Tips on How to Write Successful Email Subject Lines to Improve Your Open Rates

It’s no secret that email subject lines hold all of the power when it comes to creating a successful email campaign. The difference between a poorly written subject line and an impactful one is simple and it’s all in your open rate. Today, we wanted to break down what exactly makes an email subject line impactful so that it motivates your audience to open your email, click that button, and drive traffic to your website.

Tip #1: Keep Things Short

Often when people access their email, the subject lines only preview so many words before they start to get cut off once they’re too long. A good rule of thumb is to keep your subject lines under 40 characters or to about 5 – 7 words. If your readers can’t actually read and/or understand what you are trying to say, they are less likely to interact with your email and will just keep scrolling on by.

Examples:

• Take your pick (Nokia Health)
• New for you (HotelTonight)
• All the shiny things (Etsy)

Tip #2: Avoid Using Anything That Can Be Confused With Being Spam

The last thing you want is for your emails to end up in your reader’s spam folder. This not only will practically guarantee them not opening your emails but it might actually make them unsubscribe from your list altogether. Using things like all caps, multiple exclamation points, or the common phrases, “Buy Now” or “Free”, are mistakes to avoid ending up being marked as spam.

Tip #3: Try Asking a Question

Asking a question in your subject line can spark intrigue from the reader to find the answer, therefore opening your email.

Examples:

• Did you get what you’re looking for?
• Isn’t this trend pretty? (Rent The Runway)
• Fall’s biggest trend? (Etsy)

Tip #4: Try Including a Deadline

Deadlines can be great motivators for your readers to take action. If there is a limited time to participate, register, take advantage of a sale, etc. your readers will feel a sense of urgency from calling out the deadline in your subject lines.

Examples:

• Your coupon Expires Tonight (LuckyVitamin.com)
• One week only: 30% off all lenses (Coastal.com)

Tip #5: Try Using a Teaser

Readers love to be teased rather than reading something that is giving away everything right off the bat. Use a teaser to bait your readers and spark their interest in what it is you are talking about.

Examples:

• Can you keep a secret? (GlassesUSA)
• This is big. Like, really big… (OFF 5th Saks Fifth Avenue)
• You have to see what’s in this bag (Kate Spade)

Tip #6: Try Giving a Command to Take Action

As an alternative to teasing your readers, you can give them a direct call-to-action. If your intention is to get your readers to purchase something or attend an event, using a call-to-action in the subject line encourages them to do so.

Examples:

• STOP! You’ll miss this: 3 Day Sale (Lord & Taylor)
• Take control of your color! (Pantone)

Tip #7: Try Using a List

Creating a list forces you to condense a larger portion of information into smaller, easily readable key points. Readers love lists for this reason.

Examples:

• The 4 jeans trends you need to try (Express)
• 3 dress styles that WOW (Revolve)
• Our 5 Favorite Summer Styles (BOSS)

Tip #8: Try Sharing an Announcement

When your readers subscribe to your newsletter, they can expect to receive the latest news from you. Announcements create enthusiasm and motivate your readers to find out more.

Examples:

• New Season, New Look (Call It Spring)
• Tickets On Sale Now! (New York Comedy Festival)

Tip #9: Try Being Unique

With readers receiving numerous emails a day, it is essential to try and stand out from the rest.  It’s important to keep in mind who your target audience is to stay on-brand but also what you can offer your readers and/or potential customers that they cannot find elsewhere.

Examples:

• It’s Glow Time (MAC Cosmetics)
• Open to avoid FOMO. (Rent the Runway)

Tip #10: Try Personalizing

There’s a fine line between personalizing a subject line and coming off as a creepy spammer. Using words like “you” and “your” are easy ways to make your subject line feel more personal to your readers. However, actually using your reader names in the subject line is something a spammer would do and likely will send your emails right to their spam or junk folders.

Examples:

• Open for your new motto (Loft)
• Your next outfit is over 40% OFF…(Lord & Taylor)

Keep these tips in mind for the next email campaign you run, A/B test, and track your results!

