One of key drivers of the open rate for a law firm email newsletter is the subject line. If it catches the attention of your subscribers, they are more likely to open the email. Here are some "subject line" best practices designed to maximize open rates.
1. Mind the Space. When crafting a subject line, you should assume that recipients will only see the first 55-60 characters (including spaces). While many email applications allow users to expand the space devoted to the subject line, it's best to assume that words beyond the above range may get cut off, and therefore include your most compelling language within that space. To measure a proposed subject line, you can copy and paste it into a new document in MS Word, click "Properties," (under "File") and then click "Statistics." (Note: MS Word 2007 has a new interface that has a different path to the same information). Remember to look at the number of characters with spaces (rather than without).
You can also send a test email to yourself and see how it looks in your email inbox (assuming the space allocated in your inbox interface to subject lines is not overly stingy or generous, and thus representative of your readers' configurations).
Finally, make sure there is no word at a possible cutoff point that could prove embarassing if only part of the word was displayed in the subject line (consider this example that led to some red faces: Case Study: How One Client Used Senior Executive Assessments to Predict Performance).
Given space limitations for subject lines, the next few tips will teach you how to make the best use of that space.
2. Avoid Redundancy. It's a bad idea to repeat the name of your law firm in the subject line. That information should already appear in the "From" field. Repeating it in the subject line is duplicative, and thus wastes valuable space that could otherwise be used to craft a compelling subject line.
It's also a waste to include the date of the publication in the subject line since most email applications allow users to sort email by date.
3. Be Descriptive. Make sure the subject line accurately describes the content of each issue (if there are several topics covered in an issue, mention the most compelling one (e.g., "Supreme Court Strikes Down New York Tax Regulation"). Alternatively, summarize key issues and conclude with "And More" (e.g., Tax News: New IRS Reg, Supreme Crt Decision, and More").
Subscribers appreciate descriptive subject lines since it helps them quickly decide upfront whether they want to read a particular email. While this gesture may initially reduce the number of opens, descriptive subject lines build trust over time since readers know you value their time and aren't trying to entice them with vague subject lines, or worse, subject lines that don't reflect the subject matter of the email. Indeed, nothing does more to annoy readers and shatter trust than to "tease" them with a subject line and then speak about an entirely different topic in the email.
4. Be Creative and Compelling. while you'll want to avoid hype, it's important to craft compelling subject line copy that will entice readers to open your email. For example, consider which of the following would pique your interest more: "New Department of Labor Regulation" versus "New DOL Reg Redefines Overtime Exceptions" (assuming your readers will understand the "DOL" reference). Just make sure the subject line is appropriately descriptive (as per tip #3 above).
In certain instances, it may be helpful to use a subject line with phrases like "Top 10...." or "How to..." - these are well-established phrases for generating interest if used appropriately.
Note: when launching the first issue of an email newsletter, we've found this subject to generate high open rates: Welcome to Our First Issue. Seems that language has a way of generating curiosity.
However, avoid promotional words that may trigger spam filters such as "free," "guaranteed," "cash," or "opportunity." You also don't want a careless reader instinctually deleting your email because they spotted a word they typically associate with spammers.
5. Be Concise. abbreviate references where possible to save space. As per the example in tip #4 above, we abbreviated "Department of Labor" as "DOL." If you don't think your readers will understand what "DOL" means, you can use "Labor Dept" instead (assuming you've concluded that referencing the Department of Labor in your subject line is important from a descriptive standpoint, or important to entice readers to open the email).
Other examples: "Court" can be abbreviated as "Crt" and "Corporation" can be abbreviated as "Corp."
6. Build Brand. To build brand, consider inserting the same publication name at the beginning of each subject line - e.g., "Tax News." This technique offers other benefits as well. First, if you're using strong promotional language to entice opens, a recognized newsletter title can help reduce the risk of inadvertent deletion by reminding readers that this newsletter is from your firm and not from some spammer.
Second, a newsletter title allows recipients to (i) filter incoming newsletter issues into specific folders, and (ii) more easily locate past issues by sorting their emails by subject line. If you do this, you may also consider enclosing the newsletter title in brackets to ensure a clear distinction between title and contents (e.g., "[Tax News]: Supreme Court Strikes Down NY LCC Statute").
However, as per the first tip in this post, if the newsletter title is too long, it will take up valuable subject line space, and leave you with less room to describe the contents of the issue. To avoid that problem, abbreviate the publication title in the subject line. For example, a newsletter with the title like "Development News" might become "Dev News" in the subject line.
Finally, it's also a waste to include the firm's name in the newsletter title in the subject line since, as per the second tip of this post, it's already in the "From" field.
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