12 Tips for Writing Winning Email Subject Lines
An email campaign is only as good as its subject line.
That’s because nearly half of email recipients will decide whether or not to open an email based on that powerful invitation to read more.
And with 69 percent of email recipients using subject lines to determine whether or not to mark a message as spam, what you say in your subject line is just as important as how you say it.
In short: If you treat subject lines like afterthoughts, be prepared for your campaign to see a less than stellar open rate. Luckily, we’ve got some tried-and-true tips for crafting subject lines that compel recipients to open.
Use personalization tokens. Email platforms such as MailChimp, Emma and Constant Contact offer the ability to personalize subject lines with things like a customer’s first name or location. Taking this extra step when setting up a campaign can have a big payoff—adding a customer’s name can increase your email open rate by 18 percent. It’s also an opportunity to get creative. Pet brand Wag is known for personalizing its subject lines with the names of customers’ pets.
Send from a familiar name. Recipients are much more likely to read an email sent by a brand or person they recognize. Most email platforms let you personalize your “from” name and email address—play around with different variations to see what performs best. If it’s your first time sending to someone consider using your brand or company name in the “from” field. If you’ve had previous contact with the recipient, use your first and last name.
Avoid a “no-reply” sender name. Never use “noreply@company.com.” It feels impersonal and recipients will have no reason to add your email to their address book.
Keep it short. Aim for 20 characters. More than that and your subject line will get truncated. If your subject line does run long, make sure the first 20 or so characters convey enough information to pique interest. Another rule of thumb is to target using three to five words in your subject line.
Write in Title Case. According to research by CoSchedule, subject lines written in title case perform best. Sentence case is a strong runner-up. Always avoid ALL CAPS. It’s a turnoff—it looks desperate and spammy.
Don’t include an exclamation point. This is a no-go if you want to earn opens. And definitely don’t use an exclamation point and a question mark together in a subject line.
Add an emoji. A lot of marketers still aren’t using emojis in subject lines. Stand out by adding an emoji that reflects your message and reinforces your brand voice. Not sure if this will vibe with your audience? A/B test your subject line with and without an emoji to see what performs best.
Use words that increase opens. The planning gurus at CoSchedule studied countless email campaigns to identity the words that drive the most email opens. It’s a helpful tool for gut checking your initial draft. But you’ll still want to A/B test your subject lines to hone in on the words that work best for your audiences.
Avoid words that don’t drive opens. In that same list from CoSchedule you’ll also find words to bump from your subject lines. It’s worth a read—some may surprise you. Things like “whitepaper” and “you’re invited” and “join us for” scored poorly. Helpful to know if you’re a brand generating thought leadership content or hosting events.
Remember to write preview text. Think of preview text as your subject line’s assistant. It appears alongside a subject line and can offer that final nudge a recipient needs to open an email. How your preview text will look varies by email client but in general you’ll want to keep the copy concise and informational. If you need to convey a sense of urgency or call to action this is the place to do it.
Always A/B test. Test your subject lines EVERY TIME. Most email platforms make this super easy to do by automating the process and reporting on the winning subject line in real-time. You can use these results to optimize your subject lines over time. Some test variables to consider include length, personalization, word choice, preview text, “from” name, and use of an emoji.
Segment your email list. Your subject line needs to speak to your audience in order to elicit the response you want. But if you’re sending to your entire email list at once it’s going to be really hard to write something that resonates with everyone. This is where segmentation comes in. And for good reason: According to Hubspot, segmented campaigns receive 100 percent more clicks than non-segmented campaigns. What your segments look like will depend on your business, but common ones include lifecycle (e.g., subscribers, leads, customers) and buyer persona segments.
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