I get the most ridiculous titles to emails in my inbox. The important thing is that the title of the message usually determines if it gets opened now or ever. Here are the ten worst titles I have received and what a better one would be:
- Happy Monday (or any other day of the week). Most of us hate Monday. Telling the reader to be happy on this day is ridiculous and does not encourage them to see what comes next. Instead use: “Do you know what day it is?”
- It’s Your Lucky Day. I want luck like every other small business owner. But I don’t go to my email to get it since I think it’s a scam. Instead use: “How to get luckier in your business.”
- (Your Company) Weekly Newsletter. Yuck! No one wants to read another long and boring newsletter. Instead use: Pick one particular topic from the newsletter and ask a thought provoking question around it that shows the company’s expertise.
- Emoticons. Leave the smiles and thumbs up for text’s and emails to friends. Emoticons are too casual for business. Instead use: Only traditional punctuation.
- Open Me! This says that the business could not come up with something clever so they decided to beg the recipient to open up the email. Instead use: Create a question that gets the reader to open the email.
- URGENT! This is too much like the boy that cried wolf and unless it’s really pertinent and urgent, it will get deleted every time. Instead use: “Response needed by (date).”
- Test. In this case, they hit the send button without a subject line. Sometimes, it can also be the subject line of another email that it was copied from and has nothing to do with the body of the email. Instead use: Read and reread every email to make sure it is correct.
- Hi! This is almost always identified as spam. Chances are that it will end up in the junk folder. Exclamation marks also add to the spam look. Instead use: A relevant email title.
- Re: The Fake Reply. Some people try to make an email look like a reply so it will have a better chance of engaging the user. This tactic fades quickly. Instead use: A relevant title.
- Grammatical Errors. There is nothing that signals poor business and a lack of professionalism than grammar mistakes. Instead use: Spell check and reread each email out loud before sending.
What are your favorite bad email titles?
