http://dennyhatch.blogspot.com/2020/12/115-teaser-copy-for-emails.html
#115 Blog Post – Tuesday, December 1, 2020
Posted by Denny Hatch
Dramatically Boost Your Email Open Rates:
No “Subject Lines.” Think “Teaser Copy!”
An Invitation: At
the end of this post, you are invited to steal from a collection of 169
winning envelope teasers that could well work wonders when adapted for
email subject lines.
About Envelope Teaser Copy
You are
looking at eight teasers from direct mail envelopes. Attention grabbers.
Mini-headlines that pique curiosity. Intriguing.
Not just any teasers.
These are from the WHO’S MAILING WHAT! Archive of 1,639 Grand Control mailings—direct mail packages that were received over three or more consecutive years. Some of the mailings in my Archive were tracked over five, 10, 15 or more consecutive years.
These mailings were raging successes, all of them bringing in millions of dollars in revenue.
Let Me Share With You a Story…
In 1993—the year Peggy and I were hired to save Target Marketing magazine—I got a call from the lawyers at Rodale Press looking for an expert witness. It seems this bastion of good health and human decency was being sued by a very pissed-off photographer for theft of copyright. Rodale had used a photograph in a direct mail package without paying for it. The plaintiff was not only suing for the use fee; he wanted recompense for the entire cost of the mailing (including postage) plus the entire profits of the book.
It was a tiny picture—four b&w shots of a skinny, naked old man—that appeared deep in the brochure. (The case was settled out of court. It seems Rodale paid the use fee for the test and simply dropped the ball by forgetting to pay the use fee for the huge rollout.)
Rodale’s request of me: figure out what percentage of the entire mailing did this little photo represent so Rodale could offer him a reasonable settlement.
As the world’s (then) foremost expert on junk mail, I had to come up with relative percentages of importance of the various elements: envelope, letter, brochure, lift pieces, order mechanism and reply envelope.
The Outer Envelope: 100% Importance
I sat down and immediately realized that the envelope—when it arrives in the mail—represents 100% of the value of the mailing. If the envelope is not opened and immediately trashed, the percentage value of the other elements—letter, circular, lift pieces, freemiums and other goodies—is moot.
When Peggy and I started WHO’S MAILING WHAT! in 1984, direct mail was the aristocrat of advertising. More money was spent on direct mail than on TV, radio, space ads, telemarketing, point-of-purchase, product placement and sky writing combined!
What’s
more, direct mail was (and is) expensive a hell. Paper, printing, inserting, sorting/prioritizing
and—most costly of all—postage! Today the average direct mail package can run
75¢ to a buck apiece.
Copywriters, designers, copy chiefs, account supervisors and clients spend hours on the envelope design and teaser copy to get them just right. Because if the envelope does not get opened, the mailer loses a ton of money—the massive costs of the mailing PLUS the projected revenue and profit.
Same Thing with Email: Your “From
Line”
And “Subject Line” Must Overpower the
Inbox!
Think about it. When an email arrives in the in-box, the writer has just two elements to generate a click-to-open:
• “From” Line
Is the sender
recognizable? If your best friend is Linda Jones, her name in the From Line
will result in an immediate click-to-open.
If it's from Mutual of Omaha, the odds of a positive response are severely diminished.
With the From Line, you have max maybe 25 characters of type with spaces to make a positive, clickable impression.
• “Subject”
Line
Is
your Subject Line as powerful as the teaser below. It would be even more powerful
today in this cash-strapped epoch rife with Covid-19 worries, high unemployment
and two-mile-long lines at food banks:
When the legendary Herschell Gordon Lewis wrote and designed this mailing, he used a #10 envelope with oodles of space to grab the CSP (Cash-Strapped-Prospect) by the collar and pound this stupendous offer home.
Notice the blank upper left corner. No sender’s name and address to distract from the overpowering message below.
