The Montclair Group

10 rules for subject lines that say open me

Fifty characters could be all that stands between you and success in your next email campaign. Fifty characters are all the space you have in a typical email subject line to catch your reader’s eye and entice him to open your email and take the action you want.

How could something so small make or break an email marketing campaign’s success?

Because many recipients use the email subject line to decide whether to open or delete an email.

A properly worded subject line is key to your email campaign success. A good one can get your email opened in a flash, while a bad one could spell oblivion in the trash or junk file.

There are some simple rules you can follow that say “open me.”

Rule 1: Read news headlines.

If you want to write a better email subject line, check out the news online or in print. The headline usually highlights a story’s most important fact in a limited space. A subject line, in turn, should clearly state what your reader can expect from your email message, what’s in it for them or what you want them to do as a result of the email.

Rule 2: There is no sure-fire formula.

What works in one email campaign might bomb with the next. A discount offer should be worded differently from an up-sell program, and both are different from a breaking-news announcement.

Even if you are sending out email messages to promote similar campaigns, you shouldn’t recycle an email subject line from a past campaign. You need to stand out each time, yet be familiar to the reader, too. How do you find out what works best? See Rule 3.

Rule 3: Test, test, test.

Test continually to determine trends and styles that seem to work. Pretest if you can. Add a day to your campaign-creation schedule to give you enough time to try different email subject lines.

Rule 4: Support the “from” line.

The “from” line tells the recipient who sent the email, and the subject line sells the recipient on opening. If your “from” line lists your company name, you don’t have to repeat it in the subject line, which frees up space in the subject line.

Research has shown that  readers often look at the “From” line first when deciding whether to open an email, and then the subject line. See ”Help Your ‘From’ Line Help You” for more information on creating the right “from” line.

Rule 5: List key info first.

Some email clients allow more characters in a subject line than others, but most give you at least 50, including spaces. So, load your key information in that first 50. Also, make sure the cut-off doesn’t occur in the middle of a crucial word, such as a price or date.

Rule 6: Open rates don’t always measure subject-line success.

Look at the subjects associated with the highest number of conversions, such as registrations, clicks to view newsletter articles, sales or downloads. If you drill down into your web analytics you might find some anomalies, such as an email with a relatively low open rate but a high sales-per-order rate. That could mean something in the subject line strongly appealed to a narrow segment of your email list and could point the way to a more lucrative segmentation. Remember, your end goal is not necessarily high open rates, but to have email subscribers take a specific action. Focus on your end goal.

Rule 7: Personalize.

Personalize email subject lines based on users’ product or content preferences, interests, past purchases, Web visits or links clicked. Be careful when personalizing on past purchases, however, because the purchase could have been a gift for someone else and might not relate to your reader’s real interests. Always make it easy for readers to find and update their data and email preferences.

Rule 8: Urgency drives action.

Set a deadline: “Order by midnight tonight;” “Last day to ensure Xmas delivery.” Use urgency and deadlines as part of a planned series of emails as well. For example on Monday incorporate “5 Days Left…” and then on Thursday follow it with “Only 24 Hours….”.

Rule 9: Watch those spam filters.

There’s a fine line between “catchy” and “spammy.” Run your email copy through a content checker that shows you the phrases to avoid. Two tricks that could trip a spam filter: email subject lines with all capital letters, and using more exclamation points than necessary. (Both look unprofessional, too.) In fact, we recommend against using exclamation points at all if you can avoid it.

Rule 10: “Free” is not evil

Yes, you can use “free” in an email subject line. Just don’t make “free” the first word, use it with an exclamation point, or spell it in all caps (could get your email filtered). People still respond to “free;” so, the increase in orders or other actions will almost always outweigh the email messages lost from filtering.

Yes, this seems like a lot of fuss over 50 little characters. But those 50 characters may have the greatest impact on your email marketing campaigns’ success. It pays to get them right.