Once you’ve begun building your email list, it’s important to begin sending your subscribers useful content.

This could be a blog post, a podcast episode, a video, or some other form of content. (A fun way to approach this is to geek out about the same things your audience likes to geek out about. Click here for more about this method of generating useful content for your followers.)

Whatever the content you create, doing so at least somewhat consistently will help you build trust with your readers.

I often tell writers the most reliable way to be a successful author is to serve an audience over time before your book releases. You do that with content you consistently deliver to their inboxes.

Ah, but here’s the rub. What if your email reaches their inbox, but they don’t open your email or click within your email to go to what you’ve created?

That’s the topic of this article, because if no one opens your emails, it’s as if you never had an email list to begin with.

I’m going to share some practical ways to dramatically increase reader engagement with your emails and therefore your content.

The first step is to come up with a great subject line.

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

Develop a Compelling Subject Line for Your Email

The vast majority of readers will decide whether or not to open your email based solely on your email’s subject line.

I beg you not to use subject lines like:

• “New Post from James Smith”
• “Blog Post #32”
• “Writing tip #72”
• “Chad Allen’s 18^th Newsletter”

Subject lines like these will sabotage your open rates!

Not quite but almost as bad are subject lines that use poetic or obscure language that doesn’t tell readers what the content is, such as:

• “Night Skies and Shiny Beetles”
• “Hope and Peace”
• “My Aunt Sandy’s Apple Pie”

In short, who cares!?

The best subject lines are focused on a benefit to the reader, such as:

• “5 super doable ways to develop more intimacy with your spouse”
• “A simple stress-relieving prayer for when you’re overwhelmed”
• “A checklist to make your date night awesome!”

Notice in the above list my preference for sentence-style capitalization in email subject lines. I prefer title capitalization in my actual blog posts, but in subject lines I like the more casual sentence style because I think it’s more like what a friend would send to a friend.

Below are three resources that will quickly help you improve your skill at developing subject lines.

1. The article titles at Copyblogger. Copyblogger is a site dedicated to helping normal folks like you and me become better at writing stuff people will actually read. If I’m struggling with a blog post title or subject line (and in my case the two are often identical), I sometimes jump over to Copyblogger’s site and simply peruse their article titles. More often than not I find the inspiration I need.
2. David Garfinkel’s Advertising Headlines That Make You Rich. This book is organized into twenty different headline templates. Again, a great source for inspiration.
3. And finally, check out Coschedule’s tool, Headline Analyzer (you’ll likely need to create a free account to use it). Headline Analyzer assigns a score to any headline you’re considering. I always shoot for a score at least in the seventies. You may choose not to go with Headline Analyzer’s guidance, but it provides a useful reference point.

Now that we’ve developed an attractive subject line, we need to make sure the copy of our email is just as attractive.

Promote Your Content

Let’s assume your subject line prompted a subscriber to open your email. Job #1 complete!

Job #2 of your email is to help your subscriber see how your content is going to help them. Ultimately, we want them to click on a link we provide so they can take advantage of our content.

You might ask, “Why shouldn’t we simply include the content within the email?” I think this is fine, but it’s often helpful for your content to be in a public place that lasts a while and can be shared with others via social media.

I love getting emails from my audience; what I love even more is when they comment on my site or share my content because then more people can join the conversation. That’s why I typically link to (for example) my new blog posts rather than simply copying and pasting it into the email I send.

So how do you craft an email that motivates your readers to click the link you provide.

It comes down to five primary elements. I’ll share the elements and then a sample email that puts them to use.

1. Start with the problem your content solves. Often a great way to do this is with a question.
2. Agitate the problem a little bit. You don’t need to go overboard, but point out the real loss that’s involved if your reader does not solve the problem you’ve just raised.
3. Segue. Simply let readers know that you’ve created something that will solve their problem.
4. Provide a list of benefits. Touch on the high points of what the reader will get from your new content. I often do this in bullet form. Try to write these in a way that’s surprising and unique.
5. Insert the link. I like to hyperlink a verbal call to action such as “Click here to find out how to write an irresistible email.”

For example, the email I use to promote this blog post might go something like this:

Hi Friends!

Do you wish more people opened your emails and engaged with your content? [Problem]

You spend a lot of time creating great content, but if no one engages with it, it feels like, what’s the use?! It can be incredibly frustrating. [Agitate]

That’s why I wrote my newest blog post. [Segue] I share:

• two types of subject lines to avoid like the plague
• three resources (two are free!) to help you grab people’s interest every time
• a simple five-part formula to write magnetic emails
• several examples of what to do and what not to do
• and more! [Benefits]

Click here to find out how to write an email to promote your new blog post, podcast ep, or video. [Link]

I can’t wait to help you increase engagement with your content!

Take care,

Chad

If you take the time to craft a great email subject line and use the above five elements in your email, significantly more people will show up to interact with your content!

Question: What’s a new piece of content you want people to engage with? You can leave a comment by clicking here.