The subject line is the most important part of your email. It makes or breaks the reader’s decision to open your message. People today are busy and receive countless emails per day. Ensure they read yours by following these tips.
Keep it short: The ideal length is 4-6 words with a maximum of 10 words. Keep in mind many people may view your email on their cell or smart phone, which shows a smaller amount of words than on a computer. In this case, less is more. BUT…
Be specific: Clear identify the type of email you’re sending. For example, if you’re sending an invitation, say “Invitation: Business Open House [date and time]” or “You’re Invited to our Business Open House”. Perhaps you’re looking for information. Make it obvious. Your subject line could be “Info Needed re: [topic]” or “Looking for info on [topic]”. Sending a reminder? Say that. “Reminder: …”
Reflect the body: It’s called subject line for a reason – to give an indication of the main purpose of the email. Think of the subject line as a very short summary of the email. Reflecting the body is also important to build credibility in your readers’ eyes. Nobody likes a ‘bait and switch’. Even if unintentional, indicating your email is about one thing, when it’s really about another leads to frustration and possibly to wasting your reader’s time (they will not be happy about this). Eventually it could lead to unopened emails.
Use keywords: Consider that the reader, or you, may want to retrieve the email after it’s filed away. Use words that seem obvious for someone to use if they were searching for the email at a later date. (This will be easy if your subject line is specific and content-oriented).
Peak their curiosity: Grab the attention of your reader and make them curious enough to open the email. The easiest way to do this is make it about them and not you. Indicate in the subject line how reading the email will bring value to the reader.
Bottom line – Content and clarity are king. When writing your next subject line ask yourself: 1) What is the main message (content) of the email? and 2) How can I clearly portray this in about 4-6 words?
Question: What’s your subject line pet peeve? Share it in the comments section below.
(Mine is when people use “What’s up?” or “Hey”. Unless the email is just to say hello, this type of subject line doesn’t help in telling me why you’re writing).
Previous posts on the topic of email communication:
How to Choose Appropriate Salutation & Closing Phrases when Emailing
Lynn,
Thanks for the comment! I agree with you. Half the time I end up deleting a newsletter email if I’m not intrigued by the subject line. But, it helps me to think twice when writing my own.
Lydia
ps. I checked out your website. Your business looks really interesting! You must have a lot of fun.
With so many newsletters hitting my inbox I barely have time to glance at them even though I signed up for them. So a good subject line is incredibly important for me to open them and scan the content.
Jimm,
Absolutely!! Thanks for mentioning that. Testing subject lines is really key when sending marketing emails. It’s amazing how much a good subject line can increase the open rate AND also the click rate.
Lydia
Good points Lydia. If you are sending to a large list it’s also a good idea to test different subject lines on small groups to see which one works best.