The other day I did a quick survey of my overflowing email inbox to see how many subject lines really made me want to open the message. The results were about 30 percent. That means seven out of 10 senders, such as newsletters, seminars, and brands fall short in enticing me to read their correspondence. This low number tells me there’s lots of room for improving subject lines, as these are the vital words that determine if electronic communication gets digested.

With nearly 90 percent* of adults on the Internet using email, sending electronic messages is one of the easiest ways to reach out to potential customers. To do so effectively, however, you must grab their attention immediately with a strong, active subject line. Otherwise, all of that great information within the body of the email will be wasted. In short, email subject lines must stop readers in their tracks.

Here are a few tips we use at CMD to create attention-getting subject lines:

• Read news headlines and popular Twitter users for inspiration: Ever notice how headline news writers and great tweets have the uncanny ability to grab your attention effortlessly in just a few words and characters? That’s what you should strive for.
• Avoid SPAM language: Terms like “win” “save” and “hi” may send your message straight to the junk folder. For example, instead of saying “Enter to Win a Vacation,” say “CMD Wants to Send You to Hawaii.” For your reference, here’s a list of over 200 SPAM words and phrases to avoid.
• Use power words: Whether it’s a call to action or a report of action, the lively tone of the subject line will move readers to open your email. For example, instead of writing “Google, Facebook Don’t See Eye-to-Eye,” write “Google Fights Back against Facebook.”
• Think numerically: Using numbers, like “Six Tips for Becoming a Better Communicator,” will let potential readers know what to expect from your email. Plus, having a set number implies a set length, which is inviting—especially in the age of information overload.
• Make words count: Odds are if your subject line rambles on, your readers will trail off. No matter the length of your subject line, make each word pull its weight. Remember, if you succeed in convincing the reader to open your message, you have the entire body of the email to fill with details.

What exactly does an effective subject line look like? Here are some examples that grabbed my attention:
• Appealing to curiosity, from the Smart Brief on Social Media: “Dispelling the No. 1 social-media myth”
• Listing the most provocative headlines of the day’s news, from AdAge Global: “U.K. election ad airbrushed; Pepsi is now Pesi in Spanish; 8 Things Foreigners Get Wrong About China”
• Posing an interesting question, from Real Simple: “What Would You Give Up for a Free Hour?”

With these basic tips, you can put together compelling subject lines that get results. Remember, your target audience will never get to the juicy content you’ve created if the subject line doesn’t pique their curiosity. Nor will they see the email if the terms in the subject line send the letter straight to the junk folder.

*From the Pew Internet & American Life Project http://www.pewinternet.org/Static-Pages/Trend-Data/Online-Activites-Total.aspx

SEMpdx (Search Engine Marketing Professionals of Portland), an organization CMD has partnered with, recently hosted a sold-out social media panel discussion. CMD’s own Ken Muraoka, media buyer, served as the paid media expert on the panel, where he discussed the role social media plays in media buys.

Muraoka argued that social media isn’t about conversion, it’s about engagement. He discussed the mismatch in expectation and reality that often accompanies traditional paid metrics when social media is included in a media campaign. Often companies will continue to measure the success of a campaign by looking for increased conversion and click-through rates when social media is added, but the real value lies in the increased conversation social media creates between your target and your brand.

Muraoka also worked hard to dispel the myth that all social media is free, and reminded attendees that, in order to effectively add social media to a campaign, social and paid elements must be complementary. For example, you can make social and paid media work together by placing paid spots on sites and channels that are also conversation hubs for your brand. It’s also important to maintain a unified message, and voice, in both paid and social media efforts.

To see Muraoka’s entire presentation please see the video below, and visit SlideShare to take a closer look at his PowerPoint slides.

Other panelists included Christopher Mike of Rocket XL, Hallie Janssen of Anvil Media, Kevin Tate of StepChange, Kent Schnepp of EngineWorks and Scott Hendison of Search Commander.

Each panelist delivered their top tips for running an optimized social media campaign. The key takeaways of the night were:
• Know your brand and set reasonable social media expectations; if you’re not Coca-Cola, you’re not likely to get 1 million Facebook fans
• Use search-friendly keywords everywhere you enter content (e.g. Facebook profile, Twitter Bio, Usernames, etc.)
• Facebook fans and group members are the new “cold call” list; engage with your fans and group members to create meaningful relationships
• Tools can be your best friend as you manage your reputation online. Check out FriendFeed and COcomment for one-stop social media account management

The halls were alive with tweets at CMD recently as the agency’s PR group hosted a Twitter 101 session for members of the local media. We welcomed users new and seasoned alike in an effort to help Portland-area journalists build a strong Twitter presence for their work and personal use.

