Still wondering why nobody replies to your online dating emails?
You’ve read her profile!
You’ve mentioned stuff about her profile in the email!
You didn’t cut and paste!
You came up with a pretty cool question that she should be dying to answer.
But yet, nothing.
In fact, she hasn’t even OPENED the email.
What’s gone wrong?
My Kingdom for a Subject!
In the Cubeville of Big Business, proper email etiquette requires a detailed subject line. In email marketing, if your subject line doesn’t make thousands of people click to open your email, you’re out of a job.
Why do people think the rules don’t apply for online dating emails?
Check out this example of what the typical inbox looks like for a lady with an online dating profile on match.com:
Yawn. Boring. How many variations of “hello” can one girl stand to see? Adding her name doesn’t make it any more clickable.
Now, put yourself in Laura’s shoes. You’ve got ten minutes on match.com before your boss walks by and catches you (again). Which of these are you going to read?
Oh look! There are two interesting emails! One person picked up on her love of Wii Fit and the other one is congratulating her on her recently procured diploma.
CLICK!
Stand Out!
Many of my clients ask me what they should write for a subject line. Should you be witty? Ask a question? Put a quote from a movie she likes?
The secret: Any of those work.
As long as your subject line isn’t a variation on a standard greeting or “My name is John”, you will already be head and shoulders above the rest of the fish in the sea.
Happy Dating, Geek Friends.
About e
I see this a LOT with the site that I work for. The subject line autofills with “Insert Subject Here” so you know where to put it, and half the people don’t even bother to change it! Just what someone wants to get – an email from another website user who can’t even follow a simple instruction. That bodes well for their creative ingenuity!
On that same note, folks writing profiles should think about writing enough that those questions can be raised.
Oftentimes, my subject line ends up being something along the lines of “Oh, I see you like goldfish… How’s that going?” because there isn’t really anything of substance in the profile for me to latch onto.
@ Katie – Wow, that’s even worse than “Hi!”
@ Alan – It’s difficult! I have clients who will be like, “I want to email this girl!” but she’s got 3 lines of a profile and 1 picture.
Um…. so… “I see you like to go out but sometimes you like to stay in. Sounds… fun?”
Isn’t that true for anything, not just dating? Go against the grain and you’ll go a lot farther.
I love your Twitter plugin by the way!
Writer Dad´s last blog post..I’m a Writer
@Writer Dad – HEY! It’s Writer Dad. In my comments. *waves* Yes, it is so true about email subjects. In my experience, I’m more apt to click first on the email that looks the most intriguing. Goofy subject lines go a long way with me. Over-the-top works too (if it’s done well).
The Twitter plugin is WP Twitip ID. Took some finagling to get the placement right, but thanks to my wonderful techie (*waves to Graham*) it’s all good now.
Luv this plugin–especially if I ever get to work right.
.-= Annaly´s last blog ..The body-mind connection broadens: Study says obese people lose lots of brain tissue =-.
Maybe women should stop whining about “uninteresting guys” with lame subject lines and actually go out and look for what they want instead of bitching about how there are no “real men” anymore. It’s a twoway street ladies.
I totally agree with Alan. I am trying to avoid the trash but the profiles all say the same thing: Like to have fun/travel but also like a quiet night at home too and love my family/dog. This last person I am sending likes Yoga so here goes with – “Yoga to read this” – How lame, LOL.