So, I got your attention with a compelling subject line, eh?

That’s what some people are getting right, as documented by email marketing specialist Josh Nason in Man Bites Giraffe: Some Awesome (and Awful) Email Subject Lines on MarketingProfs.Com. Nason offers some examples of great emails, and some that are truly cringe-worthy. Among his Do’s and Dont’s:

Don’t discount the importance of the From name. Keep it your company name and not an individual’s name or drawn-out term. In addition, keep your company name out of the subject line: It’s redundant-a waste of valuable real estate.

And this nugget of wisdom on subject lines:

Write a compelling subject line that won’t deceive people. If people aren’t opening it, that’s OK, as you’ll have many more campaigns to intrigue them. If you break the receiver’s trust early, you’ll have to work twice as hard to get it back. Never forget the Golden Rule.

You laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll learn from this two-part examination of what works — and what doesn’t — when you have just a few seconds to catch someone’s attention with your email marketing campaign.