If you're like us, your work life is organized and prioritized by your e-mail in-box.
But e-mail's popularity isn't without its problems. We all spend hours sorting and filing these e-mails in an attempt to stay organized and keep related e-mails together.
Can anything be done to help? Yup. Better subject lines. It's the first thing we scan in our e-mail inboxes and often, it alone determines which e-mails we open first—or ever.
You can have subject lines as lengthy as you choose, of course, but assume that your recipients see only the first 56 characters. That's what's been found to make an impression strong enough to get your readers to the next stage—clicking and opening the e-mail you've sent.
Consider a consistent and descriptive name and then expand on it for subsequent e-mails. For example:
2007 Gift Catalog - Ignore the previous txt and use this (56 characters)
2007 Gift Catalog - Revised quantities (38 characters)
2007 Gift Catalog - We love it. You people are terrific! (56 characters)
Take a cue from the headlines. Be clear, concise, and creative—so long as your creativity doesn't confuse. It is important that the subject line is easy for people to understand and archive to find later.
Impress us all. Tell us the most e-mails you've ever received in a single day. But be honest. Information Services is standing by to verify!
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In our last Product Services Newz, we invited you to tell us a common mistake that people make with RSVP's. Dawn Bierma was right with "They write 'Please RSVP' whereas the 'please' is already included in the acronym." Runners-up include Jessica Côté and Jane Hillbrand who pointed out that many RSVP's don't include a return date. The you're-taking-this-further-than-we-intended award also goes to Jessica who doesn't like it when inadequate postage is included on an RSVP's return envelope. Ouch! Fabulous prizes will be shipped COD to these winners. |
