Unlike bigfoot, Santa Claus and perfect men, unicorns really exist. Today’s Groupon offers full proof with a one-day unicorn-back riding from The Horse Whispers, at Ulu Yam.
Choose from:
- One-day unicorn-back riding without magic pumpkin
- One-day unicorn-back riding with magic pumpkin
Buy Now and Receive:
- Full day unicorn-back riding with unicorns imported from USA.
- Magic pumpkin carriage for pairs or those running late.
- Gallop through streams of dreams.
- Suitable for all ages and allergic tendencies.
- Fairy god mother guide with up to 5 centuries of experience.
I know, you clicked on this article because you probably thought to yourself, WTH!? (that’s ‘What The Hay’ for those of you wanting an ‘F’ and a pun for those more clever than the rest). A business news site that focuses on helping SMEs and entrepreneurs is selling Unicorn rides, for 58% off no less?
Well, we’re not. We’re actually trying to prove a point, that headlines written correctly, can sell or at the very least attract attention and an audience.
The post and the headline are actually from a real GroupOn deal. We can’t be certain why GroupOn left this ad, except perhaps the enjoyment of seeing someone in Malaysia actually promote this and someone daft enough to take it seriously.
Check out the snapshot of the ad below:
So what did this prove?
When you’re running an SME, or if you have a product line that you want to get out to market quickly, and you want to grab someone’s attention with your e-marketing, you should make the headline of your emails or collateral unavoidably, undeniably, magnetically irresistible to opening.
A MailChimp study in 2012 analysed the open rates for more than 200 million emails to determine which types of subject lines trigger recipient opening. Strategies included:
- the collection of geolocation data for relevance – “Louis Vuitton opens in Dubai”
- subject lines as questions – “Where’s your dream holiday spot?”
- shorter headlines less than 50 characters (28-40 characters are best) – “Your Twitter Activity for February”
- using special characters and symbol – “We ♥ NoviPlus Get Fitness Deals Today!”
- using ‘Re:’ and ‘Fwd:’ – “re: Networking Meeting at Saville’s Dubai”
- using numbers – “Top 10 Networking Strategies Demystified”
- using receivers name – “Taner, remember tonight’s event”
A study by MailerMailer also showed that the length of a subject line impacted click rates. Below are the results from their findings.
- 4–15 characters: 15.2% open; 3.1% click
- 16–27 characters: 11.6% open; 3.8% click
- 28–39 characters: 12.2% open; 4% click
- 40–50 characters: 11.9% open; 2.8% click
- 51+ characters: 10.4% open; 1.8% click
Alright, so I tricked you into this article by giving you a headline you couldn’t resist. Maybe you don’t like me anymore. Or maybe you see the genius in this technique, a proven technique used by the most successful marketers and companies, and will use this nugget of wisdom and implement it into your marketing strategy.
Whatever course you choose to take, remember that marketing is about testing and tweaking. If something doesn’t work exactly the way you wanted it, don’t stop doing it all together. Perhaps a small detail like a word or phrase or character needs to be changed or added. Keep tweaking. Eventually your target audience will respond.
If you need more help with email marketing, leave me a comment below and I’ll make sure to give you all the resources at my disposal.
So who’s up for that unicorn ride?
But keep in mind your headlines should always be relevant to your business, offering or topic (post). Most importantly, your business.
Thanks Kathy that is a great insight. But what do you think about the very annoying (yet successful) “internet marketer’s” tactic of using headlines that don’t match the topic of the email at all; more of a disruptive subject line?
(ie: Barack Obama has Tweets for you)
They may be successful in getting views and maybe even a one time sale. But they’re rarely, if ever, successful in keeping that clients business.
So you trust a business that uses these tactics? I know I don’t.
Correction: Do you trust a business…
I’ve been targeted by internet marketers over many years. One thing that stands true is this. If they can send me something that is exactly what I want and need and don’t play the whole smoke and mirrors game, then I am likely to take their offer seriously.
I just know too many that still today use email subject lines like this. It’s a major turn off for me.
I love how a Headline can make you junk the e-mail or create that curiosity to open it! Writing headlines is an art by itself. I guess that’s why the best gets paid a fortune!!
1-Day Unicorn Ride at 58% off is the kind of thing I would come to Malaysia for. But don’t they have wings and can be shipped anywhere?
No, export of wings are not approved yet. Foreigners often make the mistake of neglecting to bribe our custom officials to bypass red tape and get things done more efficiently.
I don’t know much about the customs personnel but I’m sure people in some parts of the world have already started to replicate them.