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

Over the years, printed newsletters have been popular vehicles for communicating company news and information directly with customers and employees. Today, many clients ask us if newsletters are still relevant in an increasingly digital world.

In short, the answer is “yes.” They’re not dead, and here’s why: company newsletters have been redefined, and can be leveraged across new platforms to expand their reach and cross-communicate in various channels. That’s a big payoff and great ROI on content that otherwise would have been sequestered in a printed piece. If you plan strategically, today you can get more bang for your buck out of newsletters than you ever could before.

Here are five tips to keep in mind to set your company up for newsletter success:

Content is king. No matter what form a newsletter takes–printed or email–content is still the most important element. Develop stories that help, encourage, and inform the audience with timely information. Expand the content out beyond just you and your company to include industry trends, case studies, and tips that readers can benefit from. The best content is brief enough to engage those with short attention spans and not too self-serving. As the news media shrinks, this approach is an opportunity to tell your story directly to customers.

Plan, plan, plan. Organizing a successful newsletter takes planning. The first step is setting a purpose for your newsletter. Ask yourself what you want to accomplish for all the effort and expense. Next, establish deadline and publish dates to keep everyone on schedule, and evaluate timing to coincide distribution with trade shows, product launches, or other timely opportunities that can support the brand message. This has proven to work for both printed and email newsletters.

Leverage social media. Newsletter content makes great fodder for a company’s social media channels. For example, post newsletter stories on your website and distribute links via a Twitter account to your audience. Or post on Facebook and ask customers to comment. By doing so, you reinforce your message and get more mileage out of your efforts. Social media is also a rich environment for gathering content. For instance, we use one client’s Twitter account to conduct quick survey polls using SurveyBob on industry topics and run the results in the company’s quarterly newsletter.

Appoint an in-house publisher. CMD works on newsletters for several clients and the most successful ones are those that have a single, internal contact who acts as publisher. Our experience shows that bringing too many people into the newsletter process is like inviting too many chefs into the kitchen. Everyone has an opinion and the end result usually isn’t that good. Plus it never goes out on time.

Survey says. Have you asked your customers recently what they want to read about, or do you just think of story ideas that sound interesting? Remove the guesswork and survey your audience about stories, frequency, distribution method, etc. You can’t give them what they want if you don’t know what it is. This step could save you time, money, and improve your odds of positively connecting with customers.