[This post originally appeared on Facebook – click to read on Facebook]

What is an email growth marketer?

And what’s their secret to growing email marketing revenue faster & easier than anybody else in the market?

I’ve been getting questions like these in my DMs and replies to emails…

So, I figured it’d be good to answer those questions here in this post:

See, I launched a newsletter some months ago called, the Email Growth Marketer, which is profitably growing by about 15 subscribers per day.

Part of it was a way to document my email marketing methods, that are unlike any other ones you’ve seen…

They’re designed specifically for revenue growth.

Now, I won’t get into “Data Nerd” stuff…

Or how companies hire “growth marketing managers” or head of growth roles, to scale.

But I’ll say this:

Most of the results I’ve gotten for clients…

Is due to a select few things I do that make my emails convert 10x better.

(Okay, maybe 2-5x better.)

You see, it’s kinda like looking at sales & marketing data the same way Ray Dalio looks at stock charts…

You see all the connections, the full picture…

And then can devise the most lucrative strategies that no one else can see but you.

One’s nobody else quite understands—they just WORK!

Those huge Zero to One opportunities you see in places that your competitors don’t even THINK to look…

(Unless they’re working with an email growth marketer, too).

I’m sure you don’t wanna know the mechanics of this email growth marketing tactic too much…

You just want proof it works.

Scroll down matthommel.com’s home page, and you’ll see plenty of case studies & reviews.

But the short answer is, yes it is like me being your email marketing manager…

The difference though, is I see way more than just email performance…

I can look at your funnel, and make tweaks that boost conversions from all your traffic sources (organic social, paid ads, etc.)

That’s actually how I helped a #1 seller on Teachable get an 825% ROAS by re-writing & rebuilding their funnel + their webinar autoresponder emails.

Or even how I beat a long standing sales page control for a multi-8 figure direct response company by over 30%…

And in that same promotion…

I also wrote an email control that still gets sent to this day.

SELFISHLY, I do this… because it makes my emails CONVERT better!

I mean why send emails, and have people click on links to pages that don’t convert…

…that doesn’t make sense, right?

If I wanna get YOU better results, it only makes sense, that I would make needed changes to the places we’re driving traffic to.

Because not only do I benefit from that…

You do, too…

So does your media buyer…

Your social media manager…

And virtually everyone else in the company.

And it makes it 10x easier to scale because ALL of your traffic converts better.

And that’s only the beginning…

The part that produces the highest ROI for my email clients, is actually this unique segmentation approach I use, that:

-Converts new leads into buyers faster (and pays back ur ads faster)

-Turns those buyers into repeat buyers at a higher rate (boosts retention + C-LTV)

-Ascends those buyers into premium backend programs, and high-priced product bundles (increases AOV, and makes you more money per customer.)

It’s a formulaic process for growing your list, and generating more revenue with each person who gets on your list:

– You see a higher lead value

– And higher customer lifetime value

Better conversion rates = more leads

Better conversion rates also = more purchases (both 1st time & repeat purchases)

This creates a consistent flywheel for converting leads into buyers, and buyers into repeat buyers more easily.

Combined with a segmented approach that sends the right message to the right person, at the right time…

And it totally transforms the economics of your business.

In fact, a #1 education company in their niche told me this method:

“Doubled their conversion rates” from their email list, and their list is growing faster than ever now…

Even venture capitalists are using this method to get 125% returns on their investments in their portfolio companies.

Not an exaggeration either… read this post and see proof for yourself.

By the way – no, this is NOT email marketing + CRO.

It is both different & better than that.

Howdy - Matt here.

In today’s edition, we’ll cover:

• Creating an abandoned cart flow for:

  • Customers vs. Non-Customers

• 2 abandoned cart methods that drive repeat sales & increase C-LTV

• The different ways to use abandoned cart emails for e-commerce, info products, and high-ticket courses

Before we jump in, it’s helpful for you to know what high-performing welcome flow and new customer flows look like.

If you’d like some examples, you can refer to the intro section of my YouTube Email Marketing Course here.

In partnership with

Over 59,000 marketers read this newsletter for the latest advertising hacks, insights, and breaking news. Stacked Marketer provides you with carefully curated industry news, tech, and insights — it’s a 100% free jam-packed 7-minute daily read.

» Click here to sign up for free today.

Abandoned Cart Flow for E-commerce and Digital Products

The first thing you wanna do here is split your abandoned cart flow into 2 groups:

1. Customers

2. Non-Customers

For Non-Customers:

Remind them of the "welcome bonus" in your abandoned cart flow...

If you’ve already built out a welcome series, this is easy; you just remind your Non-Customers about the bonus the same way you do in your welcome series.

You can even repurpose the same copy/sections from your welcome emails, too.

For customers:

Instead of reminding them about the welcome bonus, you remind them about loyalty points.

This is kind of the same thing you do in your new customer flow.

Typically, new customer flows help with product consumption (ensuring the customer uses the product and gets value from it), obtain testimonials, and upsell/cross-sell.

So basically, whatever you do in your new customer flow…

You kinda mimic that in your abandoned cart flow for customers.

(Each person’s business model is different, so do what makes sense for your business)

Here’s a brief breakdown of the flow:

Email 1:

For Non-Customers

• Remind them about their abandoned cart

• Remind them of the welcome discount

• Testimonials/unique quality standards

  • ^^Again, you can repurpose these same sections from your welcome flow. These sections are typical parts that address objections

  • The main key here is that you are focusing on the offer itself—the welcome bonus

Here’s an example of reminding non-customers about the welcome bonus:

For Customers

• Remind them bout their abandoned cart

• Build familiarity, as they’ve went through this process with you already once before

• Remind them of the loyalty points

Here’s a quick template/example of how to do this with customers:

• “Hi [FirstName], I saw you just threw some items in your cart and ran off…

• Since you’ve ordered from us, and completed the checkout process in the past…

• I wanted to make sure there were no issues this time around.

• Your previous orders have also earned you [X amount] of loyalty points too, which you can redeem when you come back to complete your order.

• If you have any questions, you can contact us at [Support details]

• Otherwise, you can complete your order + redeem special awards when you’re ready:

• P.S. I really hope everything is okay, and we don’t have to send a search party out to look for you.

This email would get truncated if I showed you the remaining emails, so here’s a graphic below that illustrates this strategy, and what to do in the remaining emails:

As a quick recap:

• Non-Customers - remind them of the welcome bonus

• Customers - remind them of the loyalty points

You'll convert better with both groups using this segmented strategy.

Now that’s low-ticket. Basically, e-commerce and digital products.

Next, we have higher ticket courses….

Abandoned Cart Flow For High Ticket Courses

First, let me walk you through abandoned cart flows for current students/customers…

For high-ticket courses, it’s all about ascension.

Again, the easiest way to do this is to repurpose stuff from your new customer flow.

For courses, we call this our “ascension flow,” and we build it based on your customer’s typical journey.

It’s a nuanced process, known as customer journey mapping…

Here’s how to implement it:

First, as someone selling high-ticket courses, you probably have your typical onboarding flow for new students, right?

If you have a solid ascension model built out…

In other words, when one student enrolls in a course with you, you know what you want them to buy from you again (whether that’s converting to a subscription or buying another offer from you on the backend, etc.)…

The best thing to include here, is the most logical next step forward for your students.

How do you include something that will enhance a student’s results in abandoned cart flows?

This would be like a typical upsell #1 for a funnel.

Great upsells are usually more of the same thing, or better/faster results.

Since we don’t want them to buy more of the same course (lol), we want to include something that gets them easier, better, faster results with the original item they bought on the front end.

It’s kinda like the idea of, “If you thought that was good… wait until you see this!” Sorta thing.

Eg… It will make them:

Hotter.
Sexier.
More masculine.
More feminine.
They’ll lose weight.
Build muscle.
Go on more dates.
Have more sex.
Make more money.
Build more wealth.
Or whatever else it is they want…

The important thing is you use something that ENHANCES the original offer.

Now, how do you figure this out?

Surveys.

Surveys are more of a strategy that helps you BUILD a better sequence for customers.

