Allow me to take you on a trip back in time…
To 1927 New York. In a smoke-filled office with typewriters click-clacking away, ad men chain-smoking at desks covered with balled-up bits of paper as they tried to write ‘the ad’ that would rake in the most cash.
It was the offices of Ruthrauff & Ryan, a leading mail-order company back in the day when a young man by the name of John Caples walked through the doors to begin his career and become a copywriting legend.
Caples was a thinker, and figured stuff out by testing it to find the best appeal (hook), whether it was the headline, the offer, or the call to action. He understood that emotion above all else drove the most sales.
That’s still true to this day.
But how do you get people to read your stuff in the first place…
The key is in the headline, John wrote about it in his book from 1974, Tested
Advertising Methods. Here’s what he found to be true time and time again, and it remains to be true today…
“The best headlines are those that appeal to self-interest. The next best headlines are those that give news. The third best are those that arouse
curiosity.”
The best headlines, he says, combine elements of curiosity and one or both of the first two and you’ll be on to a winner.
You can see how I’ve used curiosity in my email subject line today because obviously, they didn’t have emails in 1974.
Also, you’re here because you wanted to learn more about book marketing and getting more sales through email marketing - so this appeals to your interest.
Do you see how this works?
So, with that in mind, I’m looking to create a lead magnet and I wondered which would appeal more:
👉How to write irresistible subject lines
👉7 email automations to sell books on autopilot
👉Both
👉Something else
Hit reply and let me know, no need to explain your choice, you can just copy and paste your preference and I’ll get pounding my keyboard in my smoke-free office and get it over to you.
Angie