Quite simply Herschell reasoned the ADVANCED FINANCIAL SERVICES logo and address in the upper left corner (cornercard) would (1) distract from the powerful offer ("Who the hell are these people?") and (2) might even be an instant deal killer.
Here’s How Herschell’s Offer Would
Look in Email Today
(See item #3 below)
CONGRATULATIONS! Your valuable home equity makes you eligible for up to $100,000 Cash!
This teaser copy by Herschell Gordon Lewis is 85 characters (with spaces) and is the outer length for the size of a subject line in an email inbox.
In comparison with the other three subject lines, this one (in my opinion) stands out.
Takeaways to Consider
• About direct mail, Herschell Gordon Lewis wrote: “The outer envelope has two purposes: (1) to get itself opened and (2) keep the contents from spilling onto the street.”
• With email, the From Line and Subject Line have just one purpose: to get clicked-on.
• The email inbox does not allow for illustrations, design, varying type faces and envelope sizes—all the direct mail bells and whistles that make your offer stand out, generate excitement and create desire to see what’s inside.
• In short, a full email inbox is lines and lines of boring little black words. Your message looks like all the other messages.
• FORGET THE TERM “SUBJECT LINE!” Wipe it out of your mind. This is cold academic jargon dreamed up by some dreary dweeb with an MBA who first wrote about the Internet in terms of business and personal correspondence only.
• THINK “TEASER COPY.”
• FORGET THE TERM “PREHEADER TEXT.”
THINK “JOHNSON BOX.
With direct mail, the preheader text is equivalent to the headline of the letter. The great copywriter Frank Johnson—a lovely gent—formalized the use of headlines on typed sales letters such as this one:
• The five-line paragraph centered over the salutation is known as the “Johnson Box.”
• The dumbest thing the writer of emails can do is spend hours perfecting the message and then bang out the first “subject line” that comes to mind and click SEND.
• I spend ample time getting my Teaser Copy just right. It represents 100% of the effectiveness of my
email. (If the recipient doesn't click on it, all my work is deader than Kelsey's nuts.)
• Before I send out an important email, I send a test email to myself.
• And then go to lunch. After the time lapse of a lunch break, I will see it in a fresh light.
• When I open it on my desktop/iPad/smartphone, I analyze how it compares with all the other email Teasers above and below.
• Does it stand out from the others. Is it exciting? Does it grab you by the throat?
• If not, I go back to the drawing boards.
• I rework and retest over and over again until I'm absolutely satisfied it is the very best I can do.
• Remember this: testing teaser copy in email is a helluva lot cheaper than testing it in horrendously expensive direct mail. Email is damn near free compared to mail.
• If you find winning teaser copy in email, test it on your direct mail.
About the 169 Email Teasers That Follow:
As I mentioned early in this post, we have scads of scans of—1,639 Grand Controls in 127 categories—direct mailings that were received a minimum of three consecutive years. These are colossal winners that generated millions of dollars in revenue.
For this exercise, I looked at 561 envelopes and picked Teasers from 169 that I felt could be adapted for email teasers.
The categories I chose from: consumer and business magazines, newspapers, newsletters, books and collectibles. Waiting to be looked at: Travel, Insurance, Baby & Child Oriented, Fundraising, Financial Services, Investments, Misc. Merchandise, Legal and Medical Services, Home Study Courses and a bunch more.
If you find this exercise useful, give a shout and I’ll schedule more for an upcoming post.
You can reach me at: dennyhatch@yahoo.com or 215-644-9626.
Thank you.
YOU ARE INVITED TO STEAL…
From the following collection of 169 guaranteed
winning subject lines that might work well when adapted as Email teasers.
Every one of these was on the
envelope of a Grand Control mailing that was
received over three or more consecutive years (some over 5 and 10 years or more.)
Your table is ready.
Utne Reader
[John] Which Products Would You Choose?
Consumer Reports
4 FREE GIFTS just for telling us what you think.
Harlequin Books
Build your body with your brain.