However, you use the answers from your surveys to better understand what to include in your abandoned cart flow for customers.

This’ll make sense—I promise.

Real quick, here are two easy ways to run surveys that I like.

1. Sending The “Why Email?” to customers after they bought a second time.

This is basically an email you send to customers after they buy something, where they’ll reply with feedback on what made them buy.

2. Run a real survey.

ESPs have poll software or built-in survey tools.

You can also use survey software like SurveyMonkey or whatever.

These all give powerful insights into why people buy again and again.

In fact in my new customer flows I love having some kind of survey element.

This gives us deep insight into the arguably best metric of our entire business:

Driving repeat purchases.

If we understand why people buy again, we can reverse engineer those same conditions or that same buyer's journey.

Then, we can walk our new customers through that same path.

It’s like having a map to a buried treasure trove of repeat customers (shut up.)

So, when we talk about customer journey mapping, timelines of things, objections, and how to address them, we can synthesize these things repeatedly…

Then, we address those last-second repeat buyer objections in the tone of a trusted friend.

Like we’re their homie, and have their back.

This is how we get them to buy again & again.

As far as implementing this goes, I'd like to start with up to 3 abandoned cart emails.

And you basically model the same approach with e-commerce/digital products.

Only difference is for customers, you’d replace loyalty points with whatever the upsell product is, and why it helps them get easier, better, faster results. And also… why it’s a perfect “upgrade” to what they’ve already bought.

Now, when it comes to abandoned cart flows for non-customers (or non-students)…

I like to use things like:

• Paradigm-shifting emails,

• testimonials,

• FAQs.

Basically, the same way it’s done in the welcome sequence. I just reformat things, so it doesn’t look like the subscriber is getting the exact same email.

This lets me address the same objections in their consumer journey without appearing redundant.

Then, I like to incentivize fast completion/urgency.

The same way you would with a product launch-style email.

You can also add extra bonuses, etc. instead of a discount.

The idea here is just to do something that let’s you incentivize the subscriber for completing their order.

This helps “trip the wire.”

And convert them from subscriber to high-ticket course buyer.

Lastly…

The biggest thing for courses is to deeply understand your customer.

This helps you figure out what things make them buy the first time, the second time, and so on…

By having this data, you can optimize the entire customer journey with your abandoned cart emails.

This is the hallmark of creating high-converting abandoned cart emails for both customers and non-customers.

That being said, if you don’t have the right data, I suggest you start collecting it immediately.

Literally…as you’re reading this, write down in your notebook, or in the notes app of your iPhone to start using surveys to collect data.

Then, use this data to address objections in your new customer flows and your abandoned cart flows for repeat buyers.

In a future edition, I’ll show you a lucrative “Abandoned Call Method” that basically lets you leverage everything I showed you today, but for service-based businesses…

This method books you more calls on auto-pilot and helps you close more deals with ease.

You’ll love reading that newsletter.

See ya next week.

~Matt Hommel

Hey, Matt here.

One of the most popular niches for email marketing is e-commerce (e-com). And regardless of your niche or industry, you should study how e-com lists work…

In fact, I use e-com strategies for my clients who sell courses, info products, & services all the time.

In today's edition, I'll break down how you can adopt e-com strategies for course, info, or service niches.

By the way, if you haven’t seen my article, “The Only Time a Niche Matters,” you’ll like that one because it’s similar to today’s edition also.

Maximizing Value Over Discounts

You’ll notice a lot of e-com brands run discounted promotions, and then re-cycle those promotions at a later date across the year.

However, I prefer a different approach…

Rather than cutting prices, I like to focus on increasing the overall value of your offers.

Instead of offering discounts, include bonuses, and things that add MORE value to the offer itself. This drives higher AOV without devaluing the worth of your products.

Plus, it also incentivizes people to spend more money with you.

Smart e-com brands do this with their spend $100 save $15, spend $200, save $50 type deals. Maybe you see those banners at the top of their site at times.

Obviously, your customers get much larger savings by spending more.

If the margins make sense, this is an easy way to drive higher AOV.

It also increases C-LTV, all the while, making the customer feel like they’re the ones getting the best deal.

Applying This to Subscription Business Models

I love applying this to subscription-based businesses.

One thing to note, when it comes to subscription businesses…

There’s always 2 levers you can pull:

• One is free course or digital product with your subscription,

• The other is buy the course/info product, and your first month of the subscription is free.

I use both models.

If your subscription is that good, you’ll make plenty of mualah on the backend.

They key is to just create the compelling offer that gets people in the door to begin with.

Simply choose an in-demand course you have that people have been wanting to get, or give them a free first month of the subscription with a purchase of the course.

How to Retain Subscription Members?

This one’s a bit outside the scope of this post, but since we’re already on the topic, I’ll quickly say I like using the Netflix model with my clients, and it’s brilliant.

Netflix put Blockbuster out of business with this, and completely took over an entire vertical, so if you’d wanna do something similar I recommend you follow this approach, too (click here if you want support too).

Basically, the way this strategy works is you always wanna keep something next for your customers.

Whether it’s...

• guest speakers,

• new course updates,

• live trainings,

...There has to always be something upcoming in the future to build anticipation.

This helps with churn.

Realistically, all it takes is a bad week and a customer thinks:

"Hmmm I’m paying this recurring thing, this is what I’m getting, but I also know there’s these other things over here too."

Even if your offer is good, there’s still always that lingering thought of customers when it comes to recurring, or subscription-based business models; after all, people are paying each month.

Talk soon,
Matt Hommel

Recommended Links:

• ​A 2-Hour Email Marketing Masterclass​

• ​Easy Organic Funnel to Implement for Creators​

• ​Can you make AI write personality-driven emails that sound more like you than you sound like you?

I recently made a client $20k with one email by sending directly to a checkout page (no sales page or product page).

And I figured you’d like to know how I did it, so you can use it for your own business or for your clients' businesses. 

So today I’m gonna walk you through that email, how it works, and how you can use it too.

First, the reason this email converts so well, is because it follows this cool “buyer's thermostat" technique I’ve developed…

Which, basically has to do with how much selling takes place in the sales page vs. the email. 

I’ll do a deeper dive into the buyer's thermostat technique next week.

For today, though: I’ll just talk about the $20k soup kitchen email.

Let’s dive in…

This soup kitchen email is pretty much like a sales page email.

And the reason it’s such a good email to use in your businesses’ email campaigns…

And the reason my clients like this email a lot, too, is because you can basically generate the same amount of email revenue as you normally would, but without having to set up a sales page or offer page or whatever. 

Now, for context…

Maybe you’ve heard of people using “Google docs” as sales pages before?

Maybe not?

Regardless, the soup kitchen email is basically that same philosophy. 

But there’s a particular style that I’ve found works. 

I’m gonna give you the structure of the email.

If I copy/pasted the email in here it might get clipped, and there’d be little room for me to teach it.

However, at the bottom of this email there’s a link where you can get access to the exact soup kitchen email I used, plus a fill-in-the-blanks template version of it. 

Here’s the structure of it, though. 

First, you want to have a unique curiosity subject line. 

I have an entire guide on subject lines that you can read here. 

But envision it, the subject line, is your “headline” of your sales page. 

We’re not using a sales page here, remember? 

But we still need to follow the same conversion principles across the entire funnel. 

The difference is the delivery style.

(think of it like using an email sales page vs. a sales page sales page.) 

For me, I said:

“Were you there? This open house moment was unreal!” 

Next, the opening line, is your “hook”. 

The hook is your “lead” of the sales page. 

Get their attention immediately and get them to keep reading. 

You want them to keep reading to get more information, where you’ll take them through the sales process. 

For me it was like, 

“You wouldn’t believe what just happened at our recent event…

It was an absolute game changer for everyone who attended, and I wanted to make sure you could experience what we all did.”

This hook works, because it’s a guru list, and it’s playing on the fear of missing out. 

Essentially, this incredible thing happened, and by saying, “wanted to make sure you could experience it too”…

We’re basically framing the email as a unique chance for them to not miss out on what all of their peers got to experience. 

