line Smackdown Webinar on November 24th, you can submit one of your best email subject lines to our panel of copywriting experts.

Each member of our copywriting panel will individually — without collaboration — write an alternative subject line that he believes has a chance of beating your control.

That’s why we’re calling it a smackdown. Each of our copywriters will submit a challenge — his best wordsmithing effort at creating an email subject line that he believes will perform better than yours.

Register now for this Email Subject Line Smackdown on November 24th

Let’s introduce our panel of experts that will be helping you craft your email subject line strategy:

Peter Fogel is a 10-year copywriting veteran specializes in writing direct mail, web, and radio copy for the alternative health, financial and self-help markets. Prior to entering the world of direct response advertising, speaker, author, and marketing consultant Peter Fogel was a TV writer in Hollywood who wrote for Tri-star International’s award-winning German sitcom, Rita’s World. During this time Peter also was also an in demand studio audience warm-up for such shows as “Married with Children”, “Chicago Sons”, “Whoopi” with Whoopi Goldberg and “The Howie Mandel Show.” Clients include Early to Rise, Agora, Strategic Profits, Vital Max Vitamins, Dr. Sears, Healthier You, Hampshire Labs, Soundview Communications to name just a few. Peter is also the author of the best selling book, “If Not Now… Then When? Stories and Strategies of People Over 40 Who Have Reinvented Themselves“. His direct response articles have appeared in Inside Direct Mail and DM News, and Mequoda.com. His websites are compellingcopynow.com and publicspeaklikeapro.com

Mark Everett Johnson is a marketing communications specialist with over 25 years of copywriting experience including 18 years freelance. His promotion for a leading consumer health newsletter is recognized as the most successful ever created for a monthly periodical with over 4 million subscriptions sold. He previously served as creative director for a major consumer magazine and book publisher, and has won multiple awards for subscriber acquistion copy. Mark is also a sought-after speaker at industry events and for in-house training.

Peter A. Schaible is Editor-at-Large for the Mequoda Group and its chief copywriter. Prior to its merger with Mequoda, he was director of the Subscription Website Publishers Association and executive editor of www.SWEPA.com, the association’s website. Peter has extensive experience in marketing communications, including stints as an editor of newsletters for the National Exchange Carrier Association, AT&T and IBM Corporation. For more than 20 years he has been president of SunDance New Media, a marketing communications consulting firm. Previously he was director of communications for the United States Golf Association. Peter began writing headlines at age 21 as a full-time reporter for a major New Jersey daily newspaper.

Hurry though, the sooner you register and submit your favorite email subject line, the better the chances are that yours will be chosen for the Email Subject Line Smackdown.

Register now for this Email Subject Line Smackdown on November 24th

There are dozens of methods, tricks and tips for writing great headlines. Unfortunately, this isn’t direct mail, and we have spam filters to adhere to, and character counts to abide by when it comes to writing subject lines.

Email subject lines are the digital equivalent of print media headlines. The best email subject lines persuade the user to open and read the messages that follow.

Here are five quick tips for writing better email subject lines:

1. Write an email subject line that works. There are dozens of email subject line formulas suggested by top copywriters that both increase open-rates and and can sell more products. Try asking a question, or adding urgency to your subject line. How-to subject lines, like “How to Get 12 Hours Out of an 8-hour Day” are also proven to have great open rates.

2. Keep your email subject lines short. You don’t know what email client a subscriber is using, so try to pack the punch in the beginning of your emails. Like a good headline, a good email subject line is succinct. Some email clients such as AOL and Hotmail truncate the email subject line if it is longer than 45-51 characters. Other email clients permit up to 80+ characters. Generally, shorter email subject lines produce higher open and click-through rates.

3. Don’t give everything away in the email subject line. Is your email subject line sufficiently intriguing to prompt the recipient to open your email newsletter or sales letter? Or do you “give away” the entire message in the email subject line, diminishing the subscriber’s incentive to read any further?

4. Don’t trick subscribers into opening your email. Mystery is a good thing, just make sure not to cross the line of “tricking” your readers into opening an email that has content not inline with what you’re promising them. The email subject line is not creative if it prompts the recipient to open your email message, but subsequently disappoints, confuses, or worse, alienates the recipient.

5. Keep your email subject line content relevant to your brand. The email subject line should be appropriate to the publisher’s mission statement and should support the website’s brand. If your book, newsletter, magazine, video, etc. is about kayaking, don’t publish an email newsletter with a subject line solely about fishing, even if the larger story is about using the kayak to get to the fishing venue.

Speaking of subject lines, we have an Email Subject Line Smackdown coming up on November 24th, featuring three of America’s Top Copywriters, Peter Fogel, Peter A. Schaible and Mark Johnson.

When you register for the Email Subject Line Smackdown, you can submit one of your best email subject lines to our panel of experts. Each member of our copywriting panel will individually — without collaboration — write an alternative subject line that he believes has a chance of beating your control.

The sooner you register and submit your favorite email subject line, the better the chances are that yours will be chosen for the Email Subject Line Smackdown. Register today.

Do you routinely delete unopened email messages after reading only the “subject line”?

Studies show that most people decide whether to open and read an email message based entirely on a quick glance at the sender’s address and the email subject line.

When you register for the Email Subject Line Smackdown: Test your Email Subject Line Prowess Against 3 of America’s Top Copywriters Webinar on November 24th, you can submit one of your best email subject lines to our panel of copywriting experts, which includes Peter Fogel, Peter A. Schaible and Mark Johnson.

Each member of our copywriting panel will individually — without collaboration — write an alternative subject line that he believes has a chance of beating your control.

That’s why we’re calling it a smackdown. Each of our copywriters will submit a challenge — his best wordsmithing effort at creating an email subject line that he believes will perform better than yours.

We’ll pick only 12 subject lines that are representative of the most popular email subject line archetypes.

The sooner you register and submit your favorite email subject line, the better the chances are that yours will be chosen for the Email Subject Line Smackdown.

Each of our copywriters will explain his “challenge” email subject line and why he thinks it will win.

As a participant in this live event, you’ll have about 60 seconds to decide your favorite and vote — right online.

Even if the subject line you submitted isn’t chosen for the challenge, you’ll vote to help determine the winners. So, you’ll have an opportunity to test your skills and judgment against all the other online seminar participants.

We’ll immediately tally the votes, display the results and declare the winners.

You, and the other members of our live webinar audience, collectively will determine which subject lines are most likely to have the best open rates.

Who knows? Perhaps they’ll choose your control. And if they choose one of the subject lines written by a panel member, you’ll want to test it against your control.

Learn more about our Email Subject Line Smackdown on November 24th