Had a client blow up at me over a single email subject line - still thinking about it

I was on a call with a local bakery owner in Austin last Tuesday who kept saying my subject lines were 'too cheesy', and then he told me he deleted every email from his favorite brand because they used the word 'exclusive' one too many times. Has anyone else had a client or customer give you that one weird detail that shifted how you write subject lines forever?

2 comments

2 Comments

ross.felix6d ago

Honestly, I gotta disagree with the whole "one little detail can stick with you" thing. If you let every complaint about a word like "game-changer" or "exclusive" shift your whole approach, you'll end up writing subject lines that sound like nothing. The bakery owner sounds like he was having a bad day and took it out on you. You can't build a strategy around one guy's pet peeves. I'd bet half his customers clicked on those "cheesy" subject lines and bought something. Changing everything based on a single angry reaction is how you lose the voice that actually works for the rest of your list.

danielw886d ago

That sounds rough... have you thought about what he actually meant by 'cheesy'? Sometimes people just have a really strong reaction to certain words and you can't predict it. I had a client once tell me they hated the word 'game-changer' and that changed how I write forever... it's crazy how one little detail can stick with you.