TrueInsight Newsletter

Change the Subject
Simple Subject Line Changes Can Increase Your Email Open Rates

Your email is beautifully designed. The writing is clever, and the offer you’re promoting is sure to get the phones ringing. But guess what—none of that matters if your subject line isn’t clicking with customers.

That’s the latest reminder from the Email Sender and Provider Coalition (ESPC), whose recent survey found that 80% of Internet users don’t even bother opening an email before determining if it’s spam, and 69% of those users base their decision on the email’s subject line.

But a few simple changes to your subject line strategy can make sure all your hard work doesn’t go to waste.

Make a Long Story Short
Shorten up those wordy subject lines, stat. The rule of thumb is 49 characters or less (and that includes spaces and punctuation). This is for two simple reasons. One, many email services, including Blackberry, Hotmail, and Outlook Express, display only 50 characters or less. And studies show that open rates improve dramatically—as much as 12.5%—when subject lines are under 50 characters. Even more impressive: click-through rates are 75% higher when the subject line is kept to the 49 character limit (source: EmailLabs).

Give Them an Offer They Can’t Refuse
The subject line is meant to inform and intrigue. You want your recipient to think, “If I don’t open this email, I’m going to miss out on something valuable!” Avoid generic subject lines—like “July Newsletter”—that tell your recipient nothing. Instead, make your subject lines specific with a stated offer (“30% Off Sandals—Friday Only”), benefit (“Look Scorching in our New Summer Shoes”) or the promise of an answer (“Are You Wearing The Wrong Sandals This Summer?”)

Name Names
A cardinal rule of email marketing is to make sure you send your emails under a trusted, branded “from” address (e.g., news@GardenGrocer.com). But it’s important that your subject line pulls some of the weight, too. Brand your subject line whenever possible. You can include your company name outright (“Hanging Plants Half Off at Garden Grocer”) or brand your content (“The Weekly Grocer: Helpful Heat Wave Hints”). This makes your email instantly recognizable to recipients as something reliable and worth reading.

Let Them Know the Clock is Ticking
Add a sense of urgency to your email by making it clear that the content inside is time sensitive and action must be taken immediately (“Order by Friday”). Better yet, take advantage of your deadline to create a series of emails that keep you top of mind with your customers (“5 Days Left…” “48 Hours Until…” “Last Day for…”).

Stay on Spam Alert
Customers are incredibly spam-savvy, and certain words in your subject line might have them hitting the “Report Spam” button faster than you can say “delete.” And most email providers have spam filters reviewing content before an email is even allowed near the inbox.

To make sure your email doesn’t get the boot, keep words commonly associated with spam out of your subject line (and your email’s content, for that matter). While there’s no master list of spam phrases, take a look through your own bulk folder and stay away from any words and phrases you see repeatedly. Anything overly promotional (words like “free,” “opportunity,” “sweepstakes” or “amazing”) can set off content filters, as can excessive punctuation, and the use of ALL CAPS. And never explicitly state that your message is not spam; ironically, doing so actually makes you look more like spam.

Take a Time Out
Too often, the subject line is written as an afterthought, minutes before the “Send” button is hit. But as the stats above show, it’s a detail that can make or break your email. Spend some quality time with your subject line. Write at least three or four before settling on a winner. It’s best to also write them last, after you’ve fully developed the content of your email. At that point, you’ve had the time to fully cultivate your message, making it easier to whittle it down to just 49 compelling characters or less.