Sometimes great things happen when your email subject lines are top notch. Just ask Tom and Meg from “You’ve Got Mail.”

But how about your emails? Is anyone falling in love with your company? Maybe. Or…maybe not.

Remember that email you spent all that time on last week and couldn’t wait to track the results?

The content in the email was perfect. The offer was irresistible. But guess what? Your subject line stunk..and as a result, your open and click rates were embarrassingly low, marking the whole process a giant waste of time.

“Free Offer for A Limited Time Only!”  just didn’t work our for you. Why is that? It has so many great, attractive words in it that induce action, right?

Well…apparently not. And we’re going to let you in on five secrets that will have you cranking out awesomely-attractive subject lines to ensure your emails don’t wind up right in the dumpster.

Interested in learning more about strengthening your email marketing campaign? Contact IMPACT and learn how we can help!

The Five Commandment for Attractive Email Subject Lines

1. Convey Action

Ask yourself, “does the reader understand what they can do in the email?” Similar to the calls-to-action on your website, email subject lines need verbs in order to convey action to your readers. They want to know how they can benefit from your email. After all, with so many emails coming through their inboxes each day, why should they open yours?

Using action-oriented language creates a sense of urgency and excitement with your readers. For instance, the following email subject line, “Start Ranking Higher in Google Immediately” is much more attractive than “How Keywords Can Help your SEO.”

Let them know what they can do.

2. Be Personable

Is there anything worse than reading an email that you know was sent with about 5,000 other recipients in mind? Were they even thinking of you? Probably not, so respond by giving them no further thought as well, disposing of the email immediately.

In order to provide value to your readers, you have to know a little bit about them. This is why segmenting your email lists is crucial, as it enables you to send content to only the readers you know have an interest or need in it. If a reader sees email subject lines referring to SEO, yet they came to your site and downloaded an ebook on blogging, chances are they’re not going to take much of an interest in your email, no matter what the subject line is.

Segment your email lists. Know a little something about your readers, and craft your email subject lines accordingly.

3. Avoid Filters

We’re not just talking about SPAM filters here, but also each individuals filter.

Readers are pretty good at sorting out the BS from the emails that will actually supply value, and this is all decided by your subject line alone. Words like “free” and “for a limited time only” instantly raise red flags among readers and often go unread.

Don’t be spammy. NEVER use caps lock (see what I did there) as it often conveys shouting, and let’s be honest, who enjoys being shouted at?

So avoid some of the following words enshrined in the BS Hall of Fame (feel free to add to this list in the comments section):

  • Free
  • For a limited time only
  • Act now!
  • Reminder!
  • Affordable
  • Guarantee
  • Visit our website
  • This isn’t junk (seriously? Who does this?)

4. Be Brief

As if crafting attractive email subject lines wasn’t tricky enough, you also need to do it quickly and briefly. Too long, and your message may get cut off (or your reader will lose interest.)

According to HubSpot, a good rule of thumb is 50 characters or less. This is due to a couple of reasons,

For starts, you obviously want your readers to see as much of the subject line as possible, especially on mobile devises. Secondly, readers are often quickly scanning their inboxes in order to decide what to read and what to delete, therefore you need to get to the point and convey value quickly.

The more brief your email subject lines are, the less likely you’ll get skipped over during your readers “scanning” process.

5. Be Consistent!

It’s as simple as this; whatever is promised in the email subject line needs to be delivered in the actual email itself.

Sounds obvious, right? Well, you’d be surprised how many companies simply don’t get this virtue. Even giant corporations consistently commit this email faux pas. For example, how many times have you opened an email from a popular clothing store promising 25% off only to discover it’s only for belts and accessories? Very frustrating, and sometimes, can result in the user unsubscribing.

Experiment

As is the case with most marketing strategies, email subject lines are to be experimented with an A/B tested. Which emails are yielding more opens and clicks? Which are not? always measure analytics in order to give your email marketing campaign a more productive direction moving forward.

Looking to implement more effective email marketing best practices? Contact IMPACT and learn how we can help!