Email Subject Lines: Whatever You Do, Don’t Do This…
By Anna Johnson on February 17th, 2009Last week I received an email from a fairly well-known Internet marketer. The subject line read:
[Name] is in the hospital
(“Name” is the name of another Internet marketer)
Concerned about the Internet marketer being in hospital, I opened up the email. It said:
Ok. Don’t panic.
[Name] is *not* in the hospital.
But, I know how crammed your inbox is with emails and
I *desperately* needed to grab your attention.Here’s what this email is *really* about…
As you might already know, perhaps the BIGGEST
contest ever is about to happen here at [Name of website]“
I received this email at a time when I, like many others here in Australia, were gradually coming to terms with the havoc wreaked by the Victorian bush fires.
Nearly 200 reported dead. Many people having lost their homes. One of my favorite towns on Earth (where my family has gone since my grandmother was young and where my husband and I got married) wiped out. And my sister-in-law’s friend missing. She was last heard on the phone to her mother… telling her mum that her car was surrounded by fires.
As you can imagine, the email got me at a BAD time.
I was so incensed that I posted a comment about it on a popular Internet marketing forum. The thread generated over 160 comments. Many (if not most) of those who commented shared my disgust, and many who had seen the email had also unsubscribed to the Internet marketer’s email list in protest.
Here’s the thing.
Apparently the Internet marketer who sent the email had made a mistake. He had sent the offending email to the WRONG list.
According to a very trustworthy source, the Internet marketer had intended to send the email as a joke to the members of one of his membership programs. This particular group of recipients were evidently familiar with the marketer’s sense of humor and would get the joke.
If this guy is to be believed, I’m still not sure why he would use such a risky subject line with ANY group of subscribers.
Whether or not they were members of his program, who’s to say that none of them hadn’t just seen someone near and dear to them go into hospital?
Apart from playing on people’s emotions like this, I can’t see the sense in baiting and switching people. Using a ‘clever’ subject line is one thing… using one that tricks people into reading is another.
But, assuming the right list would have appreciated the joke, the biggest mistake of all was sending the email to the wrong list.
And you know what? It’s soooo easy to make that mistake!
If you use an autoresponder such as the one built into 1shoppingcart, all it takes is selecting the wrong list from the drop-down menu to send out a broadcast email to the wrong list.
So, while I seriously advise you against using misleading, emotive subject lines – you just never know how people will react, but a certain proportion are unlikely to react well – let me also urge you to take care when sending out your email!
February 17th, 2009 at 1:27 am
Well said, I couldn’t agree more.
Our hopes and prayers with you all down under.
February 17th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
G’day
Once, a political commentator said (about political scandals) that the establishment will believe and follow the official story. The rest of the general public will make up its own mind.
As a member of the general public, do I believe the “wrong list”story. No I don’t,
I rather think that someone has pushed the envelope a little too far.
Lesson learned for all? I truly hope so.
We here in Australia are grieving. So, even of the so called “joke”to the claimed “wrong list” story had even a miniscule amount of credence, what if some Australians (particularly those living in Victoria) were on that “wrong list”?
Hmmm!
Cheers
John.