Lol. 

That’s what gets them to wanna keep reading…

This might all sound really simple, but it’s crucial to not deviate—seriously. 

So, thus far…

We’ve covered:

Subject line = headline
Hook/opening line = your lead

Next, you go into the offer. 

For the next 48 hours. 

This gives urgency. 

Then, lastly, we lay down the offer itself. 

This is called our “offer section.”

And we list the offer, basically, the same way we would on the sales page. 

Maybe you’ve seen the value stack before on sales page? 

Ya know like those pages that say…

“Here’s what you will get:” 

• Bullet 1

• Bullet 2

• Bullet 3

And so on… 

Now, we’ve covered:

Subject line = headline
Hook/opening line = lead
Urgency = (a way to bridge to the offer)
Offer section = value stack

Lastly, we give the option to buy. 

But the most important part:

Is what you ACTUALLY say in the call to action. 

Do not say “learn more” or “get all the details” or something like that. 

No.

You say “Buy Now”

You wouldn’t say learn more on the button of a sales page right? 

So, this is literally your buy button. 

What I like to do literally is:

>> Buy now for just $xxx $xxx (save $xxx)

Does this make sense? 

So one last time:

Subject line
Hook
Urgency
Offer Stack
Buy now link

In that order. 

You’re basically creating a mini sales page in your email. 

I’ve done this across many niches. 

And I’ve tested different variants. 

Some are longer, some are shorter, this one gets right to the point, while still checking all the right conversion boxes. 

I hope this was eye-opening for you, cause this is a great email that’s worked multiple times for 7, 8 and 9-figure businesses. 

If you want to get the exact email used, plus a fill-in-the-blank template version, click below:

>> Get the fill-in-the-blank $20,000 soup kitchen email template here

(it’s a paid product, but it’s easily worth it and will save you tons of writing and thinking time)

See you next week,
Matt

P.S. That link to the soup kitchen email template includes 6 other templates as well, all of which are used by 7, 8, and 9-figure course and info businesses.

Check them out here, plus get your soup kitchen email template.

Other Recommended links

• Beehiiv launches lifetime subscriptions and audio embeds (Learn more)

• Alex Hormozi reveals a $2.4 million email marketing strategy (Learn more)

You know urgency is key for driving sales for your business…

But many marketers today use “fake urgency”, which can hurt your brand’s reputation, and lead to less sales long term & even prevent you from scaling.

So, how can you use urgency to drive rapid sales, continuously, all without tarnishing your brand?

In today’s edition, you’ll learn:

How to use urgency to drastically increase your sales, without…

• Lying to your audience about fake claims or deadlines

• Destroying your business's reputation

• And instead…

…How to speak more to your customers' deepest desires in a way that drives MORE sales in a genuine way.

Let’s jump in.

The Origin of Fake Urgency

Urgency is the heartbeat of successful marketing campaigns.

But there's a dark side: Fake urgency.

It’s the cheap trick some marketers use, setting false deadlines or announcing last-chance offers that magically reappear the next week.

Or better yet, they say…

“This offer ends tonight at midnight.”

But then you check out the deal at 2 pm the next day, and it’s still live!

And you see that multiple times.

This not only erodes trust, it also devalues your brand. It turns today’s shortcut into tomorrow’s stumbling block.

Using Urgency to Drive Sales

Real urgency doesn’t need a fabricated deadline.

But before I get into how to use urgency without a “deadline”…

It’ll make more sense if I explain what a deadline actually is—outside of urgency.

A deadline, simply refers to a “time-constraint.”

And the urgency, is the time between now and that deadline.

In this case, urgency is an outcome—NOT a strategy.

So our goal isn’t to create urgency…

It’s to create a time constraint.

This time constraint, is the time between now and when “some event happens” (eg. discount expires.)

Creating a Deadline Without Specific Dates or Times

So now we know to create our deadline, we need to create a time constraint.

But to create this time constraint, we need to understand what our “end point” is.

Here’s the best way I’ve found to do this:

Focusing on the consequences of the problem your reader faces, and what happens when they don’t fix it timely.

The idea is that the problem’s not going to get better until they address it, right?

And the more they put off addressing it, the worse it gets…

Until eventually—it's too late…

They suffer the most god-awful consequence imaginable.

All because they delayed fixing their problem.

Whatever that awful reality is, that’s your real deadline.

Now, let’s talk tactics.

Implementing Urgency Without Specific Times or Dates

We now know the deadline is between now and the day your reader suffers the most god-awful consequence imaginable.

And yes—you do have to paint a picture of how bad it will get, otherwise they won’t take action.

The greater the consequence, the more you can make your reader FEEL that consequence, and thus, the more real it gets…

…to where they may feel like it will happen to them tomorrow if they don’t take action.

So to implement this, there are a few things to consider…

Immediate Consequences: 

Be clear about what’s at stake. “Not fixing your X, eventually leads to Y. Each day you delay fixing X, you get one day closer to Y, and [Insert the ultimate god awful consequence].”

Consistent Use of Urgency: 

For best results, it’s good to create a continuous narrative around the worsening nature of the problem.

This isn’t some scare tactic—it's about making your reader aware of the real and present dangers of their problem.

Chances are, your business exists for a reason; it solves a pressing need for other human beings in the world.

The way to create this narritive is to use factual data of what happens when they don’t fix this problem.

Dimensional language: 

Dimensionalization means using words that create a crystal-clear image in the prospect's eyes—words that appeal to their senses, so they can clearly see, smell, hear, etc.

For more info on using dimensionalization to your advantage, see #4 in my article, 19 Proven Ways to Write Better Email Subject Lines.

🔗 Top Links

• How To Make a “Subscriber Flow” That Will Increase Your Conversion Rate, Open Rate, and CTR (Learn more)

• My favorite tool for growing your email list lately (Learn more)

That’s a wrap!

See you next Thursday

~Matt Hommel

P.S. Here are 3 resources you’ll love:

1. 7 Email Marketing Cheat Codes Helping $2MM to $106MM Brands Scale YoY (​click here for instant access!​)

2. Email Marketing Course: Master 3 core flows, campaign strategy, and revenue optimization (​watch the course here​)

3. Follow me on ​Twitter​ and ​LinkedIn​ for more email & growth marketing content «

Hey—Matt here!

Here’s my top 4 tips:

1. Know Your Numbers

Not sexy.

But the best marketers are data-driven decision makers first, copywriters/creatives second.

By leveraging data, you can replicate what’s proven to work for consistent scale YoY.

I recommend watching the Forecasting 101 section of my Email Marketing Course on YouTube. It starts at 1:26:42.

In short…

It’s like this:

Lets say you have this “Day Trading Essentials” course…

You’ve promoted it 4 times a year over the last 2 years (8 times total).

And lets say:

January 2023 you launched the course with 5 emails promoting it.

You collected $100k during the launch.

And then, when you launched it again, in March 2023, you made $80k. But this time you sent only four emails instead of five…

Well, looking at the numbers, you can see basically you generate $20k per email with this course.

So if you want to scale your email revenue…

You can think… how can I send more emails, or send to a larger list while keeping my conversions the same?

I’ll talk about list growth at a later time.

But the key here, is knowing how much you generate per email…per offer, meaning, some offers will do better than others do. It’s not the emails, it’s the offer. But the only way you know this, is you send more emails to more offers, and you track the data to see what works…

Only after you do this, can you see what kind of data-driven decisions you can make to grow your email account revenue.

Now here’s the next tip.

2. Who you put on your list matters

Put buyers on your list. Or people with money.

A lead magnet titled how to make your first $5k/month as a freelancer will get you leads… but they likely won’t become repeat-buyers.

Now, if that $5k/month freelance group IS your avatar, you’re better off creating a $1 or $2.99 info product.

If people won’t spend a dollar with you, they’re not worth having on your list.

Most of the time, it’s best to build your email list through customer acquisition. 

The best emailers build their list through customer acquisition… then resell to them.

A close second to customer acquisition is building your list through other people’s email lists.

I dive deeper into this growth tactic in this video.

