The feedback that made me stop using fear based headlines

Last month a prospect told me our email subject lines made them feel anxious not informed. I pushed back at first because threat based messaging is standard in cyber. But I swapped to benefit driven headlines for our next campaign and open rates went up 12% in two weeks. Anyone else rethink the usual fear angle after hearing direct feedback?

3 comments

3 Comments

kevin_west11d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you mean scaring people into clicking didn't work out? Who would have guessed that treating your customers like rational humans might actually pay off?

xenaf5111d ago

Dropped the scare tactics myself a while back and just started being upfront about what I was offering. Engagement actually went up, go figure.

young.kim10d ago

Is it really that wild to think people don't like being scared into buying stuff? @kevin_west you're not wrong, it seems obvious but so many people still do it. The whole "fear angle" is just lazy copywriting honestly. Glad the direct feedback woke you up, most people just double down and miss the point. Simple benefit driven headlines work way better because they actually respect the reader's time.