Expert tips for writing the perfect email subject line

As it stands, email subject lines are the second most important factor in the reader’s decision whether to open or not. Brand awareness and the sender’s name is the only factor that tops it.

Why?

Because it’s often the first thing recipients see. And, if they check out the sender’s name first, they’ll then turn to the subject line to decide whether opening it will benefit them.

No matter how amazing your design, the level of personalization, or the fancy imagery you use, it won’t make a difference if you can’t get readers to open it in the first place.

Of course, that’s not to say creating first-class email content is a waste of time. That’s the stuff that gets the conversions and drives sales. But, to get the opens that lead to clicks, you need to work for it.

We’ve got simple tips to help you create the perfect email subject line. Follow these, and we guarantee you’ll have the best email subject lines in the business.

Personalize, personalize, personalize

If you want to increase your open rate, it’s important to personalize your subject lines. You can grab your reader’s attention by using data fields to pull in information about the customer, like name, location, or other relevant information. Additionally, targeting your message to the right audience is crucial. Personalization not only makes customers feel valued and understood, but it also provides useful content that can make their life easier. In an inbox full of generic messaging, personalization can set your email apart.

Use artificial intelligence (AI)

If you’re looking for a way to take any email subject line to the next level – say hello to WinstonAI. This innovative tool uses cutting-edge Microsoft Azure GPT3.5 technology to help you come up with the perfect subject line that will make your campaigns stand out from the crowd. Plus, WinstonAI can even analyze your past campaigns to learn your preferred tone, wording, and structure. This can help you free up time when you’re stuck figuring out what the perfect subject line is. 

Vary subject line length

Many email clients like Gmail, Yahoo, and more cut subject lines when they’re being viewed by web-based readers. Usually, the cut-off point for this is around the 55-character limit. Mobile inboxes, on the other hand, commonly cut off subject lines at about 30 characters.

To ensure that your subject lines are making an impact, be sure to check your campaign reporting. This will help you identify the device on which your customers are opening. Then, you can plan your subject lines around this suggested length.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you must strictly stick to these character limits. One of the best parts of working on subject lines is the ability to experiment. Don’t think about it as trial and error – think of it as trial and trial and trial until success.

Include a call to action

You want customers to complete an action. That’s why you’re emailing, so why not be clear about what you want? Positive action verbs are a good option as long as you’re careful not to come across as spammy. Think along the lines of “get yours,” “discover,” “save”, “join us”, and “book today.”

If you’re worried about coming across as a spam sender (we’ll be covering how best to avoid this later), then try making key benefits or propositions the CTA in your email subject line. If the key benefit of shopping with you comes from your offer of free shipping, push this in your subject line. If you’re offering student discounts, shout about it to drive opens.

Essentially, you should be thinking, “What will drive my readers to convert?” Whatever the answer, try running with it in your email subject line.

Be relevant

Relevancy is key. Whether it’s your email copy or your subject lines, shoppers will only answer your emails if it’s going to benefit them.

Don’t be vague or mysterious. Intriguing subject lines might generate good open rates, but your end goal is click-throughs and conversions. And you’re not going to get those if your email isn’t related to your subject line. In the long run, this could actually be detrimental to your brand. By misleading them, you could erode their fragile trust in you.

So, keep your subject lines related to your key message. It’ll increase the quality of opens and consequently improve your click-through rate.

Tell, don’t sell

Steer clear adding unnecessary descriptive adjectives to your subject lines. Words like ‘amazing’, ‘unbeatable’, and ‘stunning’ actually do very little to convince recipients to open.

Our Global benchmark report revealed that false urgency in subject lines don’t perform well. Words that were once considered to inspire action are driving inaction. Especially in retailer sectors, words like ‘exclusive’, ‘days’, ‘ends’, ‘save’, ‘extra’, and ‘last’ were the worst performing. 

Keep it simple and tell readers what they can expect from your email. There’s no need to make grand promises and oversell what is simply a new product launch, event, or mid-season sale.

Once again, this will improve the quality of your opens. When it’s clear to the reader what’s inside you’re giving them more reason to convert.

Avoid spam words

It’s every email marketer’s nightmare to have their hard word flagged as spam.

After all the work that goes into creating a fully optimized email marketing campaign, you don’t want to be the one in five that gets caught by the spam filter.

Spam filters are constantly checking for specific triggers that indicate an email might be spam:

• Specific word choice
• Messages in ALL CAPS
• Emails without an unsubscribe button
• Links to unknown or questionable websites
• Colorful, hard to read, and different sized fonts

Typically spam filters look for suspicious words or phrases associated with scams, schemes, free gifts, and more.

What to avoid:

• Spam words that make exaggerated claims and promises, e.g. #1, 100% satisfied, earn money, free consultation, and satisfaction guaranteed.
• Words that create unnecessary urgency and pressure, e.g. act now, apply now, get started now, please read, while supplies last, and more.
• Spammy words or words that imply shady or unethical behavior, e.g. cancel at any time, no hidden charges, meet singles, etc.
• Words that are considered jargon or typically used in legal documents, e.g. as seen on, bonus, certified, cheap, join millions, this message contains, quote, and more.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you can’t EVER use these words in your emails. It just means to use these words and phrases responsibly.

The best performing subject lines have included words like ‘reasons’, ‘introducing’, ‘discover’, and ‘recent’. This indicates that customers are looking for content that inspires, such as ‘introducing our new range. They want brands to do more than simply push a product, they want you to sell it.

Write your subject line last

To ensure your email subject line is clear, relevant, and engaging enough to convert, you should be writing it last.

After you’ve finalized the design and written your email copy, you’ll know the exact message you’re trying to communicate. With that in mind, deciding what to include in your email subject line will be much easier.

Test your subject lines

No matter what tactic you try or the results you get, you need to test your subject lines. What works one day might not work a couple of days later. Or what increases opens for one segment may have absolutely no effect on another. That’s why you should be constantly split testing your email campaigns.

Summary

By experimenting with these subject line tips and analyzing your audience’s response, you can identify what resonates best with them. Remember to keep it concise, intriguing, and relevant to the content of your email. With practice and persistence, you’ll be able to consistently craft subject lines that grab your audience’s attention and improve the success of your email marketing campaigns.