Next tip…

3. WHERE your leads come from matters

Someone who buys things from emails is 20x more valuable than someone who buys things from TikTok ads.

Buying ad space on email lists from…

• Newsmax

• Media/publishing companies

• Other newsletters

…or even having affiliates mail your offer to their list will put more engaged subscribers onto your list.

And lastly,

4. Prioritize The Money-Making Metrics

P&L-minded media buyers focus on ROAS (mostly).

P&L-minded email marketers focus on things like:

• dollar-per-thousand-email sends

• rev-per-blast

• rev-per-contact

This rule applies even if you’re not running promos.

For instance…

When you’re giving out free educational content:

Study blogs & videos with a high rev-per-page view.

And when you’re sending to YouTube…

Use UTMs in the description.

And track how well your end cards perform.

Remember: Follow the money to make money.

That’s a wrap!

Hope you found this insightful today.

Talk soon,

~Matt Hommel

Hey—Matt here!

If you want to acquire more customers, faster…

Today, I’m gonna share the exact email welcome series cadence I’ve used…

…to help brands convert 50% of new email subscribers into paying customers, and do up to $100k per week.

No fluff. Let’s jump in:

Email 1: Send Your Freebie/Lead Magnet:

Most businesses are using some type of freebie to acquire subscribers.

So, this first email is where you’ll deliver that freebie.

However, you also want to give testimonials & offers, also.

This is because welcome email #1 will likely be the highest opened email you’ll ever send…

It’s your chance to convince your readers why they should trust you, and it’s also how you can make sales to pay back your marketing spend.

In fact, this email might be the biggest money-maker in your entire welcome flow when done properly.

That said, here’s a typical style I like to use that you can follow:

1. Congratulate them (Congrats “FirstName” you just took the first step towards achieving XYZ)

2. Credibility builder (this same method has helped 26,782 others achieve XYZ)

3. The link to access is below, and here’s what you’ll learn (telling them the link to access the freebie is below. This way, we can fulfill what we promised them. But we wanna tease them with benefits that get them to ACTUALLY use the guide, too… because so many people get freebies they don’t use)

4. Benefit-bullets (the benefits they’ll get by using the freebie you gave them)

5. Give the link (the freebie you promised them)

6. Tell them what to expect next (this ensures they’ll keep opening your emails in the future… if you don’t do this… the likelihood of your reader getting your freebie and then not listening to you again is quite high)

Email 2: Send Your Brand Story.

This is your brand story. Make it super tight.

I recommend 3-5 sentences or less.

Include offers as well.

Here’s a typical style:

[Me/My Family Member/This Person I Know] Always Struggles With [Pain Point].

I Learned [Why It’s a Problem].

That’s why [Developed Unique Solution that addresses the root problem].

Fast Forward Today [Helped x number of people/achieved whatever with this product—whatever your “hero story” outcome basically is].

Does that make sense? After you tell this story, that’s where you can either leave a link to your “About Us/Me” page on the website, or some sales page or your products.

For more examples & templates check out my Welcome Series Book.

Email 3: Proof

This one’s all about proof…

• Case studies,

• Testimonials

• Media features

The goal here, is to build trust with your reader by showing you’ve helped people like them in the past.

And that…if they keep listening to you—they’ll be next!

(Also give them offers, if you care about making money in ur emails)

Email 4: Re-engagement Style Email

Here, you’re going to do a simple re-engagement style email like this:

“Hey Matt, which of the following are you most interested in?

Please click your answer below, and I’ll give you my top pick for each one:

-Option 1

-Option 2

-Option 3

-Option 4

^Click your answer now!”

The reason we do this, is because at this point, usually our engagement starts to drop.

When you think about it…

We’ve already given them the freebie, we’ve already told them our “brand story” and we’ve shown them lots of proof.

If they haven’t bought yet…

The game is now segmenting them to deliver “sniper offers.”

These “sniper offers” are how I’ve helped multi-8 figure clients get 33% purchase rates in their automations.

Email 5: Sniper Offers

Whatever option your reader clicked in email #4…

You’re going to give them a congruent offer related to that option.

Eg. They clicked a DJI300 drone email (a type of drone, that is 1000x better than a GoPro Hero 5 Session lol).

THEN, If they don’t buy…

Email 6: Send Them a Piece of “Pre-Sell” Content.

We call this pre-sale content.

The goal here is to give the subscriber a valuable piece of content that essentially pre-sells the product, which we’ll actually send them the next day.

Email 7 and Beyond:

Your next email after this can be the offer congruent to what you just educated them about in your pre-sell content.

So it’s basically like this…

“Here’s this problem that leads to this… Good news is we just wrote a quick article that can help you solve it.

Continue reading here.”

Now the reader’s more educated on what they can do to solve that problem…

So next, you give them a no-brainer offer to help them solve it.

If you can do this consistently in your emails, it’ll make acquiring customers much easier.

I’ve generated millions of dollars with this method for clients across various niches…

If you have 10k+ subscribers already and you’re adding 100+ more each day, this can be a total game changer for you.

More Resources:

• As a subscriber to the Email Growth Marketer, you have exclusive access to my Welcome Series Book, which delves deeper into these topics and includes templates/examples (Here’s the link)

• Here’s me using “Sniper Offers” for an 8-figure brand: (Link)

Hope this was insightful for you today.

Talk soon,
Matt Hommel

P.S. I’m going to do a deeper dive on this topic soon. Is there anything you would like to see? Reply to this email and let me know.

Today, I’m giving you 19 ways to write a better email subject line. 

Improving your subject line is one of the quickest ways to boost your email revenue. 

That’s why, usually, when a world class direct response copywriter gets brought in to beat a company’s email control, the first place that copywriter will start is the email’s subject line. That copywriter knows it’s not uncommon to see a 25% boost in sales just by improving the subject line alone.

You don’t really see results that easily by changing the body copy, call-to-action, opening line, etc.

Now, while it does take years of practice and thousands of reps to do this skillfully…

My goal is that when you finish this article today, you’ll have a better understanding of why these 19 subject line methods work, and how you can leverage them for better business outcomes. 

And also, if you decide to bring in a world class direct response copywriter to beat your email control, you’ll have a solid understanding of what will go down, and how it can drastically boost your email revenue. 

Let’s delve in.

#1 The Twin Scales Method

This is arguably the most important method and feeds into almost all the other methods we’ll cover today. 

Hence, we’ll cover it first, so the remainder of this guide makes more sense. 

Here’s how it works…

Often, when writing better subject lines, there’s 2 key elements you want to focus on: 

The curiosity element and the benefit element. 

This is called the Twins Scale method. 

I learned this from Luke Mills and Stefan Georgi, who both run Copy Accelerator. 

The reason it’s called the Twins scale method is because you’re balancing both the “curiosity” element and the “benefit” elements together. 

Essentially, you’re creating a “scale” between the two elements. 

Here’s an example of making a subject line better using the Twins Scale method… 

Subject 1: New Harvard study shows THIS “sports herb” used by Tom Brady and Usain Bolt can 4x recovery time 

Subject 2: New Harvard study shows THIS “Appalachian herb” used by Tom Brady and Usain Bolt improves recovery time 

Subject 3: New Harvard study shows THIS “Appalachian herb” used by Tom Brady and Usain Bolt can 4x recovery time 

For subject line 1: The curiosity element is “sports herb”. The benefit element is “4x recovery time ” 

For subject line 2: The curiosity element is “Appalachian herb”. The benefit element is “improves recovery time” 

For subject line 3: The curiosity element is “Appalachian herb”. The benefit element is “4x recovery time” 

Subject line 3 is the best, in my opinion. “Appalachian herb” is a better curiosity element than sports herb, since it’s more unique, it’s more specific. There’s a story behind it. 

Sports herb is too vague. Appalachian, implies that it comes from a specific place. And I need to discover why it came from that place specifically, plus more…

Subject line 3 is ALSO the best because its benefit element is better than subject line 2. 

The benefit is more specific, bold, and big, more beneficial. 

“4x recovery time” is a lot more powerful of a benefit than “improves recovery time” 

The specificity is also more believable and adds more proof and credibility with the boldness. 