Men’s Health
You can defy the diseases of aging!
The Tufts Heart – Brain Diet Report
We’d like to send you this valuable FREE BOOK!
Webster’s Unified
Claim a FREE GIFT PACKAGE!
Wildlife Explorer Program
Add an hour of productivity to your day GUARANTEED
Planner Pads Co.
Spend a minute. Save an Hour.
Day-Timers
PROTECT YOUR RETIREMENT DREAMS
Consumer Reports
NATURAL HEALING SECRETS DOCTORS DON’T TELL YOU!
Parker Publishing
Keep your hands warm in winter without gloves
Restore colors to faded fabric
Yankee Magazine
Instant burglarproofing for pennies
Yankee Magazine
The champion cancer-FIGHTING foods on earth!
University of California
TEST FLIGHT! Explore the magic of flight, the mystery of space, as you’ve never seen them before!
AIR & SPACE
Inside: An exclusive offer from Smithsonian.
Smithsonian Institution
Please don’t tell your friends we have a special offer
Book-of-the-Month
Your Charter Member Privileges and any FREE kitchen products given to you by the club are for your EXCLUSIVE use.
Cooking Club of America
Save Hundreds of Dollars As you MAKE things instead of Buying them
Crafts & Things
Choose a FREE GIFT with membership
Literary Guild
Make next Christmas your brightest ever!
Danbury Mint
MONITOR the world for FREE!
Christian Science Monitor
FREE To a Good Home
Harrowsmith
Is your name on this free gift list?
U.S. News
Gift Certificate Enclosed with Our Compliments
People Magazine
Free Issue of Herb Quarterly reserved in your name.
Herb Quarterly
2 Years Free of WOOD Magazine reserved for [John Smith]
Wood Magazine
RISK-FREE ISSUE OFFER FOR [JOHN SMITH]
Grit
PERSONAL & CONFIDENTIAL
Vegetarian Times
FOR [PAUL] REPLY BY 12/29/20
Reminisce
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Taste of Home
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Mother Earth News
Congratulations! You have been selected to receive…
Coastal Living
Free Gifts: Yoga Breathing Chart. Yoga Remedies Guide
Yoga
Voucher plus important travel tips enclosed.
Frommer’s Budget Travel
Forget everything you think you know about arthritis
Arthritis Management
Arthritis: Get the Answers and a Free Issue
Arthritis Management
FREE YEAR reserved for you
Shambhala Sun
FREE YEAR of real kitchen-sink wisdom…
Shambhala Sun
“Aha! So that’s how it’s done!”
Artist’s Magazine
NATIONAL OPINION SURVEY. Please do us a favor…
Ireland of the Welcomes
FAIR WARNING: There’s Heresy Inside
National Review
Congratulations! You have been selected for FREE memberships…
Smithsonian Institution
WHICH FREE GIFT COULD YOU GET?
History Channel Club
Take a Stroll Back to THE GOOD OLD DAYS!
Good Old Days Magazine
NO APOLOGIES! Introducing a new magazine that refuses…
Radar Magazine
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Diabetic Cooking
FREE ISSUE! FREE GIFT!
Architectural Digest
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Architectural Digest
Because of your involvement in art, a free issue of…
Art in America
Click Here FOR YOUR FREE WINDBREAKER
National Audubon Society
INVITATION. The favor or a reply is requested of Mr. Jones
AutoWeek
4 FREE ISSUES
Aviation Week
CONGRATULATIONS! You may have already won our Sweepstakes
Aviation Safety
YOUR MEMBERSHIP HAS BEEN APPROVED. FREE GIFT INSIDE!
Cooking Club of America
FREE! Offer Expires 2/26/2021
Columbia Journalism Review
Receive the Next Available Issue FREE!
Columbia Journalism Review
Inside: An Invitation to a privileged few
Connoisseur Magazine
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Cooking Light
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Dog Fancy
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Equus
INVITATION TO EARTHWATCH Got some free time? A week? A month? A summer?