Sources: Constant Contact, Constant Contact

Happy Birthday Ashley!

Happy belated birthday to our newest team member Ashley! Joining us earlier this summer, she is full of energy, wit, and is a pro at keeping everything organized. When she’s not busy making sure we have all that we need to be properly caffeinated, Ashley loves to travel across the U.S. going on road trip adventures and enjoying the outdoors. Get to know Ashley a little bit more in her birthday interview:

WHAT’S YOUR OFFICIAL ROLE AT VISION?

Office manager

WHAT’S A TYPICAL DAY IN THE OFFICE LIKE FOR YOU?

Every day begins with saying Good Morning to everyone as they walk in the door! After that, the craziness begins – just kidding! Managing all phases of our jobs from opening to billing and closing. Answering and redirecting all phone calls. Making sure the kitchen and all supplies are stocked (very important that the people have coffee). And of course, approving any and all time off requests. Oh also, organizing and color-coding EVERYTHING! 🙂

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ITEM(S) ON YOUR DESK?

My “Cawfee” mug from my favorite store Fishs Eddy – it sits on top of my “Coastuh” – also from Fishs Eddy.

WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES/INTERESTS OUTSIDE THE OFFICE?

Kayaking, hiking, estate sale shopping, furniture flipping, schooling my little brother in basketball, etc.

WHERE IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE YOU’VE TRAVELED TO AND WHERE ARE YOU HOPING TO TRAVEL TO NEXT?

Fun fact, I’ve traveled to half of all the states. I’ll be knocking 4 more off the list in October (Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho), but my favorite state so far is Tennessee, and favorite city is Seattle. 

Instagram Introduces IGTV

Is your brand ready for IGTV? Instagram rolled out another major update last week: meet IGTV. What is IGTV? Instagram has now incorporated its very own video content hub that supports videos up to 1 hour in length. What does this mean? Now you won’t have to link out to an external platform such as YouTube or Vimeo for your users to be able to watch the full video. This will keep your users inside the platform where they are more likely to continue engaging with your content.

Here’s a breakdown of everything you need to know about using IGTV for your brand:

How to create your IGTV:

Step 1: Go to your Instagram feed then tap the IGTV logo near the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 2: Tap the gear icon on the right side of the screen.

Step 3:  Tap “Create Channel” at the bottom of the screen.

Step 4: You’ll see a brief introduction to IGTV. Tap “Next” on the first and second screens, and then tap “Create Channel” on the third screen. Your channel will be created, and you’ll be able to start uploading videos to this section of the app.

(via Adweek)

How to access IGTV:

Users will be able to access IGTV directly from their newsfeed, located on the top right next to the messages icon (see left screenshot below), or they can also access it from your profile if you have an Instagram Stories Highlights section (see right screenshot below).

Image Source: Social Media Today

Features & benefits of using IGTV:

• You can directly link IGTV video from your Instagram Stories and also from Direct Messages. This will allow you to drive traffic to your IGTV channel.
• Users will also be able to send each other videos from IGTV via Direct Message.
• Users will be able to follow channels, leave comments and likes on videos.
• You can add a description and title to each video as well as your own thumbnail prior to uploading.
• Insights are available such as views, likes, comments, and average percentage watched.
• You can post videos from 15 seconds to 1 hour in length.
• Videos must be in a vertical format.

Image Source: Social Media Today

How to use IGTV for your brand:

• Create recurring or IGTV exclusive content: Share tips, create a series, host recurring blog content in video form to keep your users engaged and coming back weekly.
• Host educational content: If you constantly share how-to videos, tutorials, or webinars via Live or short clips that link out to a long featured video on your YouTube channel, bring this content to IGTV.
• Interviews & Q&A’s: Conduct interviews and Q&A’s without the concern over interruptions or bad connections via Live.
• Repurpose Content: Extend the life of your Instagram Stories past 24 hours.

Check out Instagram’s full announcement here.