As such, subject line 3 has the best curiosity element AND the best benefit element. Therefore, making it the best.

If you wanted to apply this method yourself, you’d simply take your subject line…

-Isolate the curiosity element (if present)...

-Isolate the benefit element (if present)...

-Then decide which one is weaker…

-Then improve the weaker part. 

In my experience, improving the weak part is 10x easier and more effective than trying to make a “strong part” stronger. 

A bit of a long section, Ik, but the importance of this first method is because it plays into the remaining 18 methods I’m about to share with you. 

And now when you see these other 18 methods, it’ll be even easier to improve your subject lines and increase your email revenue…

#2 Adding Texture (Or Removing Texture)

The next part, is texture. 

Texture is basically words, punctuation, emojis, and other symbols that pop out. 

It’s attention-grabbing. 

As such, it stands out more in your inbox and is more easily noticeable…

…instead of “blending in” with the other hundreds of emails that are likely in your inbox. 

For example, Dan Henry uses a black circle in all his emails:

Troy Ericson uses no preview text. (this is actually removing texture, technically, it still produces the same effect—making your email more noticeable)

Other examples of adding texture to subject lines include:

• Use [brackets] and (parentheses)

• Use a Combination of UPPER-CASE and lowercase words

• Use numbers, quotes, and uncommon letters (3, “quotes”, z, x,)

Authors note: Avoid exclamation points. For some reason, using exclamation points like this!! Seems to hurt deliverability more often. 

#3: Benefit

What’s in it for me?

This one is self-explanatory. 

Your reader wants to know: 

“What’s in it for me?” 

“What benefit will I get by opening this email?” 

“How good is that benefit?” 

“Is it REALLY that beneficial?”

… “Or is the benefit so tiny… the little amount of work required for me to open the email still doesn’t make it worth me opening the email?” 

I don’t wanna beat a dead horse here, lol. 

If your reader is to open your email, it’ll likely require they do further reading, clicking, calorie burning, and energy expending. 

Evolutionary speaking, if they don’t get a net-positive by opening…

It will create a net-negative…

And they could end up in famine.

So, we need to be able to help them acquire more resources, increase their status, mate better, and survive in our cold, competitive, primal world. 

Instinctually, they MUST get some benefit sacrificing their precious, stored calories to open our emails.

#4: Dimensionalization

Dimensionalization means using words that create a crystal-clear image in the prospect's eyes—words that appeal to their senses, so they can clearly see, smell, hear, etc. 

In simple terms, it’s like using imagery: creating a crystal clear image of what you’re trying to get your reader to see. 

To make them more real and compelling. You’re describing the benefit behind the benefit. 

Here’s an example from, verygoodcopy.com -

Studies in advertising psychology suggest that consumers are up to 70% more likely to remember a product if its advertising appeals to their emotions or senses, enhancing brand recall. 

Let’s say you’re a mattress company. 

And after reviewing data from your ads, sales pages, and emails, you notice all the top-performing ads, sales pages, and emails have one thing in common: 

They include the phrase, “Wake up feeling like you've had an extra two hours of sleep.”

Then you realize, this is actually the biggest desire for your market, they feel like they are missing sleep. 

And yet no matter how long they sleep, they always feel like they need an extra 2 hours of sleep before they’re ready to start their day. 

So, you decided to run a test… 

You craft two versions of a subject line: 

The control version might say something like:

• “Get our state-of-the-art memory foam”

Meanwhile, the test version taps into the direct benefit: 

• “Wake up feeling like you got 2 more hours of sleep! (MDs new bed ritual)”

• “It feels like I get 2 more hours of sleep each night” - 12,000 others

Both these second examples dig deeper into the emotional side, and use dimensionalization. 

You can also add in the preview text: 

“Discover why our state-of-the-art memory phone has others calling it a ‘sleep miracle’” 

Or something like that…

But basically, the goal here is to dig deeper into the deep emotional desires of our reader.

It’s kinda like peeling a layer of the onion back more and more to see what the real motive is for buying. And then ensuring you reinforce that main motive over & over again through vivid, descriptive messaging.

#5: Specificity 

Specificity is a powerful, yet overlooked direct response principle…

It works by cutting through noise and providing clear, measurable details that ease the decision-making process.

For instance, when you list a product price as $30.83 instead of rounding it to $30, you signal to your audience that there's a reasoned calculation behind the price. This specificity suggests transparency and careful thought, which enhances trust and reduces the mental friction associated with skepticism. 

Studies show that messages that include specific details are perceived as more credible. Because specific numbers suggest thorough research and precision. 

For instance, "Increase revenue by 23.5%" appears more researched and validated than "Increase revenue significantly."...

This implies the message is tested and backed by concrete data.

For example, some people are more willing to spend $99.97 on a product than $100. 

In fact, studies in economic behaviorism show that when an item was priced $19.97, it got 15% more purchases than the item priced at $19.93—the more expensive item got 15% more buys! 

But not only does specificity make things more believable… 

It also helps with what’s known as “cognitive load.” 

See, people prefer specific information because it involves less guesswork and fewer “brain calories” to comprehend…

In technical terms, when a subject line provides a precise figure, such as "Increase email engagement by 33%," it allows the prefrontal cortex (responsible for decision-making and problem-solving) to process the information more efficiently. 

When it comes to our emails… 

Having this clarity makes the decision to open an email feel less taxing and more straightforward.

We don’t have to think, “what does this mean?” 

…Instead, it just makes sense at first glance. 

And we prefer things that are easier to understand. 

In Pre-suasion, Cialdini argues that people are more likely to be persuaded by messages that are easy to understand—this is where specificity becomes incredibly powerful.

Cialdini points out that people prefer things that are easy to understand and that this preference extends to how we receive and process information. Specificity in email subject lines contributes to cognitive ease by providing clear, unambiguous information. For example, a subject line like "Reduce your morning routine to just 15 minutes with our 5-step kit" uses specificity to simplify what might otherwise be a complex offer, making it easy and appealing to grasp.

When your audience encounters specific details, such as "Increase your ROI by 25% with this one tweak," the ease with which they can understand and visualize the benefit lends credibility to the message. 

Cialdini also suggests that our minds are less critical during states of cognitive ease, which means we're more likely to accept a claim if it's presented clearly and specifically.

In this case, we’re more likely to open an email instead of saying, “bullsh!t” and continue scrolling…

Here’s some subject line examples: 

• “Join 480 others who saved $320 in March by switching to our service”

• “Learn 3 simple legal tips that can save your business thousands”

• “How I increased this brand’s AOV by over $23”

• “467 of 500 spots already taken (hurry)”

#6: Credibility

Real quick—Credibility is NOT the same as Authority. They’re both great for email subject lines, but they target different persuasion triggers in your reader's brain…

Credibility is all about being trustworthy and reliable. It doesn’t matter who you are; what matters is if people believe what you're saying. 

It’s like that trusted friend who’s always looking out for you and has your back. 

When your message has credibility, it’s because your audience believes:

• You’re trustworthy (won’t screw them over)

• You have integrity 

• You won’t lie or deceive them

• And/or you have other evidence, supporting the trustworthiness or reliability of your message 

Take a subject line like…

"Backed by 20 Years of Research: The Only Sleep Aid You'll Ever Need" 

…This one’s powerful because it shows there's real research and knowledge behind the product. You're not just making bold claims; you're offering evidence.

This is different from authority, which we'll talk about next. With credibility, it’s all about earning trust through what you say and how you say it, making sure people feel comfortable and confident in believing you.

#7: Authority

Moving on to authority; this is one of the most powerful weapons of influence in your arsenal.

Unlike credibility, which is built on trust and reliability, authority leverages the power of status, expertise, and recognized leadership to persuade. 

Robert Cialdini covers this weapon of influence heavily in his book, Influence.

Authority figures—be they top veterinarians, renowned medical doctors, influential Wall Street bankers, or celebrated copywriters—carry a weight of expertise that, when mentioned, can significantly boost the perceived value and importance of your message.