Earthwatch
Congratulations! You’ve been selected to receive 3 risk free issues
ESPN
You’re invited to preview America’s most beautiful magazine for the avid gardener.
Fine Gardening
Should you be reading “the most influential periodical in print?” (You can try it now – at just half the regular price – with your satisfaction guaranteed!)
Foreign Affairs
OPEN IMMEDIATELY! Win a Free Callaway Golf Club!
Golf Magazine
Would the mainstream media – or any other media- ever tell you…
Free Inquiry
Forecasts for the next 25 years
The Futurist
The Magazine for Creative Minds at Play FREE!
Games
[Margaret Jones], a TRIAL issue has been reserved especially for you…
Garden Design
Your invitation to accept two free issues… and a scenic calendar
Guideposts
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Handyman Club of America
Inside: How the Pentagon hides $22 billion. How the CIA subverts
Harper’s’
A Jewish magazine that’s beautiful, fearless and fun!!
Moment
How to plan the perfect vacation in 2021…
National Geographic
R.S.V.P. Free Gift from OUTSIDE. Details inside!
Outside
DOUBLE FREE OFFER!
Outside
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Poets & Writers
FREE GIFT FOR THE ELECTRONICS ACTIVIST – see inside –
Popular Electronics
SWEEPS SPECTACULAR 2 plus second chance to win
Popular Photography
Mr. [John Jones], Please tell us what color you’d like for your FREE CORVETTE
Premiere
Drop 15-50 Pounds EASILY! The Secret? “Cancel Out” Excess Calories…
Prevention
WHO OWNS YOU? Do you own your future – or do THEY?
Reason
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Robb Report
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Rolling Stone
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SAIL Magazine
FREE ISSUE – TWO FREE GIFTS
Saveur
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Scientific American
Professional Courtesy Discount
Science News
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Skyguide
Just say… YES to embark on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure
Soviet Life Magazine
If you’ve got the guts to admit “doing all right” just isn’t good enough…
Success
SENSE ELEGANCE Your adventure to elegance and savings is inside
Town & Country
Inside the minds of the world’s smartest travelers.
Travel & Leisure
FREE ISSUE plus a FREE WALL MAP
World Press Review
Enter a world where life is simpler, healthier and much more playful.
MaryJanesFarm
8 nutrition mistakes everybody makes. 6 was to keep sex sexy. 3 great….
Self
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Victoria
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GQ
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Stuff
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Advertising Age
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Technology Review
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BusinessWeek
FREE OFFER! Sample 4 issues. Free Web Edition. Our Gift: Pocket World in Figures
The Economist
HOW MUCH ARE YOU WORTH? Enough, we suspect, to introduce you to an unusual…
Financial World
HOW “ORDINARY” PEOPLE ACCUMULATE EXTAORDINARY WEALTH!
Kiplinger’s
Deals. Demographics. Research. Ratings. Opportunities. Every week…
Mediaweek
SEVEN FREE ISSUES
New York
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Daily Word
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Johns Hopkins Medicine
ENCLOSED: Your 1st of 3 FREE Gifts!
Tufts University Catnip
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Harvard Medical School
Side Effects of Popular Prescription and Over-the-Counter Medications
Worst Pills, Best Pills News
WHY DO SOME MEN… (Open and be surprised!)
Harvard Medical School
WHAT NEVER TO SAY TO YOUR STAFF
Briefings
THINK LIKE YOUR DOG. Now our nation’s top dog docs would like…
DogWatch
The Greatest Medicines of Our Time. NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
Health Sciences Institute
What never… ever to eat on an airplane!
Bottom Line
For People Who Regard Surgery as a “Last Resort!”
Cleveland Clinic Arthritis Advisor
A Special “Treat” for you… An Even Bigger Treat for you Dog!
