When writing a marketing email, the email marketing subject line is the most important element you need to pay attention to. Maybe you are asking why? Well…
It is the only sane reason on earth why your marketing email will be opened. A bad email marketing subject line can ruin your whole email marketing strategy. It doesn’t matter what is inside the email if your recipients won’t even open it.
Consider this, according to Optinmonster, 33% of email recipients open emails because of catchy email marketing subject lines.
A boring subject line could lead your email to get buried under hundreds of other emails.
Or even worse, be marked as spam! Unfortunately, 69% of people will report an email as spam, based on the subject line alone.
And getting your marketing email marked as spam is a sure-fire, one-way ticket to email marketing hell! The moment your emails won’t be even delivered…well, you’re screwed.
And getting your deliverability to a normal level is so hard that I would rather create a new company than try to do this.
Another thing, the average open rate for emails is only 17.92%. Hell, your email marketing subject lines have to be awesome to make sure you will cross the average! But keep your cool, I’m going to show you how to write incredible subject lines…
But here is another staggering fact. The average click-through rate for marketing emails is just 2.69%.
That’s it.
Do you see the importance of email marketing subject lines right now? They need to be great.
But Filip, how can I write an awesome email marketing subject line?
Keep reading, and you will be able to do so! Here are some astonishing tips for writing head-turning email marketing subject lines that will make it irresistible to open your emails:
1. The Basics Of A Great Subject Line
Email subject lines should be personal, they should arouse huge curiosity, and they should be urgent.
Personalizing subject lines makes the subscriber feel that you care about them and that the email is written just for them. It makes them feel that they are more than just another person on the email list.
And that is an awesome feeling that will make them open your marketing email.
And that’s always a nice feeling on the subscribers’ part. It helps to establish trust and build relationships.
On top of that, personalized email marketing subject lines can lead to higher open rates—as high as 50%!
Studies also show that personalized promotional emails result in 29% higher open rates. And, multichannel retailers see a 37% increase in unique open rates for emails with personalized subject lines when compared to emails with non-personalized ones.
Here is what personalized subject lines look like:
Do you see how personal they are? He could write something like “XYZ program ending soon! Buy it now for just $X…”
The same applies to other emails. Subject line screaming, “This is marketing email!” will make your emails end up in the trash can or worse, in spam!
Another thing your email marketing subject lines should do is…
…arousing curiosity.
For example, the subject line “Did this happened to you too?” will make you immediately open the email, because you wonder what has happened.
It is not only personal, but it also arouses curiosity!
Using email marketing subject lines that create curiosity can provoke your audience to engage with your brand.
Brands that use interactive content in their email marketing subject lines get 70% higher conversion rates as opposed to 36% of those who use static content. That’s 2x the number of conversions!
2. How Emojis Can Increase Your Open Rates
Studies have shown that emotional content can increase the effectiveness of marketing by as much as 70%! Emojis are there to show a facial expression that relates to the emotion the message is suggesting.
In the inbox, emojis also help you to separate your marketing email from the flood of other emails.
And they increase open rates so much, that it will blow your socks off! Between 2015 and 2016 alone, open rates for emails with emojis in the subject line surged as much as 775%!
Although this may seem like an easy way to increase your open rates, adding emojis too often will make your marketing emails be perceived as spam.
So don’t overuse them!
3. Keep Your Subject Lines Shorter Than 30 Characters!
This is super important! More and more people on earth are using mobile devices to read their emails.
So if you’re not optimizing your email marketing subject lines for mobile devices you are making a huge mistake…
According to the campaign monitor, 50% of all emails are opened on mobile devices. iPhones show about 35-38 characters in a portrait mode, and Galaxy phones show roughly 33 characters in a portrait mode.
That means that your email marketing subject lines should contain a maximum of 30 characters!
If you will use more characters than 30, chances are your reader will see only a part of your email marketing subject line and that can unbelievably lower your open rates…
4. Use News In Your Subject Lines
People beg to know what is new.
We all love new things! That’s why people are watching the news in the evening, reading newspapers, reading news on google, etc.
So you want to use announcements in your subject lines. And the more breakthrough the announcement is, the more they will open your marketing emails.
Use words like “alert, announcing, new, introducing, breakthrough” and your email marketing open rates will go through the roof!