By associating your message with these authority figures, you're essentially borrowing their credibility…

It’s not just about name-dropping, though; it's about linking your content to a source that your audience already trusts.

Plus, people want to hear what experts have to say, especially if it could impact their lives or work.

Here’s what to keep in mind when using authority:

1. Choose Relevant Experts: The authority you cite should be a recognized figure in the field related to your email's topic. Relevance is key to ensuring that the name resonates with your audience.

2. Be Specific: Don't just use generic phrases like "industry expert." Name the expert and their title, and briefly mention why their opinion is a game-changer. For instance, "Dr. Jane Doe, Award-Winning Immunologist, Unveils New COVID-19 Safety Measures."

3. Promise Real Insights: Your subject line should not only drop a name but also hint at the specific, valuable insights the expert will provide. This could be through tips, warnings, or revealing lesser-known facts, as in "NASA Astronaut Shares 3 Lesser-Known Dangers of Space Travel."

And, here’s some subject line examples:

• "Warren Buffett's Latest Investment Strategy — Start Applying It Today"

• "Mayo Clinic’s Breakthrough Diet Plan That Doctors Swear By"

• "Harvard Psychologist Reveals 5 Tricks to Increase Daily Productivity"

• "Top Vet Unveils #1 Mistake Pet Owners Make With Their Dogs' Diet"

For more information on Authority, read Robert Cialdini’s book, Influence. It’s often referred to as, “The one book all marketers must read.” 

#8: Social proof (“others are doing this”)

Social proof is a powerful persuasion element, as it leverages the human tendency to follow others' actions. 

It seems funny, but naturally, humans don’t really know what’s going on.

They’re wired to mimic the actions of others, especially in situations of uncertainty…

So, by simply showing that a large number of people have done something, you can drastically boost your email subject lines. 

To capitalize on social proof effectively, incorporate clear, relatable examples that resonate with your audience:

• “Why 10,000 users switched to Matt Hommel’s email services last month”

• “500+ reviews confirm: Matt’s gym is #1!”

• “Join 100,000 neighbors saving on energy costs today!”

• “743,223 ladies agree: Matt Hommel’s the hottest man on earth!”

Essentially, using social proof in your subject lines helps demonstrate the popularity and reliability of your offer. 

Ultimately, this makes customers feel more safe because they’re following the road that others have traveled successfully before—so there’s less risk. 

#9: Proof - demonstration

Like the saying goes, “A demonstration beats a presentation every time.” 

…Or even, “Show don’t tell.” 

Demonstrating proof in your emails is convincing because you're not just saying you can do something—you're literally showing how you've already done it.

And seeing is often believing. 

Here’s an example: 

• “This one Facebook ad brought in 1,000 buyers a day.”

This statement grabs attention because it offers a clear, measurable demonstration of success.

And the reason it’s so effective is because you’re showing exactly what you’ve accomplished…

…which invites the reader to wanna open the email and see the evidence themselves.

#10: Trending news

Trending news taps into psychological triggers like urgency and relevance, which is a critical element in direct response marketing. 

This method exploits the brain's natural inclination to prioritize new information that could impact an individual's environment and well-being…

It’s kinda like when the media uses fear-mongering on us to stir the pot, lol.

We need to make sure World War 3 isn’t happening, or our job isn’t laying off 10,000 people tomorrow.

Research proves this too—people are more likely to react to information perceived as immediate and important.

Here’s how to leverage Trending News to produce better subject lines: 

First, it’s always important to select news that resonates with your target demographic and reflects their preferences and biases. 

For example, a subject line like "How Biden’s New Billionaire Tax Could Affect Your Investments" can stir the pot for a financial audience, especially when tax changes are dominating the news cycle.

Here are a few more example subject lines:

• “What North Korea's Latest Threat Means for Your Security Plans”

• “[Breaking] Harvard MD Reveals New Alzheimer’s “Reversal Cocktail”

• “FEMA’s Latest Advice on Surviving Natural Disasters”

These examples demonstrate how directly linking your email content to trending topics can result in compelling subject lines that your reader cannot afford to ignore… 

Does it sound manipulative? Sure. 

But if your product really IS that valuable…

You have to get it into the hands of more people.

Otherwise, those people will continue to suffer…

And they’re problems won’t get better =) 

#11: Anti-Selling-case against an offer

This is a little reverse-psychology tactic and it’s one of my favorites. 

This interesting approach to email subject lines plays on several deep-seated psychological biases; such as, the aversion to rejection and the desire for the forbidden. 

Employing what we can term "anti-selling" flips the typical marketing script by suggesting that a product or service might not be suitable for the recipient.

In a way, this can also lower our prospect's guard when used as a hook. 

I know this from experience. 

In fact, I used this same approach in a campaign for one of our 8-figure clients, resulting in a 53% open rate and a 4% order placement rate on a $200 product.

I’ll let you do the math on how powerful this can be. 

If you’re interested in the psychology side; here’s WHY this method is so powerful: 

Humans inherently dislike being told they can't have something. They also don’t like being told what to do either. 

This concept is rooted in psychological reactance, where individuals have emotional reactions in direct contradiction to rules or regulations that impinge upon their freedom and autonomy. 

When you tell someone that something is "not for them," it naturally piques their interest and challenges them to prove the assertion wrong, driving them to engage more deeply with the content to see why they might be the exception.

Additionally, it’s also a form of rejection too. Which humans don’t like either…

Even if the person didn’t want the thing to begin with, by simply telling them no, it flips the script and can make them suddenly pay attention to the thing more—or even end up wanting it just to prove a point. 

This strategy not only draws in the reader with the allure of the taboo but also filters your audience to those who feel they truly must belong to an exclusive group—those who qualify against the odds. Here’s how you might craft similar subject lines:

• “Why Matt’s Big n’ Sexy Diet Plan Is NOT for You”

• “do NOT sign up for my yoga class if this is you…”

• “If this is you…Easy Pilot will never work for you”

• “Gilmore Golfing is NOT the right for you if…”

As you can see…

Such subject lines create a challenge that many recipients are eager to rise to, turning the conventional sales pitch on its head and making your offer more desirable by suggesting it's out of reach.

By using this “anti-selling strategy,” you not only spark curiosity and engagement but also subtly enhance the perceived value of your offer, making it a potent tool in your arsenal for crafting powerful email subject lines.

#12: Easier or faster

In direct response marketing, efficiency and ease are highly persuasive elements. As such, highlighting the simplicity or speed of achieving results can significantly amplify the appeal of your offer. 

This approach directly taps into the consumer’s desire for instant gratification and minimal effort, which are compelling drivers in decision-making processes.

Positioning your product or service as the quickest or easiest route to achieving desired outcomes not only sets it apart but also aligns perfectly with the modern consumer's expectation for immediate results. Use terms like "1 minute," "fast," "simple," or "just THIS" to convey the minimal effort required from the user.

Here’s a few subject line examples:

• “Achieve a Perfect Smile in Just 2 Weeks with Our Quick Whitening Kit”

• “Learn Spanish in Just 5 Minutes a Day—Fast, Easy, Effective”

• “Simplify Your Meal Prep with Our 1-Minute Healthy Recipes”

These subject lines promise fast and easy solutions, making the offer more attractive by assuring the reader that they can achieve their goals without significant time investment or complexity.

In essence, you want to position your subject line as an easier or faster way to get the outcome, i.e. “1-minute, fast, simple, just THIS.”

#13: Calling attention 

Another great way to enhance your subject lines is by utilizing direct, attention-calling cues…

Such as:

• Read this if

  • You are [avatar]

  • You struggle with [pain]

  • You want to [benefit]

  • You have [thing avatar has]

  • [Main idea of original subject line]

Basically, this method involves using phrases that directly address the reader's identity, needs, or desires, making the message feel personally relevant and compelling. 

You probably see this in ads all the time, especially Facebook: 

🚨ATTN: ECOM STORE OWNERS 🚨

By starting with prompts like "Read this if," you create immediate relevance for your readers, forcing them to read further.

