How your local newsagent can provide subject line ideas

The print world has made high art of selling issues. Newspaper and magazine editorial teams know exactly how to entice us to pick up a copy.

They know all about screaming headlines, tapping into our curiosity – and touching our keen interest in a subject matter. Have you ever purchased a publication because you just had to know what the whole article would reveal?

If you are stagnating a bit with your email marketing subject lines AND your article summaries that need to entice people to open – and then to click on ‘read more’ take yourself down to your local newsagent and stand in front of the magazine rack to get inspiration.

This is what struck me when I recently stood in front of the vast selection of magazines. For example: Men’s Running magazine. It was wrapped in plastic, so you couldn’t even sneak a peek at the store. But the strap lines (subject lines really) did a fantastic job pulling me in … even though I’m not their target audience! I can absolutely see how they sold the sizzle to their target audience with subject lines like:

• “Get fit fast: Half marathon ready in just 8 weeks”
• “Kit yourself out for £50 (shoes included)”
• “Train through any injury”
• “The vegetable that will save you 41 seconds”
• “Attack hidden fat”
• “Your first mountain marathon”

Knowing a bit about the world of running, I can tell you these are all huge topics of interest to serious runners. The magazine really sells these stories well with very little word count! (And I simply needed to know what vegetable can save you almost a minute in your racing time results! It’s beetroot :-))

Take a look at the subject lines in your own internal newsletter– what could you change? What, in 4-5 words, could you write up that would compel your subscribers to open because they really wanted to get to that article? (My colleague Mossy has some subject line ideas for you.)