If you only have a few seconds to catch someone’s attention (when there are dozens of other things fighting for their attention at the same time), it’s best to spell out what you want people to do. Statements such as “call us today”, followed by the phone number; a clear statement of your special offer “Get 25% off today only” or even the cringe-worthy “click here” are more effective than a suggestion buried in the body of the message that the person should, perhaps, get in touch one day, should they feel so inclined, only if it’s no trouble. They never will. These direct instructions to the reader on what to do next are called “calls to action”. You need them in the subject line of your email message because your greatest challenge isn’t the click-through from the body of your message – your greatest challenge is getting your email opened in the first place. Allow our email marketing Surrey team to explain.
It’s not that consumers are stupid. You and I are consumers, too, and we know we are not stupid. It’s just that all of us have other things on our minds – work, children, TV, social media, friends, partners; that odd noise coming from the fridge that never used to be there… so when we open our email inbox and are confronted with a myriad of messages from people we know, people we don’t know, social media updates, email digests, receipts from our online purchases, newsletters and marketing messages, it’s a free-for-all: which one of these emails deserves our time?
Google thinks it has the answer. It has announced that a new type of inbox with tabs for emails by category (for example priority, social, receipts) is rolling out from this month over a period of a few weeks. Google+ has been incorporated under social (of course) and so far it will be possible for users to keep their current inbox set-up if they don’t want to move over to the new style.
What will this mean for email marketers? If a Gmail user has chosen to adopt the new tabbed format, all your offers and newsletters will now be hidden from the main view as the email client loads, and the user will have to click on the relevant tab to see them. When shown, your email with that special 25% off flash sale will be fighting for attention amongst all the other messages of the same type. And all you’ve got to persuade the consumer to open your message is the email address you’ve sent it from (if it’s a brand they recognise and trust they are more likely to open it) and the text in your subject line.