5 Tips on a How to Write a Better Subject Line

A friend of mine just asked me, "How can I increase my open rates?" Well I've talked about not "Putting all of your eggs in the open-rate basket". Unfortunately the subject line is "usually" the last thing many people think about when they put together an email marketing campaign. I know, it happens to us too.

Three things to think about when writing a subject line for your email marketing campaign:

1. You need to write it so that it gets through filters
2. You need to write it so that it's compelling enough to get your email opened
3. You need to keep to the expectations you set - If you are living up to the expectations you set in the beginning of your e-relationship, chances are you've got a good shot at getting your email opened with a good subject line.

What to think about when you're writing your subject line:

1. Avoid too much punctuation - A lot of filters pick this up as spam since it's a spammer technique. Putting an exclamation point after the word FREE! is not advisable. It's ok to use some punctuation, just don't overdo it.
2. Avoid using the word FREE in all caps - Some say it's ok to use the word "Free", others say it isn't. If you have to use it don't abuse it.
3. Put the most valuable information up front - Many of your recipients show 40-50 characters as the default unless your recipients widen their subject line area.
4. Don't repeat your "From" label - You've already told your recipient who you are, tell them why they'd want to open it. You've only got a small amount of space, don't waste it.
5. Give your recipient a "reason" to open your email - Don't generalize if you can, hit them where it counts. If there is an interesting article in your newsletter call it out. If you've told them you would send them discounts, just do it.

Subject Lines We'd Change and Why

Here is a subject line I've seen recently about a sales conference:

Learn winning strategies from top executives at the Sales Leadership Conference           

Most email readers would have seen:

Learn winning strategies from top executives

Diving into the content a bit more I might have suggested something like these subject lines:

{Keynote Speaker Name} talks of winning sales strategies
{Conference Name} - Increase your sales by 30 percent
Learn ten new ways to cold call
Increase your close rates by 30 percent Learn How

I got this in my junk folder from GoDaddy:

3 Days Only: Act Now and Save 10%!

Here, there is an excessive use of numbers, a colon and an exclamation point.
I might have suggested:

Ten percent discount on new domains - 3 days only

In my junk folder from Macy's:

From Label: Macy's Wedding Registry
Sub Line: Macy's Wedding Registry | Four days left to shop our Biggest Home Sale of the season!

The subject line would have been cut off at:

Macy's Wedding Registry | Four days left to

Here the most important information is at the end of the subject line because they used the most valuable subject line real estate by repeating the from label. They've also included an exclamation point and separator.
I might have suggested:

Four days left to save big with our home sale
Four days left - Biggest Home Sale of the season
Biggest Home sale ever - Four days left
Up to 40 percent off {biggest sellers here}
Four days left 40 percent off {biggest sellers here}

So you see, don't take your subject line lightly. It is the most important part of your email.

Got any clever subject line ideas, love to hear them!

Comments

[Janine]

For Katherine

Why not test both. It might be that you have a great relationship with your users and you are getting directly into the inbox so no need to worry about filters. If you want to test it, either divide your list into two equal parts and test each, or take two smaller sub-segments of your list, test each, then roll out the winner to the rest.

[Katherine Allen]

I am doing a survey using Survey Monkey too. We have been selling online for one year so are calling the survey our Anniversary Survey and are enticing customers to reply by offering a 10% off next purchase coupon to those who complete the survey. My idea for an email header is "10% Discount on Fabindia.com for Completing Anniversary Survey". From your suggestions, it sounds like you would suggest we write "Ten Percent Discount..." to avoid spam filters. But don't you think it is much more eye-catching to see the 10% than to have it written out? Any comments on the wording of my proposed email title given the goal?

[Janine]

For T. DeRose

Can you give us an idea of what the survey is about?

[T. DeRose]

Any sage advice on subject lines for a client survey using a suvey tool like Survey Monkey?
Thanks.

[Ketan]

Regarding the name of the company in the subject line - I would argue you would need this for AOL and perhaps some of the webmail apps - as they do not display the "from" as consistently as some of the other apps do...

[Bruce Hopkins]

Good job, Janine, on this article. You got straight to the point and didn't make us wade through pages of fluff to pick out the nuggets. I appreciate that! (Love your hair, too!) http://www.internet-grocer.net

[Carson Coots]

Good subject...I know its an obvious one for this blog but I never really thought of that. I really do tend to open some junk mail because of the compelling subject line. Sometimes I just subject my newsletter as "WhitePaperMedia.com News August 2006", which is wack. I will definitely have to change it up in the future. Schweeet.

[jay]

some think its tacky...and not original..but fact remains when selling on a B2B level...subject lines i.e. "conference call for next week"..."follow up to voice msg".."(FirstName)--can we talk?"..."next week's schedule"...etc..

but when it comes to pitching seminars---you're spot on i.e. leading with keynote speaker's name and the topic..

[Lisa Simpkins]

I am a newbie so any infofmation is welcome.I am a Affiliate marketer/MLM and lack the expieriance of writing and Autoresponders. Any tips in these areas will be greatly appreciated.