Here’s some examples of effective subject lines using this approach:

• “Read This If You Had a Capital Gain in 2022”

• “New Parents: You HAVE to See This…”

• “Open this if you’re an entrepreneur”

• “Copywriters: You can NOT miss this ChatGPT update”

These examples directly speak to the reader’s identity ("You are [avatar]"), their challenges ("You struggle with [pain]"), or their aspirations ("You want to [benefit]"). 

With this approach, you’re playing on the key component of messaging: 

Making the reader feel like it’s for them. Coaching for dentists…coaching for copywriters…coaching for marketers. 

By using a name, the reader feels like it’s meant for them… 

But even moreso, by using a direct callout, like “Read this if”... You make it feel like it’s not ONLY for them… but that the matter is also urgent.

Hence, this boosts urgency and ensures your reader doesn’t dilly-dally.  

#14: Timeframe

Integrating specific timeframes into your subject lines sharpens their appeal by promising exact results within a clear period. 

This tactic aligns perfectly with the consumer's desire for immediate gratification and clear, tangible outcomes. 

For example, when you specify benefits with a timeline—such as "Learn Spanish in Just 5 Minutes a Day" or "See Visible Skin Improvement in 30 Days or It’s Free,” you explicitly communicate the ease and speed with which customers can reach their goals.

By providing a definitive timeline, you alleviate common anxieties about the time investment required and dramatically boost the perceived value of the offer. 

eg…

• “In only x minutes”

• “2-minute method to [benefit]”

• “Get xyz in 30 days guaranteed”

Here’s some examples of subject lines with timeframes:

• “Go From Novice to Guitar Hero in 90 Days—Start Today”

• “Lose the love handles in 15 days with our new keto jumpstart method”

• “New Turbo Lawn Repair Kit: Greener Lawn in 2 Days or You Don’t Pay!”

One last note:

This overlaps with things like… 

• Specificity

• Ease of results/faster

In other words, the same principles that make specificity and ease of results work, also apply when using a time frame in your subject lines. 

To that end, by clearly stating what the reader can achieve and in what timeframe, these subject lines create a sense of urgency and make the decision to engage seem like a no-brainer.

#15: New

You might’ve heard that the word, “FREE” is the most powerful one in marketing… 

…it’s not. 

The word “New” is.

Science proves this. And so does one of the most successful copywriters of the last decade: Evaldo, Albuquerque, who sold over $173,000,000 in just 3 years.

The reason the word, “New” is so powerful is because…

It answers the biggest question your reader always has before reading your copy: 

“How is this different from everything else I’ve seen?”

In my opinion, nobody explains the power of the word, “New” better than Evaldo…

So, I’m gonna let Evaldo explain to you why this word is so powerful and why it helps you produce better email subject lines.

Here’s an excerpt below from Evaldo’s book, The 16-Word Sales Letter™:

“You must begin by explaining what the new opportunity is. As I mentioned in the last chapter, if your idea is not unique, it’s useless.

Why? Because it will not activate dopamine pathways in your prospect’s brains. Without the release of dopamine, your customer will just ignore your message.

Cognitive neuroscientists Nico Bunzeck and Emrah Düzel used MRI images to study how the brain reacts to novelty. They found that there’s a region of our midbrain called the substantia nigra or ventral segmental area that “lights up” when we see new stuff.

This “novelty center” of our brain is activated only when we come across something completely new. If it’s something familiar, it stays dormant.

Here’s how Bunzeck and Düzel explain it:

‘When we see something new, we see it has a potential for rewarding us in some way. This potential that lies in new things motivates us to explore our environment for rewards. The brain learns that the stimulus, once familiar, has no reward associated with it and so it loses its potential.

‘For this reason, only completely new objects activate the midbrain area and increase our levels of dopamine.’ ”

PLUS, novelty is also hard-wired into our brains…

I won’t delve too deep into this, as there’s plenty of evolutionary psychology books—even marketing ones explaining evolutionary psychology—but basically… 

Humans learned to survive by “detecting” change. 

Change is New. 

Now, 60 to 80% of our brain matter revolves around detecting change to keep us alive.

But it doesn’t matter whether it’s to stay alive, or the promise of a better future: 

Novelty is what will trigger enough dopamine in your reader’s brain to get them to open your email and keep reading your body copy. 

And one of the easiest ways to trigger novelty is by saying the word, “New.” 

Lastly, there’s no better way to drive this point home, than to show you some examples in action… 

Seriously, check this out: 

Triple C E-Commerce Strategy

Vs. 

New Triple C E-Commerce Strategy

…notice the difference? 

Or even:

• New Lawn Repair Kit: Greener Lawn in 2 Days!

• New Speaker Authority Method

• New Sales God Method

• New Power Voice Method

Or think about when you’re like… 

“Hi Friends, I got this NEW [thing]!” 

Everyone’s all like… “omg, what’s this new thing in their life.” 

I mean, ya just cannot ignore the word, “New.” 

So, when you start implementing this technique in your email subject lines, you’ll likely see a big boost. 

Let’s move on to our next point. 

#16: Why

The word "why" is one of the most potent tools in a marketer's arsenal. It drives curiosity and engagement by tapping into the reader’s desire for understanding and explanations. 

Here's Why the word Why is so powerful (pun intended) - 

1. It Invokes Natural Curiosity: Humans are naturally curious. When a subject line includes "why," it taps into this curiosity, compelling recipients to open the email to uncover the explanation behind a claim. 

2. It Provides Reasons and Explanations: Our brains are meaning-making machines. We have to find reasons for things. Explaining why something happens or why a certain benefit is true meets a psychological need for understanding and coherence. People are more likely to engage with content that promises to elucidate something unclear or mysterious. For instance, a subject line like "Why Most People Never Lose Weight" promises to reveal underlying reasons, which can be more appealing than straightforward advice.

3. It Amplifies Benefits: When you append "here’s why" to a benefit in your subject line, you enhance its attractiveness by promising an explanation of the benefit’s validity. This not only attracts attention but also increases the perceived credibility and value of the offer. It reassures readers that there is solid reasoning behind the benefit, which encourages them to learn more.

4. It Addresses Phenomena: Subject lines that explain why certain phenomena occur can particularly resonate with audiences experiencing related issues. This approach is effective because it not only identifies a common problem but also offers the promise of a solution or explanation within the email. For example, "Here’s Why You Always Feel Tired by 2 PM" instantly engages anyone struggling with midday energy dips.

Here’s some subject line examples:

• “Why Smart VCs are Now Investing in Education Businesses”

• “Why Smart Investors Are Buying Now”

• “Why 9 Out of 10 Diets Fail”

• “Why 92% of High-Performers Wake Up at 5 am”

• “87% of Millionaires Rise at 5 am: Here’s Why”

To implement this, you can simply take your subject line idea and add “why” to it.

Or take the idea and say, here’s why that happens. 

Why [Subject line idea] happens…

Or, The Truth Behind [Your Idea]…

Or even [Subject line idea]: Here’s why

Let’s move to our next point, and one of my personal favorites:

#17: Urgency

Let’s face it: If Urgency didn’t exist, we’d still be living in caves. And your subscribers would still be deciding whether or not to take you up on those special Black Friday Deals you offered them.  

Urgency works because it taps into our fear of missing out (FOMO) and activates our innate desire for immediate gratification. 

Whether it's a limited-time offer, a countdown timer, or a looming deadline, Urgency creates a sense of pressure that motivates your email subscribers to stop being sloths. 

Here’s some examples of Urgency: 

• Last Call: 50% Off Online Courses Ends at Midnight!

• Final reminder: Webinar Access Closes in 24 Hours 

• 12 hours left to Get My Welcome Email Templates

• Act now: Registration closes in 12 hours! 

The power of Urgency lies in its ability to trigger the primal fight-or-flight response. This instinctual reaction is not just about facing physical threats; it's deeply ingrained in our psychology to make swift decisions when confronted with urgent situations.

The presence of Urgency in a subject line—such as a quickly approaching deadline—activates this “ancient mechanism” in our brain.

Really, it's about survival.

Historically, quick decision-making could mean the difference between life and death.

