Using the Right Subject Line in Your Recruiting Emails
Not only was the subject line in the email I was about to delete boring, it wasn't even spelled correctly!
So, in just six words, the sender told me that he wasn't very interesting, and he was quite possibly stupid.
But enough about him. Now lets talk about your emails for a moment...
How much thought do you put into the subject lines in your recruiting emails? The reason I ask is because the degree of creativity you put into your email subject lines is most likely directly proportional to the number of times your email gets opened by your prospects.
Think about it, Coach: You get hundreds of emails in the course of a month. When you scan your Inbox, and decide which emails to open and which ones are going to be sent to the Trash folder, don't you make that first judgement from reading the subject line?
You probably do. And, so does your recruit.
When we produce our Total Recruiting Solution plans for clients around the country, subject lines are something we pay close attention to. Why? Because our job is to get more prospect click-throughs for our clients. And, great subject lines are a big key to that.
So, if you want to take this little aspect of your recruiting a little more seriously in an effort to get more prospects to open more of your emails, here are some ideas that we've seen work:
- Ask a question. Make it short, and create curiosity. For example, "Is your room at home as nice as our new on-campus suites?"
- Chop-off half the sentence. It might prompt them to wonder what the other half says! For example, "My athletic director wanted to know if..."
- Make it really, really short. Short words or phrases get attention. In this case, because most subject lines are long and rather mundane, something short and odd looking gets attention. For example, "You". Or, "Deadline". Or, "Scholarship".
- Don't make it so formal. If you're sending out a newsletter, don't make the subject line "ABC State Baseball Newsletter". Borrow some old-time newspaper headline energy and write something like "EXTRA! The Inside Story on That Crazy 5th Inning". See the difference?
- Be different every single time. There are no subject lines so wonderful that they should be used over and over again. Take a few minutes to be creative. Don't be boring.
Oh, and speaking of boring...
Please, do something different with your "out of office" auto-reply emails. What an opportunity to be creative and show your recruit some of your personality! Yet most coaches don't take the time to have some fun with that email that goes out to peers, parents, your team and - most importantly - your prospects. Take a look at what your message says...and then take two minutes to make it a little more interesting.
Little things? Absolutely. But the more I consult with college coaches, and see what makes one program good and another program great, the more I realize that getting the athletes you really want usually comes down to those "little things".
Writing emails and other recruiting communication is easy if you've read our two recruiting workbooks for college coaches. They're loaded with insightful tips, new ideas and great techniques for creating better letters and emails. To get these recruiting guides, click here.