I am Only Getting a 10% Open Rate with My 6-Pack Abs/Weight Loss Email Subject Lines

JamesAggie · 02-15-2011, 12:20 PM

Anyone have any ideas for good weight loss/6 pack subject lines. I feel like I am fairly creative but I am just not getting the opens I want.

1. The #1 Reason and You'll Never Look Good in a Bikini
2. The 3 Shocking Truths About Getting Sexy Abs
3. If You Miss This Step You'll Be 30% More Likely to Be Overweight.

Those are example that I am using. Maybe they really are that bad.

I am converting my list at around 2.5% for a cheap product but I was hoping for at least a 5% conversion of my list.

I thought about using a different approach where I would start a story in the subject line and continue it in the email.

For example-

Subject line- "I Was Walking Down The Beach with My Nice Abs When 3 Girls Approached Me"

Then continue the story in the email. I haven't really seen something like this used so I assume it's not very effective. However, I feel like I would be hitting on a big desire for men that want nice abs and hitting one of their major hot buttons.

What say ye?

Please help.

BacklinkExcellence · 02-15-2011, 12:22 PM

I think you already crafted those headlines pretty well (though exchange the "and" from the first headline with "why" since that would make more sense?). Maybe the traffic on your list just isn't targeted or consists of too many freebie seekers and tire-kickers? But I'll let the copywriting pros chime in here.

JamesAggie · 02-15-2011, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BacklinkExcellence

I think you already crafted those headlines pretty well (though exchange the "and" from the first headline with "why" since that would make more sense?). Maybe the traffic on your list just isn't targeted or consists of too many freebie seekers and tire-kickers? But I'll let the copywriting pros chime in here.

Since you're talking about traffic, 95% comes from article directories and a probably 5% from Google.

Bill Jeffels · 02-15-2011, 12:34 PM

Go to Truthaboutabs dot com. Sign up for Mike Geary's free report.

Then you'll be on his e-mail list. I've been on his list for a while. He's got some really great subject lines. I'm not saying copy his but you'll get a good education from someone who is doing very well for himself in this market.

Best,

Bill Jeffels

.

BacklinkExcellence · 02-15-2011, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesAggie

Since you're talking about traffic, 95% comes from article directories and a probably 5% from Google.

That should be targeted enough then since your articles obviously must be about weightloss/6 pack abs. What do you do to get them on your list? What is your from name in the emails? What service do you use to send emails (do you inbox?)

JamesAggie · 02-15-2011, 12:55 PM

They sign up for a 7-page report.
Then I am taking them through a 7-day ecourse. However, I only have 4 days finished so far.
I put my website name in the From instead of the name I am using for the site.

Jay White · 02-15-2011, 01:27 PM

Try phrasing some of your subject lines in question format. Something like:

Is this the REAL reason you don't wear a bikini?
Sexy Abs can't be THIS easy...can they?
Did you miss this crucial weight loss tip?

I've found that my question type subject lines tend to get more opens than the non-questions. Something about the human condition and people being taught from an early age to answer a question if asked. Sort of ingrained.

Another quick tip: scroll through the email copy and see if there's a different subject line in there. A phrase, a sentence that stands out from the rest and grabs attention. Sometimes it'll almost "jump out" at you while you read. If it does, there's a good chance it'll jump out at the prospect as well.

JamesAggie · 02-15-2011, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jay White

Try phrasing some of your subject lines in question format. Something like:

Is this the REAL reason you don't wear a bikini?
Sexy Abs can't be THIS easy...can they?
Did you miss this crucial weight loss tip?

I've found that my question type subject lines tend to get more opens than the non-questions. Something about the human condition and people being taught from an early age to answer a question if asked. Sort of ingrained.

Another quick tip: scroll through the email copy and see if there's a different subject line in there. A phrase, a sentence that stands out from the rest and grabs attention. Sometimes it'll almost "jump out" at you while you read. If it does, there's a good chance it'll jump out at the prospect as well.

