Do you e-mail your customers? I'm guessing you do, at least occasionally. I know you take the time to create interesting content, add links to your web site, perhaps even include an engaging photo. That is important and you should be doing it, but have you considered your subject line and your from line?
Imagine your customer sitting at their computer scanning their in box. They come across an email and they don't recognize the name in the from line and the subject line is non-specific. They're thinking, spam or they may be worried it contains a virus especially if you added an attachment.
After you've created your email sit back and think of a four to eight word summary for the content. Yes, it should be appealing but it should also be clear. If you send a weekly email consider having a name for it to create consistency. The from line is also important. It is fine to have your name as the from, but somewhere either in the from or the subject line, you should list your business name.
Here are a few examples of good from and subject lines. I opened all these emails.
From: Manhattan 24/7
Subject: St. Patrick's Day Celebration in Manhattan
From: Lisa-Marie at Emily Rose
Subject: Pick of the Week - Purple Passion (these arrive weekly and the subject line always begins "Pick of the Week" and is followed by a description.)
From: Michael Katz | Blue Penguin E-Newsletter
Subject: Publish or Perish
All three of these examples tell me who the email is from and give me an idea of the content in three different ways.
You spend a lot of time creating your emails, make sure they have a chance for success. Let your customers know up front the email is from you and what's in it for them.