Sources: Social Media Today, Adweek, Social Media Today

The Psychology of Color in Marketing

Feeling blue? Seeing red? Green with envy? So often we use colors to help describe our emotions, but what about our color choices when it comes to marketing and branding? Are you consciously applying the use of color to evoke certain emotions? Color can help define a consumer’s perception of your brand’s personality. Not only that, color can help you stand out from your competition. Now it’s important to remember when choosing colors for your brand identity that not everything is just black or white (pun intended), meaning there’s no universal law that states using red, for example, will instantly boost your sales. There are many factors that come into play such as your industry, product, audience, etc. Let’s break down some important statistics that can be helpful when choosing the best colors for your brand.

Studies About Colors By Gender

According to Joe Hallock’s Colour Assignment survey, 42% of people said that their favorite color was Blue out of a choice of 8 colors: Brown, Green, Grey, Orange, Purple, Red, White, Yellow, and Black.  This data was then filtered by male vs. female, which showed that 57% of men chose Blue as their favorite, with Purple coming in second at 23%, and 35% of females chose Blue as their favorite, with Green in second at 14%. The overall unanimous least favorite color was Orange at 30% with Brown as a close second at 23%.

Favorite Colors

Least Favorite Colors

Image Source: Helpscout.net

There is also a difference between preference of color shades, tints, and hues between men and women. Another study found that men prefer bright colors and women prefer soft colors. Men are more likely to have favorite shades of colors (colors with black added), and women prefer tints of colors (colors with white added). Keep these in mind when selecting your brand’s color palette.

Image Source: KISSmetrics

Coordinating Colors & CTA’s

Ever create a call-to-action button in a bold color that pops and stands out? Of course, right? This utilizes the principle that the majority of consumers prefer color combinations of similar hues with a high contrast accent color. Creating a color palette with a hierarchy guides the consumer and lets them know where to take action. For example, if the majority of your ad or website consists of different shades of grey, use an accent color for your buttons, headlines, and important action items. This helps guide the consumer’s eyes to where they need to find all of the most important information and where to take action. Don’t know which colors go together and work for an accent color? Refer to color charts to help guide you in selecting your palette. Start with your analogous colors. Choose a few colors that are in the same family as your base colors and then choose an accent color that will pop and contrast but still make the text legible. Alternatively, you can use triadic colors when selecting your palette. Adobe Color CC is a great tool to use that helps you select the right coordinating colors.

Here’s a great example of creating a color palette by choosing your analogous colors for your background and base colors, and then picking an accent color that complements then stands out.

Image Source: StudioPress.com

The easiest example of how choosing the best colors has such an impact when guiding your consumers to your call-to-action button. The difference between the left to right is minor but makes a huge difference.

Image Source: Hubspot.com

Next Steps

It’s most likely that your company already has an existing logo with coordinated branding guidelines, but that doesn’t mean you can’t apply these principles in your other marketing efforts. It’s important to remember not to stray completely off-brand, however, try A/B testing different CTA button colors on your landing pages or display advertisements. Keeping this information in mind when creating visuals for your company can impact your customer’s journey and the impression of your brand.

Sources: Helpscout.net, Hubspot.com, StudioPress.com, KISSmetrics.com

The Importance of Branding: Use Your Story to Establish Your Brand

When we hear the word “branding” we often only think of the design side of things which would include your logo, website, packaging, etc. Although all of these things are extremely important to your branding, as marketers we know it’s about more than that and it goes much deeper. Branding represents your business and your company’s image to the world. What story are you’re telling to your existing and potential customers? Who are you as a business and what are your values? Are you trustworthy and reliable? All of these things can be told through your company’s branding.

Branding is made up of all of the visual components, your logo, website, packaging, etc., but it also consists of your voice and customer service module. How you choose to communicate and tell your story to your audience deeply reflects on your branding. For example, SoulCycle, a high-end fitness empire, targets a community of people who all take their classes to have an experience, not just a group workout session. They sell their story, not their fitness classes. “We call it a cardio party. Our riders say it’s changing their lives. With every pedal stroke, our minds clear and we connect with our true and best selves. Through this shared SOUL experience, our riders develop an unshakeable bond with one another. Friendships are made and relationships are built. In that dark room, our riders share a Soul experience. We laugh, we cry, we grow — and we do it together, as a community.”

