The subject line remains one of the most tested email marketing elements because it determines whether people will open and read your emails or not.
It’s the first thing your subscribers see when they go to their inboxes. So it is crucial that you write your email subject lines extremely well to make them want to open, read, and act on your emails.
In the article, we’ll discuss ten hacks to help you craft professional and enticing email subject lines that increase your open rates and conversions.
1. Write Your Email Subject Line First
Writing your email subject line before anything else is crucial because it helps to set the tone for the rest of your email. Secondly, it saves you from sending emails to your subscribers with a blank subject line. This happens mostly when you forget completely to write it down.
2. Begin Your Subject Line with the Most Important Information
It’s also important to put your most important words at the beginning of your email subject line. Why? Because we’re in an era where more people are using mobile devices to access the internet compared to personal computers.
Therefore, when you write long subject lines with the most important information placed either in the middle or the end, there’s a good chance that some of the words will be cut off for mobile users.
And because of that, they may decide to delete or label your emails as spam because they can’t see any value in your subject line.
3. Clearly State What Your Email is About in the Subject Line
Another way to increase your open rates is by making the topic of your email very clear in the subject line.
An email with a subject line like, “Do you have a minute?” will most likely end up in the spam or trash folder because it’s vague and doesn’t tell your subscribers what your email is about right away.
So, always ensure that the words you use in the subject line communicate your email topic clearly and precisely.
4. Create a Sense of Urgency
Creating a sense of urgency in your subject line also helps greatly to get subscribers excited about opening and reading your emails. However, for this hack to work, you need to use it only when there’s a genuine reason to do so.
Otherwise, if you create a false sense of urgency just to deceive people into clicking your emails, you’ll end up destroying the brand trust and reputation you’ve built for years.
So, how do you create real urgency without risking your brand trust and reputation? Here are two things you can do:
- Offer a Special Discount for a Limited Time:
If you’re truly selling your products or services at a discounted price, it’s a good idea to include the discount and period of time the sale will last in your subject line.
Let’s assume, for instance, that you have some slow-moving goods that you want to clear from your store. You can send an email to your subscribers offering them a 40 or 50% discount on those products from 10 am to 2 pm.
Because this is a mouth-watering discount that’s available only once, many people will rush to open your email to buy the offer before the deadline runs out.
- Offer Limited Quantity of Your Product or Service:
Also, when the product or service you’re selling is almost running out, you can use your subject line to inform subscribers of the limited quantity in stock.
A subject line like, “Only 20 shirts left” will make your subscribers spring into action and open your emails to buy the remaining ones before it’s too late. As more subscribers open and take action on your emails, your open rates and sales will increase.
5. Start Your Subject Line with Action Verbs
Starting your email subject line with action verbs such as, “Win,” “Buy,” or “Learn,” is another effective way to create excitement in your subscribers and inspire them to take the necessary action.
For clarity purposes, let’s assume that you’re a business owner selling baby diapers and you’re doing an email contest to give your subscribers some free goodies.
Your email for this contest can have a subject line like this – “Baby Diapers Giveaway,” or you can make it more actionable by writing it like this – “Win Free Baby Diapers for One Year.”
Which of these subject lines would you be compelled to click and read if you were the subscriber? Obviously the second one.
By simply starting your subject lines with action verbs, you make your emails look professional, enticing, and click-worthy, thereby increasing your rates.
6. Make Subscribers Feel Exclusive in the Subject Line
You should also consider making the people on your email list feel exclusive and special if you want to boost your email open rates and conversions.
By using the right words in your subject lines, you can make them feel like they belong to an exclusive insider’s community that enjoys certain privileges that other subscribers don’t have.
Examples of phrases you can use to make your subscribers feel exclusive include:
- “Special invite”
- “Exclusive gift”
- “Private invitation”
- “Special discount just for you”
Leveraging the power of exclusivity can make your subscribers more receptive to your emails and boost your open rates significantly. However, you must deliver on the promise you made in your subject line for this tip to work.
7. Ask Compelling Questions in the Subject Line
This is another age-old strategy you can use to make your marketing emails stand out and get noticed by your subscribers.
When you ask relevant and compelling questions in your email subject line, you not only draw your subscribers’ attention; you also make them curious to know what the answer is. And of course, this curiosity will compel them to click on your emails to find out more.
So, ensure that the answers you’re giving are well-researched and accurate to keep your email subscribers happy. Failure to do this will make them feel cheated, which may lead to your emails being deleted or marked as spam.
8. Keep It Short, Simple, and Straightforward
Shorter subject lines tend to work better than longer ones when it comes to increasing your email open rates. This is why you need to eliminate all unnecessary words and write your subject line in as fewer words as possible.
It’s recommended that you keep the length of your subject line between 60 and 70 characters if you’re emailing desktop and laptop users and between 25 and 30 characters if you are emailing mobile users.
Other than keeping your subject line short, you also need to keep it simple and straightforward. Use words that are easy to understand if you want your emails to be opened and read.
9. Leverage the Power of Email Personalization
You can also boost your open rates by sending personalized email subject lines to your subscribers. When you use details related to your recipients in the subject line, you make them feel important and valued.
It also shows them that you aren’t just another spammer. You know them at a personal level, and because of that, they’ll not rush to delete or send your emails to the spam folder.
Instead, they’ll open your emails because they’re curious to read what you have to say. So, make sure your email content is relevant and useful to each recipient so as not to disappoint them.
The most commonly used email personalization tactic is addressing subscribers by their names in the subject line. However, you can also use other details you have about the subscribers like their city, interests, and birthday for the same purpose.
10. Segment Your Email Lists and Tailor Your Subject Lines Accordingly
Segmenting your email list simply means dividing your list into several, small groups of people based on factors such as job title, location, buying habits, interests, gender, and so on.
The people in each group or segment share something in common, which you can use to your advantage to deliver the most relevant email content to their inboxes.
For example, if you decide to segment your list based on interests, you can have different segments for people who are interested in camping, natural health, cycling, etc.
After that, you need to create high-quality email content related to each interest and send them to the respective segmented lists. Your subscribers are more likely to open and read your emails when they see subject lines that are relevant and useful to them.
Wrapping Up
To sum up, the way you write your email subject line can either make or break your email marketing campaign.
If you take the time to write it well, your email subscribers will not only open your emails; they’ll also read through your email content and take the specific action you want them to take.
However, if your subject line is poorly written and looks unprofessional, your subscribers will most likely delete or mark your emails as spam. According to Optin Monster, email subject lines are the key to whether or not a subscriber opens your email.
We’ve provided many tips above to help you write persuasive email subject lines that compel people to open, read and act on your emails. It’s up to you to test them out and implement what works for you. For these tips to effectively work for you, you need to make sure you are not buying email lists.