Those 3 subject lines look great. It's weird how much more powerful they are than my original headlines.

Jay,

If you don't mind me asking, what do you think of my example about writing a story copy email subject line. I know you like to use story copy in your emails.

What if I started the story in the subject line like I suggested in the op. Do you have any experience with that?

Don Halbert · 02-15-2011, 04:15 PM

Through who were you running this campaign? I'm willing to bet I can answer this question if you tell me that.

JamesAggie · 02-15-2011, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don Halbert

Through who were you running this campaign? I'm willing to bet I can answer this question if you tell me that.

I am using aweber. Is that what you were asking?

sethczerepak · 02-15-2011, 06:58 PM

I'm curious as to why we're all advising under the assumption that 10% is somehow much lower than normal. It's actually not bad at all...the real question is: how are your conversions?

I suspect that it's all these bloody...

"AMAZING NEW COPYWRITING SECRETS TAP INTO SUBCONSCIOUS OF PROSPECTS AND FORCE THEM TO OPEN YOUR EMAILS...99.9% OPEN RATE OR YOUR MONEY BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

...messages that put the idea into people's heads that you "should" be getting these outrageous open rates. All the BS aside, my experience working with customers who own their own lists and who aren't trying to sell me something but are instead seeking my help to see if they can improve their open rates tells me that 10% is much higher than average.

Just be careful about what you believe and where you read it. The real picture is quite different.

PS: Your headlines are fine, if I were you I'd work on landing page conversions and your consumption strategy to increase profits with existing customers.

Don Halbert · 02-16-2011, 02:01 AM

I'm siding with Seth...but firstly...yes aweber answered my question.

You see the calculation of 'open rates' can vary from autoresponder to autoresponder. But overall a 10% open rate is still pretty good. Worth noting is that the figure is not entirely accurate. If people have HTML messaging turned off you wont register a plain text open. A few other contributing factors are whether or not they have images turned on in their client and also whether or not they have actually clicked on a link within that email. So as you can see the open rate can not possibly be measured with anykind of accuracy. But I just did a blast of over 11k with a 11.1% open rate which I am quite happy with considering the conversions are substantial compared to past blasts I've done.

Pura vida!

Jay White · 02-16-2011, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesAggie

Those 3 subject lines look great. It's weird how much more powerful they are than my original headlines.

Jay,

If you don't mind me asking, what do you think of my example about writing a story copy email subject line. I know you like to use story copy in your emails.

What if I started the story in the subject line like I suggested in the op. Do you have any experience with that?

Test it man. See how it pulls compared to all the others. There's no "bad" ideas when it comes to subject lines--just ones that never got tested. You'd be surprised at what resonates and what doesn't.

Don Halbert · 02-16-2011, 12:45 PM

I feel ya on that one Jay cause most of the time you just never know what will take off and what wont. I've written some of, what I thought were, great pieces, yet then they dont take off but the ones that I bang out...they seem to rock. For example I just did a Dominical Surf Camp PR that got run on CBS Moneywatch. WTH?

Zero · 02-16-2011, 01:03 PM

There is a way to boost your open rate. If you're using aweber - you can segment your list based on who didn't open the previous message that you sent - so you can resend it again with the same subject line or a new one, and then see if that one performs any better.

Just go to subscribers > search > select field "message not opened" click on the field next to it to select the message you want to segment.

Click the search button. Then save the segment by giving it a name you'll recognise. When you then send another email to that particular list - at the bottom of the page - there is an option to send your email to a segment of your list, just select the segment name....

Thats with aweber though.

Don Halbert · 02-16-2011, 11:55 PM

Anyone remember when Gary said...and repeatedly I might add...that using autoresponders like Aweber, Mail Chimp, Constant Contact etc...is not such a smart decision? I know I personally have an offline "special" list that will never be sent using an email services like the above mentioned.

