5 Tips for Better Email Subject Lines

There is so much noise on the internet and consumers are constantly bombarded by content—much of it irrelevant and prone to clickbait. This is especially true when it comes to our email inboxes. You can write the most beautifully crafted email, but if no one ever opens it, what’s the point?

An email subject line is a first impression. Will it catch the recipient’s attention and prompt them to open the email? Or will it make them mark it unread, delete it, or, even worse, drive them to unsubscribe completely? If Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice taught us one thing, it’s the importance of first impressions. When it comes to email, the first impression readers see is the subject line.

Out of all marketing channels, email marketing has the highest ROI. So how can you craft compelling subject lines that make customers open and read emails? These 5 tips will help you write great subject lines that boost your open rates and drive email engagement.

1.  Know Your Audience

One of the cornerstones of effective content marketing is providing content that is relevant to the audience and answers questions or addresses problems they have. The content that resonates with Millennial consumers is not the same as the content that speaks to older generations. If your audience is skewed towards one gender or another, the content should be tailored to reflect that. What makes your audience tick? Do they like snarky humor or are they more interested in numbers and data?

If you’re in the beginning stages of crafting email content, you may not know the answers to these questions. Dig into your audience demographics to find out who is on the other side of the inbox. Create customer or buyer personas to learn more about your audience and confirm or correct your content strategy. You can also try out different subject lines with A/B testing. The primary key performance indicator (KPI) for A/B testing is open rate, but you should also look at the unsubscribe rate and click rate to show how effective your entire email was.

2. Stay True to Your Brand

You may love gifs, emojis, and sarcastic humor in daily interactions and from some of the brands, but that’s not true of all consumers. It’s also not appropriate for all brands and businesses.

 If a traditional banking or financial institution started sending emails with emojis and tried to capitalize on pop culture references in their emails, it might alienate their audience. It’s natural for email and content marketers to want to have fun, but it’s crucial to stay consistent with the overall brand tone and voice.

Knowing your audience means knowing the rules—and knowing when to break them. If you’re sending an email or creating a campaign around something new and exciting, that can be a good chance to have a little more fun. Holiday emails are a great way to let loose a little while maintaining consistency with your voice and style.  

3. Don’t Trick Your Audience

Did you know 69% of people who receive emails report an email as spam based solely on the subject line? Clickbait is out there, and some brands think the best way to get opens is to use the same tactics in their subject lines. Resist the urge to over-promise or “trick” people into reading your emails. It may get you some opens, but it’s also likely to boost your spam reports and unsubscribes.

 Today’s consumers value trust and authenticity—particularly when they’re deciding where to spend their money. Knowing your audience and what makes them tick will help you craft subject lines that hook your readers without relying on cheap tricks.

The emails that tend to drift into spam territory often involve an overuse of urgency. It makes sense to get excited about a big sale, offer, or promotion but if you don’t want to create more noise in someone’s inbox, make sure to be judicious in your use of urgency.

4. Keep it Short and Specific

There’s some debate about the exact length you should target for subject lines, but shorter is usually better. The subject line should be the trailer—not the whole movie. Since your subject line is the first touchpoint, it should capture the reader’s attention and make them curious to know more. 77% of email opens happen on mobile, so aim for subject lines less than 50 characters.

Adding numbers to your subject lines also helps drive engagement. Studies show that open and reply rates are higher when the subject line includes a number (e.g. 10 Email Statistics You Should Know, 5 Ways to Write Better Emails).

Use the subject line to tell your audience what’s in the email. This is especially important for transactional emails. If a customer just placed an order or a prospect downloaded a report, make that information clear in the email. If your subject lines are consistently too long, figure out which words are less important. For recurring emails like newsletters, you don’t need to include the word “newsletter” in the subject. This can make readers less likely to open since they associate recurring emails with less urgency.

5. Learn from Others

If you’re a content marketer, you likely have a well-honed eye for good writing. Pay attention to the subject lines that catch your eye and figure out why they work. Translate those techniques into your own emails, when it’s a fit for your audience.

Etsy: This 2019 color is officially heating up

Etsy is an e-commerce marketplace that focuses on handmade and vintage items and crafting supplies. This subject line catches the reader’s attention by highlighting a color and piquing their curiosity to find out what it is. Spoiler alert: it was burnt orange.

TheSkimm: It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear

TheSkimm is a media company with a subscription-only, daily newsletter that provides a digest of current news stories in an easy to read format. TheSkimm’s subject lines don’t always have a direct correlation to their content, but they tend to follow a pattern. Most of their subject lines are recognizable song lyrics that will appeal to their demographic.

Bon Appetit: Million-dollar Bad Ideas

Bon Appetit is an American food and entertainment magazine that publishes recipes, cooking tips, videos, and guides to restaurants and culinary destinations. Their email subject lines are typically informal and fun. Their weekly newsletter from senior staff writer Alex Beggs comes out on Fridays and features a round-up of fun and informative food-related information. The million-dollar idea? Separately packaged celery leaves.

JetBlue: Don’t be tardy.

Airline carrier JetBlue is one of America’s major low-cost passenger carrier. This subject line is a good example of leveraging the time of year with a back to school reference and a sense of urgency to announce flight deals. This is a nice way to use urgency without making the reader feel like they should panic.

The Hustle: Sorry, milk, you’ve been replaced

The Hustle is a daily newsletter featuring news on various industries in an easily digestible, fun manner. This subject line certainly piques the reader’s interest and make them ask what is taking milk’s place. Turns out, it’s alternatives like plant-based milks and even lab-grown milk.

Breaking through the static of overcrowded inboxes is a challenge for email marketers. Make a great first impression and drive opens by creating great subject lines that capture the reader’s attention and make them want to learn more. Be sure that subject lines align with your overall brand and are a fit for your audience. Keep subject lines brief and relevant—don’t rely on clickbait-style tactics. Pay attention to what works--both in your emails and in emails to which you subscribe.

What subject lines have caught your eye lately?