New here? This is Inbox Hacking, a Free Newsletter for Awesome email marketers wanting to level up. Email marketing insights, tools, & tactics sent twice per week. Someone forwarded you our Newsletter? Sign up for your Free subscription. Today— get your emails opened and actually read→ 14 attention-grabbing tips to battle this dark age of distraction.
Morning, Inbox Hackers. I’ve gotta hot French toast stack waiting so…
Get ready for today’s 14 tips for attention-grabbing emails→ get your readers’ attention and hold it throughout entire emails. Impossible? Nope. We humans are predictable and crave certain things. Let’s explore those shiny objects so your subject lines can finally produce more opens and your email content can keep eyeballs locked in.
Attention at an All-time Low
How you know we as a species are easy to distract.
- Video games lure us away from a world full of tangible richness
- The metaverse is a thing
- Shoppers toss items into digital shopping carts then forget all about them
- We sign up for courses we don’t complete… or begin!
- People gave up popcorn with Netflix because their hands are full of phone
- Brands are too busy to listen to paying customers
Just my rants, but true. Hard facts below:
- Average office worker checks their email 30 times every hour (Wyzowl)
- Users form an opinion about a website in 0.05 seconds (Google)
- Written content on sites gets a 5.59-second glance on average (CXL)
- Takes 23 minutes & 15 seconds to fully regain focus after a distraction (Teamstage)
- Distracted driving injured over 400,000 people (CDC 2018)
Our attention is so anemic we can’t be bothered to watch the road while steering a 2,100-pound projectile.
Got Your Attention?
Now Learn How to Grab Subscribers’ with Attention-Grabbing Emails
Distractions are not going anywhere.
They’re gonna get worse! By this afternoon.
So use these 5 tactics in your subject lines for attention-grabbing emails
- Use emotion and don’t hold back (1 million other emails will snatch your spot).
- If you yourself aren’t curious about your email’s topic, your subject line will expose this and won’t entice readers.
- Break the rules if you notice your inbox FULL of other mailers’ ‘trending’ subject line tactics.
- ‘Immature’ emojis produce higher open rates. Don’t be above what’s working.
- Be contrarian. People love a good debate. ESPN keeps making billions off of yapping back-n-forth.
Now that you got folks to open, what’s next?
How to Keep Subscribers’ Attention
Your reader chose to click on your attention-grabbing email.
No small thing with The Hustle, Brews to the brim, and 16 intriguing scam emails they could’ve opened up.
Now, make their trust payoff. Have something worth reading.
- Ask ChatGPT to write a test email, print it, highlight the most artificial parts, wash your hands, then vow never to sound like that in your campaigns.
- Offer ‘unknown’ rewards→ proven more effective than known rewards (Harhut 2023)
- Don’t accidently criticize your audience (i.e. negative comments near the word “You”).
- Surprise when possible. Predictable = boring after a few emails.
- Subscribers will only read to the end if you nudge ’em with “what’s coming up next.”
Write hard. Be real. Generate and sprinkle curiosity. Be on the audience’s side no matter what.
Yea, there’s more to attention-grabbing emails…
Design Matters
I’ll wrap with these design stats that can also help you gain and maintain subscriber attention.
Lastly, (tip #14) research shows divided attention reduces performance on a task.
So, your main CTA has to resemble a free-range chicken. Wide open space and zero distractions to hold it back or prevent clicks.🐔
*Bonus for go-getters. Dissect how this epic video ad held viewers’ attention. Don’t have 4 hours 🤣? I’m gonna do it for you (near future).
Read on for young peeps’ self-help and today’s hack showing how to avoid amazing ads that somehow still fail.
Knowledge Base
⚡Knowledge is power but first, light a fire.
2 sentences to ensure your cold emails aren’t spam.
❌How companies run off employees they don’t even have yet.
Main benefits of BIMI email authentication.
👾Confirmation email template examples (or risk looking like a “soulless vending machine”)
Together with Inbox Mailers
70% open rates? Really?
Tired of wasting time and money on email subscribers that end up never opening your emails?
Getting sales is impossible if 8 out of 10 of your emails are ignored.
Inbox Mailers solves your low open rate problems for good.
Thanks to their ‘inbox listening’, Inbox Mailers users are getting 50-70% open rates on average.
How? By sending emails right when your subscribers are checking their inboxes.
Discover exactly how Inbox Mailers is helping email marketers like you produce higher profits.
Self Help
Young people.
You probably don’t know it.
And nobody else will think to tell ya.
But right now.
You are at the height of your power.
Doesn’t last forever, so use it best you can.
*Shout-out to Inbox Hacking Subscribers →
🏠Adam at Credit Up Club (credit help)
⚖Colleen at Justice (lawyer association)
Facts and Stats
- 58% of people’s 1st stop daily on the web? Email inbox. *2nd most→search, 20% of people (Snov )
- 37% of respondents name email as the most effective channel for customer loyalty and retention
- 64% of recipients decide to open or delete emails based on subject lines (Finances Online, 2023)
Bonus: Know which month saw the highest bounce rate? July by far: 4.45% (GetResponse)
From Our Sponsor
Imagine how many of your emails never get opened.
Likely 8 out of 10— this is the average across all industries.
Change that with Inbox Mailers.
Get 50% – 70% open rates consistently.
Plus, Inbox Mailers re-engages your inactive subscribers.
Integrates easily with your current ESP.
Now, imagine 7 out of 10 of your emails getting opened and read.
Marketing Musings
Newsletters abound.
How will yours stand out?
Be willing to do what other newsletter writers are not.
Deep research that leaves dirt stuck beneath your fingernails.
Claw your way to alternative information outside of the web.
Books.
Ask librarians for leads.
Telephone calls to experts.
Track down cave paintings if you have to!
Be the Indiana Jones of your newsletter topics.
Get Hacking
Some of the most memorable ads were a waste of money.
Why?
People loved the ads but could not recall the brand in the ad.
This is catastrophic (and real bad)!
Today’s hack is to brainstorm 5 ways your most creative marketing idea – attention-grabbing brilliance – could naturally connect with what you’re promoting.
Grabbing attention is hard. Funneling that attention onto your widget or widget repair service is harder.
So I’d start brainstorming now 5 minutes ago.
*Know another email marketer hungry for tips? Please forward Inbox Hacking to them. Thanks for reading.
🌞Please take survey below. Some report an afterglow.