PS: I just ran a short short email campaign through iContact and although the response was record breaking for my client...I wasn't satisfied. I didnt want the iContact opt-out footer etc. in there when I was going for a personal touch email. Next time it will be sent via normal ISP accounts @ 300/day. Might take awhile but I bet the response will even be greater.

Reuben Gene · 02-18-2011, 07:23 AM

Of course they aren't going to work. This market is saturated with claims like this. When this happens, you have to move past featuring the claim in your headline, and feature the mechanism in WHICH you get them results. They don't believe any of your claims anymore.

eg. "New xx Machine Gets You Those 6-pack Abs"... "6-Pack Ab Pills Get You Compliments Galore"

They've lost hope. Make them say "wow, maybe THIS new method will get me the results!". Give them some new hope.

You get it

sethczerepak · 02-18-2011, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zero

There is a way to boost your open rate. If you're using aweber - you can segment your list based on who didn't open the previous message that you sent - so you can resend it again with the same subject line or a new one, and then see if that one performs any better.

Just go to subscribers > search > select field "message not opened" click on the field next to it to select the message you want to segment.

Click the search button. Then save the segment by giving it a name you'll recognise. When you then send another email to that particular list - at the bottom of the page - there is an option to send your email to a segment of your list, just select the segment name....

Thats with aweber though.

Great idea...for testing that is. It doesn't assure that you'll get a better open rate though.

D111 · 02-23-2011, 04:33 PM

Have you tried anything that's an everyday type of subject
you would get from a friend? Or anything vague?

One email that I know is trying to sell me something,
but still want to open out of curiosity has the subject line below:

Please do not share

Steven Carl Kelly · 02-23-2011, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesAggie

1. The #1 Reason and You'll Never Look Good in a Bikini
2. The 3 Shocking Truths About Getting Sexy Abs
3. If You Miss This Step You'll Be 30% More Likely to Be Overweight.

Maybe its just me, but all of those subject lines seem negative. If I'll NEVER look good in a bikini, why should I bother reading your message? Shocking truth about sexy abs sounds to me like I'm going to get bad news if I read the message. Don't tell me about missing steps, tell me about NEW steps -- and 30% more likely to be overweight doesn't really sound ominous enough to compel me to open the e-mail.

Others may have a different take on it, but that's my first reaction.

Steve Peters Benn · 02-24-2011, 04:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly

Maybe its just me, but all of those subject lines seem negative. If I'll NEVER look good in a bikini, why should I bother reading your message? Shocking truth about sexy abs sounds to me like I'm going to get bad news if I read the message. Don't tell me about missing steps, tell me about NEW steps -- and 30% more likely to be overweight doesn't really sound ominous enough to compel me to open the e-mail.

Others may have a different take on it, but that's my first reaction.

Hi Steve,

I have to agree with you hear. Particularly in a negative market - it can help to be positive.

On a side note - Frank Kern is hardly ever negative and it doesn't seem to do him much harm.

OnlineMasterMind · 02-24-2011, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesAggie

Anyone have any ideas for good weight loss/6 pack subject lines. I feel like I am fairly creative but I am just not getting the opens I want.

1. The #1 Reason and You'll Never Look Good in a Bikini
2. The 3 Shocking Truths About Getting Sexy Abs
3. If You Miss This Step You'll Be 30% More Likely to Be Overweight.

Those are example that I am using. Maybe they really are that bad.

I am converting my list at around 2.5% for a cheap product but I was hoping for at least a 5% conversion of my list.

I thought about using a different approach where I would start a story in the subject line and continue it in the email.

For example-

Subject line- "I Was Walking Down The Beach with My Nice Abs When 3 Girls Approached Me"

Then continue the story in the email. I haven't really seen something like this used so I assume it's not very effective. However, I feel like I would be hitting on a big desire for men that want nice abs and hitting one of their major hot buttons.

What say ye?

Please help.

I think your headlines are solid.

The thing is... 10% CTR is just the tip of the iceberg...

