Sales and Marketing - Jen Jordan

Easy Strategies To Improve Email Subject Lines and Boost Open Rates

Email is still an effective networking and marketing strategy for most small businesses. However, your email subject line is a first (and sometimes only) impression. Most people scan subject lines in their inbox to decide which messages they’ll read and which ones they’ll delete. There’s so much pressure to write catchy or enticing subject lines to grab your busy readers’ attention.

As you’re writing subject lines, it’s critical to know your audience and understand what your business can offer that they can’t get anywhere else.

Here are some practical tips, tricks, and insights from industry experts to help you write great subject lines for your marketing emails.

Choose Your Subject Line Style

There are loads of different subject line styles. Each one serves a purpose and can be highly effective in accomplishing different goals.

Informational email subject lines: This style is excellent for busy, organized readers. To grab these readers’ attention, you need to be clear, concise, and include the essential information in your subject line.

You might choose this style of email subject line to announce upcoming events, new product launches, or other activities.

Clever or witty subject lines: The goal here is to write a catchy email subject line that stands out in a crowded inbox and piques your readers’ interest. However, humor can be difficult. You must walk a fine line of not confusing or alienating anyone in your audience.

If you know your audience well, a clever, funny, or witty subject line can boost your email open rate.

Subject lines with urgency: People often respond quickly when there’s a risk of losing out or missing something they value rather than the promise of gaining something. You can create this sense of urgency with the right subject line and drive your open rate up.

These types of subject lines are excellent for getting people to register for an event or urging customers to take advantage of a sale or opportunity.

4 Easy Ways to Improve Your Email Subject Lines

Here are some specific tips and strategies to improve your email subject lines.

1. Keep it short: Many people check emails on mobile devices. Make sure your subject line can fit on a small screen. A good rule of thumb is to limit it to 40 characters (about five to seven words) to make sure people can read the entire subject line on any device.

2. Highlight multimedia: Just including the word "video" in your email subject line can increase your open rate. Adding a video or linking to valuable multimedia content (like podcasts or presentations) is also a great way to increase the value of your marketing emails and make them more interesting.

3. Use emojis (sparingly): Using relevant emojis in your subject lines can increase your open rates. However, it’s essential to know your audience and use emojis that are relevant to both the email content and the subject line. For example, if you’re advertising a flower sale at your greenhouse, adding a flower emoji to the email subject line would make sense. On the other hand, if it’s just a regular weekly update, adding a flower emoji might seem out of place.

4. A/B test your email subject lines: Use the A/B tool to test and compare how different subject lines perform with your audience. This may take some time to home in on the right style for your readers, but it’s a worthwhile process.

There are many more strategies, tips, and resources to help you write great email subject lines and boost your open rate. Remember, the goal of your subject line is to stand out from a crowded inbox and entice your reader to open the email.

Works Cited

https://blogs.constantcontact.com/good-email-subject-lines/

https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/email-subject-lines-superhero/

https://mailchimp.com/resources/catchy-email-subject-lines/

https://popupsmart.com/blog/19-proven-tips-for-catchy-email-subject-lines