How to write a catchy first liner in an email

If you learn to imitate, you are sowing the first seed for succeeding in your endeavors. So, if you own a company, you must be ready to imitate or rather, emulate successful entrepreneurs. Those who have succeeded in the commercial world know how to market their brands or products. Online marketing makes available several ways to reach hundreds of thousands of prospects and one of the most effective ways is email marketing. So, you must necessarily add email marketing to your marketing arsenal.

There is stiff competition in every field and the industry in which you operate may be no exception. But competition is good not only for consumers but for business owners like you as well. In fact, businesses should be grateful that there is competition because while facing it, they become stronger, tougher and smarter. Not only that, you will strive to provide your customers with better value also. So, apart from having a positive attitude, you should take sustained action for overcoming competition.

The most important action you, as a business person, should take is to have constant communication with your existing as well as prospective customers. As they say, "nose is the key to a good palate." Likewise, effective communication is the key that can help grow your business. So, when you keep writing a series of emails to your prospects and existing customers for building a "Trust-Bridge" with them, you must ensure to communicate clearly and effectively so chances of making them click the "Buy" buttons increase.

Why the first line of your emails is important

Marketing experts repeatedly suggest that the first line of your email is very important to make your prospects read the contents because it is the toughest part of email marketing. According to these experts, readers will decide whether to go through an email or not within the first 3 seconds of opening it. Unless your first liner is catchy, you can not hook the readers and so, they may not read the emails you send to them fully.

If you do not spend much time for writing a catchy first liner for your email, you are perhaps assuming that it needs less attention. But the fact is that focused efforts to come out with a great first liner will certainly translate into expanded client base.

Email marketing is much different from direct marketing because in the latter, you are testing the unknown waters. On the other hand, you will have a list of prospect for doing email marketing which means you have a market that is waiting for you. This means customers are waiting for you to offer solutions for their needs and problems. So, you can not afford to commit mistakes while doing your email marketing.

First Liners as Questions

Experts opine that your prospects expect that you will provide them with something of good value. So, the first line of your email can be a question. The question should talk about a problem or a need these prospects may have. The question should be straightforward and at the same time, should not be cryptic also. Ensure that your honesty is reflected in the question. In short, there should be an unobtrusive directness in your question. If the question has a hyped tone, readers may realize that you are phony in your approach.

Therefore, when you begin your first liner with a question, ensure that the question passes on a message that you have a solution for the problem or need of your prospects. In short, the question should be a mix of your curiosity and the solution you offer for their problem. The question can contain a number also. For example, you can ask "Do You Want to Use a System that is 10,000 times More Powerful Than the Law of Attraction?"

A few other examples are "How can you transform your boring blazer into a fabulous one?", "Do you want to make the plants of your garden survive the drought?" and "Is it possible to enjoy cleaning the gutters of your home?"

First Liners from Trending Topics

Another suggestion is your first liner can talk abut the conversation that is currently occupying the minds of your prospects. But how to find out the conversation that is currently occupying their minds? You can go through the trending topics in your field. If you have an answer to one of the problems in the trending topics, you can use it to begin your first liner.

For example, if you are in the fitness field, you can write "Enjoy the festival season without worrying about your fitness goals" because it is the festival season now and you may be lured to over-eat. Another example is "Keeping the fat away even as you eat to your heart's content."
"Overcome the transitional phase when you move to a new place" is another example that belongs to this genre because people are nowadays more ready to relocate for finding greener pastures.

Use the 4 U's Strategy for Your First Liner

"Unique", "Urgent", "Ultra-Specific" and "Useful" are the key elements of the 4 U's strategy suggested by experts for creating an effective first liner for your email. Therefore, if you want to grab the attention of your readers, you should check if your first liner is unique. It should offer an urgent solution also either directly or in a subtle manner. The solution offered must be ultra-specific which means there should not be any ambiguity in it. The first liner should convey to the readers that the solution you offer is useful.

Use the USP of your Business

Another strategy can be to use the USP of your business for crafting the first liner of your email. For example, if you are offering financial products specifically for the needs of families, you can write "No need to worry about the education of your kids - Our products will help."

Another example is "Marketing your products is easy with our marketing automation software."
Experts point out that there can not be narrow definitions or rules for writing a catchy first liner in an email. The best way is to study the trends in your field to know what strategy works and then, replicate it. But ensure to tweak the strategy so as to suit the needs of your business.