by Dan Christensen, Tudor Collegiate Strategies
If you feel you are having trouble getting recruits to open and read your emails, a big reason could be ineffective subject lines.
I often hear coaches say they have given up on emails because they do not think recruits read them. But, recruits will read emails if they are written well. Part of a well-written email is a subject line that grabs the reader’s attention enough for them to click on it.
One of the best ways to get better at writing subject lines is to pay attention to what works and what does not. Here are two ways to learn and create better habits with subject lines:
1) Track what your recruits open and respond to
A/B testing with subject lines can be extremely helpful!
If you are going to send an email out to a big group of recruits, split them up into two or three sections and send the same message with a different subject line to each section. And then see what happens!
If you have a software that tracks open rates, look at which section has higher open rates. Even if you cannot track open rates, anyone can simply see which emails get responded to and which do not. Track this!
Whatever subject lines work best, continue to use those and others with the same elements, going forward. Yes, tracking this will require a little extra time at first but the value of getting higher open and response rates will pay off in the long run!
2) Pay attention to your own habits
Recruits think differently than coaches in a lot of ways. But, as humans, we all have similar reactions to subject lines, and you can learn a lot about how your recruits read your emails by the way you read emails from others.
For the rest of today, give this a try. When you go through your emails, pay more attention to subject lines. Especially from people you do not typically interact with.
The email could be from a high school athlete, an advertisement, or a co-worker. See what your gut reactions are when you come across their emails. What does the subject line say and does it make you want to open the message, ignore it, or delete it? Then think about why.
After you have done this for a day, re-assess the subject lines of your recruiting emails. Are they more like the subject lines you opened or the ones you deleted?
Again, this exercise will take a little more of your time than usual on the front end. But, if doing this will increase engagement with recruits, it is well worth it!