What is an Email Subject Line?

If an email has a compelling subject line, people will open it, but if it isn't helpful enough, is too confusing, or appears spammy, they will go ahead and delete it in a split second. Just like with an article headline or a book title, your email subject line is supposed to hook subscribers and provide them with the relevant information in a concise manner, in order to get them to open your emails and learn about the interesting, personalized, and incredibly tempting content you included in your campaigns. After all, you would’t want your emails, which took you precious time to create and schedule, to end up in the trash folder, would you?

As mentioned, a great email subject line brings more clicks, which means a higher likelihood of your campaigns reaching your target audience and generating more sales. What exactly makes an email subject line impactful? Here are some key points to keep in mind:

Personalize your email subject line

Because of their distinct and personal nature, over 26% of campaigns with a personalized subject line are more likely to be opened than those that don’t take personalization into account.

Customizing your subject line does not always involve mentioning the recipient's name; alternative techniques have emerged, such as personalized emails with demographic information or giving discounts based on previous purchases made by each subscriber.

Keep your email subject line brief

Smartphone use has skyrocketed as a result of technological developments around the world. So the majority of individuals now open and read emails on their phones.

To avoid being cut off in mobile inboxes, email marketers should keep their subject lines under 40 characters long, or at least concentrate the catchiest, most engaging part of the subject line in the first 40 characters.

Get rid of your [no reply] sender name

Eliminate the [no reply] sender name. Nobody likes to receive an email from a machine. And most likely, such an email will be deleted or sent directly to spam. Instead, use the genuine name of someone on your team. This will assist you in increasing your click rate, establishing credibility, and making the conversation feel more human, which contributes to building relationships and creating a better user experience.

Segment your mailing list

People differ, and what works for a number of individuals may not work for others. As a result, you must correctly segment your email list depending on age, gender, last purchase, etc., and create a tailored subject line for each group. For example, if you plan on sending an International Women's Day campaign, you can use "Spoil yourself today with these deals" for the women in your email list and "Spoil the women in your life with these deals" for the men subscribed to your newsletters.

Create a sense of urgency

Encouraging subscribers to take immediate action can make a significant difference to your open rate. The "emergency" can be a limited-time offer stating that you have few goods available for sale or that there is only a short time before the offer expires. Nonetheless, you should create a genuine-looking urgent claim without overdoing it, otherwise, you risk losing your credibility.

Use an emoji

A single emoji strategically placed in a subject line can grab readers' attention, indicate friendliness, and help boost your open rate. But, at the same time, overusing emojis might make your email appear spammy. Use an appropriate symbol to make the person reading the subject line smile, make the subject line read more smoothly, catch attention, and convey emotion.

Get rid of spammy language

Avoid using pushy or salesy language, as well as flashy formattings, such as all caps or repeated exclamation marks. These will most certainly make your emails end up in the spam folder without subscribers even getting the chance to see them.

Don’t mislead your readers

Don't lure individuals with exciting subject lines and promises you can't keep. Although this may encourage your subscribers to open your emails, they will end up being disappointed if the content they discover doesn’t match what they have been promised. This malicious practice will only make you lose potential consumers and receive negative feedback. Be transparent and your subscribers will thank you.

Run A/B testing

If you have several great ideas for email subject lines but aren't sure which one would work best, try an A/B test. It enables marketers to automatically evaluate two subject line versions for the same campaign and determine which one performs best.

When it comes to email subject lines, you may experiment with using emojis, personalization, engaging questions, or promos. Stop trying to guess what works best for your audience and let the results dictate the most effective subject line.

Whether you’re lacking inspiration or you’re looking for the most effective email subject line, theMarketer has all the tools you need to succeed. You can opt for data-backed predefined subject lines and choose the right one for you based on the previous open rate they generated for other users. To take things even further, you can A/B test your subject lines in just a few clicks to maximize your results.