Where's the traffic coming from?
What's the offer for the opt in?
Do they know they are gonna get more emails?
Single or double opt in?

And most importantly... what is your ROI?

Without knowing that information, it's silly to jump to conclusions or throw out more clever headlines.

Quality Copywriter · 02-24-2011, 01:56 PM

hi there

They are all playing on the curiousity card which is really powerful

i think thats why they work well

lconsult · 02-27-2011, 11:11 AM

Have you thought about testing negative subject lines like:

Bad news inside
Wish you had sexy abs like your friends?
It's too bad you are overweight...

With the proper transition copy (very important or you will lose the reader), you can take advantage of people's natural curiosity of bad events.

It sounds harsh but there is a reason why news programs show so many tragic stories.

02-15-2011, 12:22 PM	#2
BacklinkExcellence Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 548 Thanks: 54 Thanked 84 Times in 75 Posts	Re: I am Only Getting a 10% Open Rate with My 6-Pack Abs/Weight Loss Email Subject Lines I think you already crafted those headlines pretty well (though exchange the "and" from the first headline with "why" since that would make more sense?). Maybe the traffic on your list just isn't targeted or consists of too many freebie seekers and tire-kickers? But I'll let the copywriting pros chime in here.
	[ENDORSED BY LMC] Stop Building Backlinks The OLD Way, Use >THIS< Instead! [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] >Let Me Build HIGH QUALITY Backlinks For You!<

02-15-2011, 12:34 PM	#4
Bill Jeffels Copywriter / Marketer War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 377 Thanks: 143 Thanked 92 Times in 82 Posts	Re: I am Only Getting a 10% Open Rate with My 6-Pack Abs/Weight Loss Email Subject Lines Go to Truthaboutabs dot com. Sign up for Mike Geary's free report. Then you'll be on his e-mail list. I've been on his list for a while. He's got some really great subject lines. I'm not saying copy his but you'll get a good education from someone who is doing very well for himself in this market. Best, Bill Jeffels .
	Copywriting WSO:FINALLY, YOU CAN NOW DISCOVER THESE AMAZING COPYWRITING SECRETS TOO! Bond Halberts Bad Ass Blog " You Are One Sales Letter Away From Being Rich " --Gary Halbert

02-15-2011, 12:55 PM	#6
JamesAggie HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 197 Thanks: 167 Thanked 16 Times in 14 Posts	Re: I am Only Getting a 10% Open Rate with My 6-Pack Abs/Weight Loss Email Subject Lines They sign up for a 7-page report. Then I am taking them through a 7-day ecourse. However, I only have 4 days finished so far. I put my website name in the From instead of the name I am using for the site.

02-15-2011, 01:27 PM	#7
Jay White Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Marshfield, MO Posts: 729 Blog Entries: 7 Thanks: 1 Thanked 67 Times in 51 Posts Social Networking	Re: I am Only Getting a 10% Open Rate with My 6-Pack Abs/Weight Loss Email Subject Lines Try phrasing some of your subject lines in question format. Something like: Is this the REAL reason you don't wear a bikini? Sexy Abs can't be THIS easy...can they? Did you miss this crucial weight loss tip? I've found that my question type subject lines tend to get more opens than the non-questions. Something about the human condition and people being taught from an early age to answer a question if asked. Sort of ingrained. Another quick tip: scroll through the email copy and see if there's a different subject line in there. A phrase, a sentence that stands out from the rest and grabs attention. Sometimes it'll almost "jump out" at you while you read. If it does, there's a good chance it'll jump out at the prospect as well.
	Alex Mandossian, Rich Schefren, Jeff Walker and more have hired me to write their emails. Want to discover my fail-safe “paint-by-numbers” email copywriting system? www.EmailCopyMadeEasy.com Attn: Copywriters--ready to tap into a HUGE market that's begging for your services? www.AutoresponderApprentice.com

02-15-2011, 04:15 PM	#9
Don Halbert Yes! Yes I am. Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Costa Rica Posts: 64 Thanks: 2 Thanked 11 Times in 9 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: I am Only Getting a 10% Open Rate with My 6-Pack Abs/Weight Loss Email Subject Lines Through who were you running this campaign? I'm willing to bet I can answer this question if you tell me that.
	Don G. Halbert - Inbound Marketing & Direct Response Copywriter "Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago."