Another important component of establishing your brand is to research your competition. What makes your company unique? Why would someone choose you over your competition? It’s key to lay these foundations out so you can stay ahead of your competitors. Staying authentic and keeping your integrity in the competitive market goes a long way with your audience.

Which brings us to knowing your target audience. In order to gain value in the impact of your brand’s story, you have to make sure it’s positively impacting the right people. For example, you wouldn’t use a playful voice with vibrant and colorful designs for an established law firm. Knowing your audience allows you to create your narrative with intent beyond just trying to make a sale. When you are marketing to potential new customers, as you grab their attention they are choosing to give you a piece of their time and you should use it as wisely as possible.

An Overview

• Research your target audience
• Examine your competition
• Decide what separates you from the rest
• Create a narrative that exemplifies your brand, your values, your product/service, and your audience
• Visually express this narrative through your logo, website, social media, packaging etc.

How to Get Your Story Out There & Ways to Connect

• About Us page or section on your website
• Add a short section to your social media profiles
• Generate social media content that speaks to your audience
• Stay ahead of your competition
• Be accessible to your customers

Sources: Forbes.com, CreativeBloq.com, MarketingInsiderGroup.com, HubSpot.com

The Latest Updates & Features on Instagram

It seems like every day there’s a new feature or update being announced by our favorite social media platforms. Instagram is one that has been constantly rolling out new features and updates. You may have heard about some of the new features to come at Facebook’s F8, but what about all of the fun stuff that’s happening right now? Have you caught them all? If you didn’t, that’s ok because we’ve got them all broken down for you right here.

What’s New

1. Polling on Instagram Stories with the Emoji Slider Sticker

Instagram had introduced its poll feature to Stories last October, but now they are taking things a step further. Instead of posting a poll that asks your followers to choose between two answers, you can now ask them to rate on a scale with an emoji. For example, you can ask “How much do you love this dress?” with a smiley face emoji and your followers can slide the emoji left or right to cast their vote to mimic a scale of 1-10 but without the numbers.

Photo source: Instagram

2. Share a Song from Spotify on Your Instagram Stories

Have a song you’re totally vibing to right now that you want to share? Or a special #ThrowbackThursday tune that’s too good to keep to yourself? Now you can share what you’re listening to on Spotify to your Instagram Stories and your followers can listen too!

Photo source: Instagram

3. Updates to DM for Business Accounts

Up until this point, messages between a user and a business account worked exactly like messages between users and other users. Meaning, if a user sent your business account a direct message but your business account did not follow that user, the business account would receive the message in a ‘pending’ folder instead of your regular direct messages folder until the communication had been approved. Now, they’ve made things much easier! Every time a user sends a message to a business account, the business account will receive an alert and the message in their direct messages folder.

Photo source: Social Media Today

4. Quick Reply Messages

Ever have frequent questions that you answer with the same type of responses? Now you can create Quick Reply messages that answer all of your commonly received messages and make it easy to respond in seconds!

Photo source: Social Media Today

5. Action Buttons

Just like Facebook, a business account can now include an Action Button to their profile such as “Reserve Now”, “Contact Us”, “Buy Tickets”, etc.

Photo source: Social Media Today

What’s to Come

• Topic Channels: The Discover tab is changing. Mark Zuckerberg is introducing Topic Channels that will allow users to browse content by topics related to their interests as opposed to the current compilation of images you may or may not be interested in.
• Video Chat: Users will soon be able to video chat with one another or with a group! The best part is, you can minimize your chat and continue to scroll through your news feed and browse Instagram.
• AR Camera Effects: Although first introduced for Facebook at F8 in 2017, these new effects are being brought to Instagram. 

Sources: Fast Company, Social Media Today, Instagram