For example, email subject lines using the word “alert” are opened 61.8% more. And, subject lines with the word “tomorrow” are opened 10% more.
It’s incredible how it works.
5. 33 Email Marketing Subject Line Scripts That Will Save You Mountains Of Time
Writing email marketing subject lines sometimes takes a lot of time. And it can be a little bit frustrating trying to come up with some concepts that will work.
I was in this situation as well. So, I have created a few email marketing subject line scripts that will help you out! Just fill in the blank, and that’s it.
The subject line is born! Sometimes, you don’t even have to fill-in-the-blank, you can just copy the subject line. It’s awesome! So, here we go:
Personal Email Marketing Subject Lines Scripts
- “[Name], check out these______looks” [Filip, check out these hand-picked looks…]
2. “Happy Birthday [Name]– Surprise Inside!” [Happy Birthday Filip – Surprise Inside!]
3. “[Name], do you remember me?” [Dan, do you remember me?]
4. “I didn’t see your name in the comments!?” [Same as the script]
5. “Are you coming?” [Same as the script]
5. “You’ve Changed” [Same as the script]
6. “So I’ll pick you up at______?” [So I’ll pick you up at 7?]
7. “Crazy Invitation, I am Going to______…” [Crazy invitation, I’m going to buy you lunch…]
8. “______or ______?” [Vanilla or Chocolate?]
9. “I love you…” [Same as the script]
10. “Seriously, Who DOES This?” [Same as the script]
11. “Quick favor?” [Same as the script]
12. “you free this [Day] at [Time]? [name of your product or service]” [you free this Thurs at 12PM PST? [guest blogging class]]
13. “? your detailed results…” [Same as the script]
14. “______% increase in______with a single______ + a______trick from______!” [300% increase in revenue with a single option + a neat growth trick from my mastermind!]
15. “Thanks for helping us” [Same as the script]
16. “Two______for______(on us)” [Two razors for your friends (on us)]
Curiosity Email Marketing Subject Lines Scripts
17. “*Don’t Open This Email*” [Same as the script]
18. “Last Day To See What This Mystery Email Is All About” [Same as the script]
19. “10______habits making______ ______” [10 bizarre money habits making Millennials richer]
20. “Check out my new “______” [PICS]” [Check out my new “man cave” [PICS] ]
21. “Is this the hottest_____in______?” [Is this the hottest career in marketing?]
22. “What They______In______” [What They Eat In Prison?]
23. “______Disgusting Facts about______” [9 Disgusting Facts About Thanksgiving]
24. “[Name Of The Astonishing Product]?!” [Hologram Shorts?!]
25. “A faster donkey” [Same as the script]
26. “? a surprise gift for you! {unwrap}” [Same as the script]
Fear Of Missing Out Email Marketing Subject Lines
27. “Uh-oh, your______is expiring” [Uh-oh, your prescription is expiring]
28. “You’re missing out on______.” [You’re missing out on points]
29. “[URGENT] You’ve got ONE DAY to______…” [URGENT] You’ve got one day to watch this…]
30. “Your______goes bye-bye at______…” [Your seven-figure plan goes bye-bye at midnight]
31. “[WEEKEND ONLY] Get this NOW before it’s gone…” [WEEKEND ONLY] Get this now before it’s gone…]
32. “[Name], Earn______today only” [Mary, Earn double points today only]
33. “Tonight only: A______lover’s dream” [Tonight only: A denim lover’s dream]
These subject lines are leveraging natural human tendencies and getting them to open your marketing emails.
With them, you will be able to jump on the bandwagon of open rate success in just a matter of seconds. And it is super-easy to craft one.
If you’re not super-creative and experienced, then this is heaven for you. Use these email marketing subject lines every time you can.
Conclusion
Creating an absolutely irresistible email marketing subject line is absolutely crucial for you to succeed.
An email with a bad subject line often ends up in a trash can, or worse, is marked as spam. And that is deadly.
Because if your marketing emails won’t be even delivered, then your email marketing strategy is worth nothing.
To craft an awesome subject line you need to make them personal and curious.
Also if you can, you want to make them contain news or appeal to their emotions as much as possible.
If you are not too creative, then you can use the 33 email marketing subject line scripts I have given you to write super-powerful subject lines in a matter of seconds.
Use all the tactics I have given you, and you will skyrocket your email marketing success.
Filip Konecny 