Compelling subject lines are why your subscribers open your emails. If you can’t get your subscribers to open your emails, it really doesn’t matter how good the actual email is because they won’t ever read it!
It’s easy to spend a lot of time crafting a great message and then just slap a subject line on it at the end. Whether anyone ever reads your great message depends on whether the subject compelled them to open the email. Spend some time writing compelling subject lines and see what type of headline gets you that click.
Here are five tips to get you started:
Keep it short.
You want your readers to see the entire subject line before they click it. You also want to make it easy for people to scan through their emails. Try to get your point across in 50 characters or less. Pay attention to how your subject lines look on your own devices.
Keep a swipe file of compelling subject lines that grabbed your attention.
From the ‘like attracts like’ perspective, it’s a good bet that what appeals to you will also appeal to your subscribers. Even if the emails are on a very different topic, you can adapt them for your own needs.
As a marketer, part of my brain always sees the world around me through a marketing lens. I get a ton of emails each day, and I spend a fair amount of time processing email. I pay attention to – and add to my swipe file – emails from companies and individuals that inject humor and personality into their emails. Making me feel good gets extra credit (and probably, if I’m honest, more of my money.)
The subject line: Does this belong to you? Who could resist clicking that?!
Then look at the copy in the email. It’s written from the perspective of the sweater. I mean…has a sweater ever emailed you before? Lane Bryant’s marketing team has got it goin’ on!
In addition to your own inbox, here are some collections of email subject lines to inspire you:
- 34 Sales Email Subject Lines That Get Prospects to Open, Read and Respond
- 164 Best Email Subject Lines to Boost Your Email Open Rates (2018)
- The BEST Email Subject Lines: 87 Subject Lines To Get Your Emails Opened
Review the emails you’ve already sent.
Find the ones with the highest open rates and try to analyze what made them compelling subject lines for those folks. Notice what types of subject lines get your readers to open your emails and tweak from there.
Personalize It
While personalizing subject lines with someone’s first name has been overused in some markets, it still works well for many of us.
In an analysis done by Experian Marketing Services, including a name in the subject line boosted open rates by 29.3%. But the effect varied widely across industries.
- 6 Ways to Use Personalization In Email Subject Lines for Better Open Rates
- Hey, You! Why Subject Line Personalization Matters
Depending on what data you collect when your readers sign up, you can personalize other things like their location for example. Seeing the name of your state or even city in an email subject line is sure to get attention.
Pique Their Curiosity
We are all nosy and it’s hard to ignore subject lines that sound intriguing or only tell part of the story. Using … at the end of your subject line will also work.
The idea here is simple. You want them to click and open the email to find out what the heck you’re talking about or how the story ends.
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