Our attendees hailed from newspaper, magazine, radio and TV outlets. Despite diverse reporting methods, everyone in attendance agreed that they were curious about how Twitter could bring attention to their work. Some attendees were toe dippers—they had set up accounts, tweeted a few times, then lost interest and left their Twitter pages as virtual ghost towns; some were semi-enthusiasts—participating frequently in two-way communication on Twitter; some were holdouts—skeptical about how useful Twitter really can be: who cares “what you’re doing”; but the majority of the group were spectators, aka consumers —using Twitter as a stream of news.

Our audience was well aware that Twitter is a micro-blogging platform that now boasts over 21 million users, and that staying relevant means knowing something about it. At the same time, most of them didn’t know the intricacies of being a successful member of the Twitter community. I overheard one frustrated user say, “I’m tweeting out into space, but I don’t know who’s seeing my tweets. I would like to figure out who to follow and how to get followers.” At that point, we introduced tools that could help this editor track URL clicks and measure the value of his tweets for his audience.

The PR team also educated the group on everything from creating a strong profile to the ins and outs of gaining influential followers. Every pen in the room was active as we gave overviews of the Twitter tools that we find most valuable. In the end, we hoped to instill that openness is the key to being a respected member of the Twitter community. As one of our attendees expressed, “Twitter gives viewers a chance to get to know journalists on a more personal level, and that will lead to exclusive content from loyal followers.”

Here are some other tips we shared during the seminar:

1. Secure your username now. Protect it like you would a domain name.

2. Make your profile count. Add a picture, bio and relevant links. Have a personality.

3. If multiple users are tweeting on behalf of your company or publication, set up a sidebar with bios for each contributor.

4. Be selective about who you follow. Choose only those who provide value to you.

Overall, it was a great event and we were thrilled at the turnout from our journalist audience and hope to do more of these special sessions in the future.

Despite the constant buzz surrounding the concept of “social media,” it is not the ultimate media solution for every brand. In fact, traditional (read: paid) media continues to anchor the majority of “integrated” media campaigns for our clients. This doesn’t mean that social media is left out; it simply signifies the importance of creating a project strategy that properly balances traditional and social media based on the needs of the client and the brand.

You may be thinking, “Hold the phone, why can’t I jump on the social media gravy train to conversions and sales?” The answers are a), social media is an excellent complement to a traditional media campaign, but it won’t necessarily get the results you’re looking for on its own, and b), it’s not as cheap, quick and successful as most people think it is. There are examples, such as @comcastcares (http://bit.ly/aXU6V), where social media is highly effective on its own, but it’s been our experience that it is not the single solution to the majority of the business problems our clients are trying to solve with their media interaction. And, by no means should a brand use social media just to use it.

Paid media maintains some undeniable benefits. Historically it’s been the only way to guarantee exposure of your ads, and paid media also offers the opportunity to track not just click rates but also click throughs, view throughs, page views and conversions. Social media metrics are still evolving, and it’s difficult to accurately measure reach and impressions of these campaigns. (For more information regarding social media monitoring, please see Darcie Meihoff’s post: “Social Media Monitoring for Your Company’s Online ‘Health’.”)

Social media has great potential to support traditional media campaigns. For instance, when people talk about your brand in the social media realm (e.g. on Twitter), it’s in a conversational way, versus the forced messaging of traditional advertising—the audience shapes the conversation. The more a brand tries to control the social media conversation, the less impact the message will carry. Rely on brand evangelists to help guide the conversation. You may have negative conversations pop up, but chances are they’re going on already (via phone, TV, letters to the editor, etc.)—trash talking is by no means exclusive to social media. The beauty of social media is that you have the opportunity to respond to your criticizer directly, if you so choose. As demonstrated by @comcastcares, facing your critics can have seriously powerful, and positive, repercussions.

Going forward with your next media buy, make social and traditional media work together to drive traffic. Social media can make display advertising more memorable, and using paid search to link to relevant content will guide the target to your site.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when creating your media plan:

1. Over-targeting can lead to missed opportunities. There is value in a wide-reaching campaign.
2. Remember that there is still value in traditional media—it’s worked for decades.
3. Expand your focus beyond the click, and include the value of impressions and visibility.
4. Be cautious when determining measurement—not all traditional metrics have a digital equivalent.
5. Social and traditional media are not interchangeable—they complement each other.
6. Keep an eye on the changing dynamic between traditional and social media.

Related sites to visit:
1. www.mediapost.com
2. www.adage.com/mediaworks
3. www.imediaconnection.com