02-15-2011, 12:20 PM	#1
JamesAggie HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 197 Thanks: 167 Thanked 16 Times in 14 Posts	I am Only Getting a 10% Open Rate with My 6-Pack Abs/Weight Loss Email Subject Lines Anyone have any ideas for good weight loss/6 pack subject lines. I feel like I am fairly creative but I am just not getting the opens I want. 1. The #1 Reason and You'll Never Look Good in a Bikini 2. The 3 Shocking Truths About Getting Sexy Abs 3. If You Miss This Step You'll Be 30% More Likely to Be Overweight. Those are example that I am using. Maybe they really are that bad. I am converting my list at around 2.5% for a cheap product but I was hoping for at least a 5% conversion of my list. I thought about using a different approach where I would start a story in the subject line and continue it in the email. For example- Subject line- "I Was Walking Down The Beach with My Nice Abs When 3 Girls Approached Me" Then continue the story in the email. I haven't really seen something like this used so I assume it's not very effective. However, I feel like I would be hitting on a big desire for men that want nice abs and hitting one of their major hot buttons. What say ye? Please help.

02-15-2011, 06:58 PM	#11
sethczerepak Ninjapreneur War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: The Beach Posts: 705 Thanks: 106 Thanked 192 Times in 130 Posts Social Networking	Re: I am Only Getting a 10% Open Rate with My 6-Pack Abs/Weight Loss Email Subject Lines I'm curious as to why we're all advising under the assumption that 10% is somehow much lower than normal. It's actually not bad at all...the real question is: how are your conversions? I suspect that it's all these bloody... "AMAZING NEW COPYWRITING SECRETS TAP INTO SUBCONSCIOUS OF PROSPECTS AND FORCE THEM TO OPEN YOUR EMAILS...99.9% OPEN RATE OR YOUR MONEY BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" ...messages that put the idea into people's heads that you "should" be getting these outrageous open rates. All the BS aside, my experience working with customers who own their own lists and who aren't trying to sell me something but are instead seeking my help to see if they can improve their open rates tells me that 10% is much higher than average. Just be careful about what you believe and where you read it. The real picture is quite different. PS: Your headlines are fine, if I were you I'd work on landing page conversions and your consumption strategy to increase profits with existing customers.
	Make $29,327.25 in LESS THAN 20 DAYS…as a Copywriter! See Proof from My Personal Paypal Account…

02-16-2011, 02:01 AM	#12
Don Halbert Yes! Yes I am. Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Costa Rica Posts: 64 Thanks: 2 Thanked 11 Times in 9 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: I am Only Getting a 10% Open Rate with My 6-Pack Abs/Weight Loss Email Subject Lines I'm siding with Seth...but firstly...yes aweber answered my question. You see the calculation of 'open rates' can vary from autoresponder to autoresponder. But overall a 10% open rate is still pretty good. Worth noting is that the figure is not entirely accurate. If people have HTML messaging turned off you wont register a plain text open. A few other contributing factors are whether or not they have images turned on in their client and also whether or not they have actually clicked on a link within that email. So as you can see the open rate can not possibly be measured with anykind of accuracy. But I just did a blast of over 11k with a 11.1% open rate which I am quite happy with considering the conversions are substantial compared to past blasts I've done. Pura vida!
	Don G. Halbert - Inbound Marketing & Direct Response Copywriter "Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago."

