Email subject lines can have far more importance for lead generation than you may realise. If you thought that subject lines were more of a small detail than an essential element in lead nurturing best practices, think again.
Done right, a powerful subject line can be one of the biggest tools in your lead generation toolbox. Treated as an afterthought, you may find that your efforts struggle to gain traction.
The Impact That Email Subject Lines Have on Lead Generation
Just how important are subject lines for lead generation, then? Let’s take a look.
- Subject lines are a major factor in email open rates. In the second or two it takes for your audience to decide whether to read, ignore or delete your email, the thing that makes all the difference is the subject line. A good email subject line can encourage open rates, offer a bit of enticement that makes people want to read more. A poorly thought-out subject meanwhile can have the opposite effect, resulting in a lack of interest at best and a major disconnect at worst. Too many emails with badly written subject lines, and you will soon see a dip in your open rates month on month.
- Subject lines also affect clickthrough rates. At the same time, subject lines can also affect your clickthrough rates. While you have lured readers in enough to read your email, it may not be enough to ensure that they also click on your links. Wondering what the biggest cause of clickthrough fails? Subject lines that are misleading, false or clickbaity are all to blame for a lack of clicks. Needless to say, if no one is clicking your links, you will battle to convert those leads.
- Subject lines can even affect unsubscribe rates. Subject lines can also impact on your unsubscribe rates, which is also a major problem for lead nurturing. When you continuously use subject lines that are not informative, relevant or designed for optimal conversion, your readers will eventually get tired of having to delete your unopened emails. Instead, they will simply unsubscribe, taking away the chance to convert them from potential leads to actual customers.
The best way to ensure that your subject lines are always on form is to test and test again. A/B testing is the easiest and most effective way to determine the best subject lines. Once you have a better idea of what works, it will become far easier to craft the perfect subject lines for your lead generation campaigns.
