The worst subject line I’ve ever read

Time for a good ‘ol rant.

I’m driving through the mountains last night on my way to the high desert.

It’s beautiful. Green, blue, white, brown swirling by.

Wife driving, listening to music. Doggo in the back seat, panting the tongue out her mouth.

And me?

I’m silently freaking out as I scroll through emails and see the subject line:

"💰 Account overdrawn"

The email came from a well-respected Morning Brew offshoot called Money Scoop.

That’s right.

The email had nothing to do with my money.

(I don't think I've had an overdrawn bank account since I was like … 19 years old.)

You don't have to be a copywriting expert to know how messed up something like this is.

And while I’m sure it got incredibly high open rates for them, it almost certainly came at a cost.

Nobody — and I mean NOBODY — wants to receive an email saying their account is overdrawn.

But then to realize that it was just a cheap trick to get you to open an email?

Toooooo far, brochacho. 

There’s a line of trust I try incredibly hard to build with all of my emails, including this newsletter and the other brands I manage.

Reading that subject line, feeling that rush of panic, if only for second … it’s more than just a mismatch between the subject and the email content.

I feel used. Like cattle.

It’s terrible copywriting amplified.

Bottom line: Good email marketing is built on trust and relationships.

If you’re writing emails for yourself or a client, avoid this type of tactic.

Yes — it will get you the open rates you want — but it's cheap, and comes at a cost of trust to your audience.

David Patrick

P.S.: Okay but seriously Morning Brew who approved that SL? It SCREAMS “I’m new to email marketing.” It's what all us newbies were doing like 6 years ago. How would you okay something like that? Lol.