In terms of email marketing, it means the difference between seizing an opportunity or missing out.

This trigger—fear—is not about being scared in the traditional sense…

It's about the anxiety of missing out on something beneficial, such as a great deal or valuable information.

So, when an email suggests that an offer ends soon, it's not merely suggesting a deadline. It's signaling to our brains that failure to act could result in a missed opportunity, which our instincts interpret as a threat.

Urgency, therefore, is fundamentally about fear—fear of loss or fear of missing out.

Ultimately, it's this fear that forces your reader to open your email, click your link, and/or buy your product before time runs out.

#18: Scarcity

Scarcity is a powerful principle in both economics and psychology. It hinges on the simple truth that people place a higher value on things that are less available. When something is scarce, it's perceived as more valuable, and this perception drives people to act before the opportunity is missed.

Here’s Why Scarcity Works:

Scarcity triggers a sense of urgency, but unlike the direct pressure of time-limited offers that we associate with urgency, scarcity focuses on the limited availability of resources.

This taps into a deep-seated fear of loss—a worry that failing to act could mean missing out on something important or beneficial.

Whether it's a limited-edition product or a few remaining spots in a popular workshop, the effect is the same.

It’s all rooted in our survival instinct.

Historically, access to scarce resources was often directly linked to survival, influencing our natural tendency to secure scarce items when available.

Today, this translates into consumer behavior where limited availability can make an offer almost irresistible.

Here’s Some Scarcity Subject Lines:

• "Only 3 seats left at our exclusive webinar!"

• "Limited edition prints now available—only 20 left in stock!"

• "Grab your copy before they're gone forever!"

By using scarcity in your subject lines, you persuade your reader to take instant action by tapping into their deep-rooted fear of missing out.

#19: Transformation

Transformation in marketing isn't just about selling a product or a service; it's about selling the outcome, the destination—the ideal future that your audience desires. 

More importantly, though, it’s about who they become. 

The latter is one thing most get wrong with transformation, and I’ll tell you why: 

In Robert Cialdini’s book, Pre-suasion, he added an 8th principle of influence. His original book had 7 principles. 

Well, this 8th principle, is basically how companies like Apple, have developed a cult-like following with their users. 

This 8th principle is unity. A shared identity.

Essentially, people become someone else—someone better when they have the product.

Now there’s other triggers, too. But I’ll just tell you, when someone has a newer, better identity from using your product, that’s basically what you’re trying to accomplish here…

It’s this aspirational identity that makes all the difference.

The aspirational identity, speaks to who they want to become or what they want to achieve. 

Jeff Walker states people aren’t just buying a tool or a resource; they’re buying into an improved version of themselves or their lives. So when your subject lines reflect the ultimate transformation that your product promises, you connect with your audience on a deeply personal level. 

For example, if you're selling an educational course with a certification, don't just talk about the course content…

Highlight what completing the course will allow the customer to become or do.

This shifts the focus from the educational journey to the doors that the certification will open for them.

Now Here’s Some Transformation Subject Lines:

• “Become a Licensed Pilot in 30 Days”

• “Boost Your Kid’s Math Skills by 2 Grades”

• “Finally! All day energy without the jitters…”

• “Take just 1 of these and she’ll be calling you daddy again”

Each of these subject lines sells not the process but the outcome, appealing directly to the desires and aspirations of the audience. 

When you focus on the transformation of what you are selling, you’re not just offering a product; you’re offering a new identity and a better life.

And when your reader sees this transformational language in your subject line, they’ll believe they can get one step closer to this transformation by opening your email. And therefore, they won’t hesitate to do it.

Congratulations! You’ve made it to the end. You’re now equipped with 19 proven ways to write better email subject lines.

You’ve discovered arguably the quickest & easiest way to boost your email revenue…

And you’ve seen firsthand, why world-class direct response copywriters will often start with the subject line to beat your company’s email control and boost your email sales. 

After all, it’s not uncommon to see a 25% boost in sales just by doing this. And you wouldn’t really see results that easily if you were to just change the body copy, call-to-action, opening line, etc…

Regardless, since you finished this article today, you have a better understanding of why these 19 methods work, and most importantly—you know how you can leverage them for better business outcomes.

And if you decide to hire a world-class direct response copywriter, you’ll know exactly what they’ll focus on—and how they can drastically boost your email revenue.

Today I’m covering 1 of the methods I discuss in my book, 7 Email “Cheat Codes” Helping $2MM to $106MM Brands Scale Their Revenue YoY Easier Than Ever Before…

If at any point today you want to get the remaining 6 out of 7 methods from my book, you can click the link below or the image mockup to get the book:

» These 7 Email “Cheat Codes” Are Helping $2MM to $106MM Brands Scale Their Revenue YoY Easier Than Ever Before

The Top 4 Email Marketing Metrics to Track

One mistake marketing decision-makers tend to make is tracking the wrong metrics when evaluating the success of their email channel.

They’re often drawn towards surface-level engagement metrics like opens, clicks, and click-through rate (CTR).

While these metrics can provide insight into customer engagement, they do not directly translate to the bottom line.

If you want to build a lasting empire, you must be consistently generating revenue from your email channel…

And the easiest way to do that is to track these 4 key email metrics:

• revenue per contact, 

• revenue per blast, 

• dollar per subscriber, 

• and monthly email revenue

Here’s what they look in practice.

Revenue per Contact

This metric is calculated by dividing the total revenue generated from an email campaign by the total number of contacts the email was sent to. For example, let's say you sent an email promoting the "Mastering Digital Marketing" course to 10,000 contacts and generated $10,000 in revenue. Your revenue per contact would be $1. This metric provides insight into how much revenue each contact is worth for a specific campaign, which can guide future budgeting and revenue forecasting.

Revenue per Blast

Revenue per blast can be calculated by dividing the total revenue from a specific email campaign by the number of emails sent in that campaign. For example, if you sent five emails in a campaign that generated $5,000 in revenue, your revenue per blast would be $1,000. This metric helps you understand how effective each email blast is at generating revenue, and can guide your decision on how frequently to send emails and what content to include.

Dollar per Subscriber

The dollar per subscriber metric shows how much each subscriber is worth in terms of revenue. It is calculated by dividing the total email revenue by the number of email subscribers. Suppose you made $120,000 in a month from email marketing with 20,000 total subscribers. Your dollar per subscriber would be $6. This metric is a valuable gauge of the overall effectiveness of your email marketing strategy.

Monthly Email Revenue

This is the total revenue generated from all your email campaigns in a given month. It's crucial because it directly measures the financial impact of your email marketing efforts. For instance, if your email campaigns generated $10,000 in January, $15,000 in February, and $12,000 in March, you would take the average of these numbers to determine your current monthly email revenue. When you’ve set a goal earlier in the year, this net-average lets you identify cyclical trends of your business, the market, and make necessary adjustments to still reach your goals for the year.

These four metrics tie directly into your email marketing/content calendar as well…

For example, if you notice that your revenue per blast is consistently high for emails promoting a specific product, you'll want to make sure you're scheduling plenty of these types of emails on your calendar.

Conversely, if your revenue per contact for another type of email is low, you might choose to limit these types of emails on your calendar.

And the cool part is…

These metrics can also guide what offers you choose to put on your calendar.

If the "Mastering Digital Marketing" course has a great rev-per-blast, you'll want to ensure you're sending plenty of emails promoting this course.

On the other hand…

If another offer, such as a "Content Creation" webinar has a low rev-per-contact, you might decide to prioritize other offers.

In essence, these revenue-focused metrics provide a more accurate and actionable view of your email marketing performance…

They help you understand:

• which aspects of your strategy are working,

• which ones are NOT working,

• and how you can adjust your strategy accordingly to increase your email revenue.

By focusing on these metrics, you can ensure that your email marketing efforts are directly contributing to your business's profitable growth.

Ultimately, the key to a successful email strategy for building a lasting empire lies in understanding the financial impact of your efforts—not just the surface-level engagement.

By focusing on these 4 metrics we covered today, you can make intelligent business decisions that are data-driven and help you profitably grow your business.