The Whole Dog Journal
4 Free Johns Hopkins Special Reports Especially for [John Jones]
Johns Hopkins Medicine
THE 7 DEADLY “MYTHS” OF HEART DISEASE PLUS… the strange symptoms…
Heart Advisor
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Cleveland Clinic
Health Alert: 33 common drugs that can trigger seizures…
Healthy Years
Should you risk your health on advice intended for 30-year-olds?
Bruce Ferrell, MD, UCLA
WHY DOES MY CAT DO THAT? When your cat goes a little “crazy”…
Cat Watch
“Loss of memory does not have to be a part of aging!”
Massachusetts General Hospital
CAN YOUR OWN STEM CELLS SAVE YOUR LIFE? Stunning news…
HealthNews
Which of these 7 medical problems have NEW cures, NEW drugs, NEW treatments…
DukeMedicine Health News
CONGRATULATIONS! Yom may have already won our sweepstakes Grand Prize.
Aviation Safety
Consumer Information ALERT
Bottom Line
The Little Black Book of Secrets. 5 Signs of a Good Stock.
Bottom Line Personal
b Signs of a Good Stock
Bottom Line Personal
Why Married Women Have Affairs.
Bottom Line Personal
5 Common Etiquette Mistakes even polite people make
Bottom Line Personal
How to save your life if you walk in on a burglary
Bottom Line Personal
The one food you pet cat MUST have
Bottom Line Personal
Bills it’s okay to pay late…
Bottom Line Personal
Supermarkets: Shocking new ripoffs
Bottom Line Personal
How to buy a house with no down payment…
Bottom Line Personal
How to Slash your property taxes…
Bottom Line Personal
YOUR ISSUE ENCLOSED…
Communication Briefings
Take this quick Health Test: Answers inside. Plus…
Consumer Reports OnHealth
Finally, a newsletter written just for the parents of girls. Free Trial offer.
Daughters
Why are vitamin tables better than gelcaps?
Dr. Andrew Weil
Do you make these mistakes at business Meetings?
The Executive Advantage
WOULD YOU BE SURPRISED TO DISCOVER ONE KIND OF COFFEE may be worse for the heart
Harvard Medical School
What’s healthy for him could be harmful to you
Harvard Women’s Health Watch
RETIRE OVERSEAS! INSIDE: Details on overseas paradises where you can enjoy…
International Living
Outstanding Opportunities for Profit in Florida… Will YOU be prepared?
Kiplinger Florida Letter
With our compliments… a free trial issue of America’s most trustworthy personal health letter
Mayo Clinic Health Letter
Proven marketing ideas to grow your business
Marketing Report
Healthy Eating Poster Enclosed!
University of California, Berkeley
10 pairs of DRUGS that can injure or KILL you
Worst Pills Best Pills
We hold Mr. [John Jones] in high esteem.
Christian Science Monitor
A Free Subscription PLUS 2 FREE GIFTS. See Inside!
Investor’s Business Daily
YOURS! House & Home, Dining, The Arts and the new Weekend Escapes section!
The New York Times
THE TOP TEN REASONS TO READ THIS MESSAGE: 10. Your name will be synonymous…
Clement Communications
FIRST ISSUE ENCLOSED
Kiplinger’s Retirement Report
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Consumer Reports
The Dick Davis Digest: READ IT AND MAKE MONEY!
Dick Davis Digest
Mr. [John Jones] only, please.
Louis Rukeyser’s Wall Street
CHARTER INVITATION. Private. About your portfolio.
Louis Rukeyser’s Wall Street
YES, IRS LOOPHOLES ARE BACK! Special Report: “Get the Most Mileage from…”
Tax Savings Report
IMPORTANT TAX INFORMATION ENCLOSED. Please inspect carefully.
Bottom Line Publications
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Value Line
From 1999 through June 2003, Value Line’s #1 ranked stocks gained
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Value Line
What Have We Done for Investors Lately? Beaten the Dow AND the S&P 500. That’s What!
Value Line
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