When I think of ‘hype’, for some reason Flavor Flav comes to mind.
Not the newer more slightly grown up ‘Flavor of Love’ Flavor Flav (if you’ve seen the old VH1 show). I’m talking about the super obnoxious young Flav. Like back when he rolled with the group Public Enemy.
When he never shut up like a neurotic chihuahua near a creaky screen door.
So when you write email subject lines (or any headline), hype can hurt you. Why? Cause too many people don’t believe the hype.
Take email subject lines these…
How to make wrinkles miraculously disappear overnight!
Or
You won’t believe what my client did after his first session.
You will get people to click, that’s not the issue. The issue is they’ll click once. Maybe twice. A few times if you’re lucky. And before you know it, they… Can’t truss it.
That’s why you should fascinate instead.
The word “fascinate” comes from the Latin fascinare which means, “to bewitch or hold captive so others are powerless to resist.
I’m not saying go all full-blown Harry Potter Imperius Curse on them.
To fascinate you want to be less Flavor Flav and more Scarlett Johansson. Make your copy tease a bit and be a little tantalizing.
Like this old classic headline: “Do you make these mistakes in English?”
Doesn’t that just invite you in? Don’t you just wanna read more?
Or this email subject line from Ben Settle: “Marketers escaping the U.S. like it’s the Titanic”
If you’re a marketer (or need to hire one), you’re probably going to want to read more.
It’s interesting. It makes you curious.
Better to consistently do THAT instead of…
DANGER! Why marketers are escaping the U.S. like it’s the Titanic
To learn how to fascinate and tantalize your list with your emails (without sounding like the National Enquirer) join my free daily email tips at https://adamstreet.net .
Adam