02-16-2011, 12:45 PM	#14
Don Halbert Yes! Yes I am. Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Costa Rica Posts: 64 Thanks: 2 Thanked 11 Times in 9 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: I am Only Getting a 10% Open Rate with My 6-Pack Abs/Weight Loss Email Subject Lines I feel ya on that one Jay cause most of the time you just never know what will take off and what wont. I've written some of, what I thought were, great pieces, yet then they dont take off but the ones that I bang out...they seem to rock. For example I just did a Dominical Surf Camp PR that got run on CBS Moneywatch. WTH?
	Don G. Halbert - Inbound Marketing & Direct Response Copywriter "Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago."

02-16-2011, 01:03 PM	#15
Zero HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 360 Thanks: 100 Thanked 35 Times in 34 Posts	Re: I am Only Getting a 10% Open Rate with My 6-Pack Abs/Weight Loss Email Subject Lines There is a way to boost your open rate. If you're using aweber - you can segment your list based on who didn't open the previous message that you sent - so you can resend it again with the same subject line or a new one, and then see if that one performs any better. Just go to subscribers > search > select field "message not opened" click on the field next to it to select the message you want to segment. Click the search button. Then save the segment by giving it a name you'll recognise. When you then send another email to that particular list - at the bottom of the page - there is an option to send your email to a segment of your list, just select the segment name.... Thats with aweber though.

02-16-2011, 11:55 PM	#16
Don Halbert Yes! Yes I am. Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Costa Rica Posts: 64 Thanks: 2 Thanked 11 Times in 9 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: I am Only Getting a 10% Open Rate with My 6-Pack Abs/Weight Loss Email Subject Lines Anyone remember when Gary said...and repeatedly I might add...that using autoresponders like Aweber, Mail Chimp, Constant Contact etc...is not such a smart decision? I know I personally have an offline "special" list that will never be sent using an email services like the above mentioned. PS: I just ran a short short email campaign through iContact and although the response was record breaking for my client...I wasn't satisfied. I didnt want the iContact opt-out footer etc. in there when I was going for a personal touch email. Next time it will be sent via normal ISP accounts @ 300/day. Might take awhile but I bet the response will even be greater.
	Don G. Halbert - Inbound Marketing & Direct Response Copywriter "Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago."

02-18-2011, 07:23 AM	#17
Reuben Gene Warrior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 5 Times in 4 Posts	Re: I am Only Getting a 10% Open Rate with My 6-Pack Abs/Weight Loss Email Subject Lines Of course they aren't going to work. This market is saturated with claims like this. When this happens, you have to move past featuring the claim in your headline, and feature the mechanism in WHICH you get them results. They don't believe any of your claims anymore. eg. "New xx Machine Gets You Those 6-pack Abs"... "6-Pack Ab Pills Get You Compliments Galore" They've lost hope. Make them say "wow, maybe THIS new method will get me the results!". Give them some new hope. You get it

02-23-2011, 04:33 PM	#19
D111 Active Warrior Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 32 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: I am Only Getting a 10% Open Rate with My 6-Pack Abs/Weight Loss Email Subject Lines Have you tried anything that's an everyday type of subject you would get from a friend? Or anything vague? One email that I know is trying to sell me something, but still want to open out of curiosity has the subject line below: Please do not share

02-24-2011, 01:56 PM	#23
Quality Copywriter HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 111 Thanks: 1 Thanked 6 Times in 6 Posts	Re: I am Only Getting a 10% Open Rate with My 6-Pack Abs/Weight Loss Email Subject Lines hi there They are all playing on the curiousity card which is really powerful i think thats why they work well

02-27-2011, 11:11 AM	#24
lconsult Active Warrior Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 43 Thanks: 4 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: I am Only Getting a 10% Open Rate with My 6-Pack Abs/Weight Loss Email Subject Lines Have you thought about testing negative subject lines like: Bad news inside Wish you had sexy abs like your friends? It's too bad you are overweight... With the proper transition copy (very important or you will lose the reader), you can take advantage of people's natural curiosity of bad events. It sounds harsh but there is a reason why news programs show so many tragic stories.