5 Ways to Strengthen E-mail Subject Lines
March 4, 2009 By Joe Boland, Assistant Editor, Target Marketing
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With the postal and shipping costs continually on the rise, e-mail communications are more popular than ever before. They’re cheaper, quicker and, oftentimes, more convenient. However, an e-mail is only as good as its subject line. As the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression, and in an e-mail, that first impression comes in the subject line.
In a recent white paper, Guru’s Guide to Email Marketing Success, online marketing firm Lyris, with offices in California and Canada, provides tips for writing better subject lines—and increasing the likelihood your e-mails will get opened.
1. Segment/Personalize. Personalizing subject lines does not mean putting someone’s first name in the subject line followed by generic information such as, “John, Your Personalized May Newsletter,” the white paper states. If you are segmenting your list in any way, then each segment should receive appropriate and different subject lines. Even if you aren’t creating separate versions of your e-mail, if you have relevant information on segments of your subscribers, tailoring the subject line to their interests should improve open and clickthrough rates.
2. “Brand” Your Subject Line. Include the name of your company or newsletter/promotion in the subject line, usually at the beginning and enclosed in brackets. An example would be: "{Intervention Report} 15 Tips for Better Subject Lines." This practice reinforces the from line, ensuring recipients that the message is coming from a trusted source.
3. Use a Consistent Style. While subject lines should be different each time, from and subject lines should become immediately trusted and recognized by recipients. After testing and learning what style works best for your recipients, stick with that approach—whether humorous, provocative, incentive-based, tip-oriented, etc.
4. Send Subject Lines to Yourself. One of the best gauges of the strength of a subject line is to send sample e-mails with different subject lines to yourself. What kind of response do they warrant when they arrive in your inbox—“gotta open it immediately,” “delete/ignore” or “read it later”?
5. Push the Envelope (or Inbox). Don’t be afraid to try subject lines that are more aggressive, creative, tantalizing or specific than you’re currently using. Try some new styles, and test them. Monitor the results across all metrics—open rates, clickthrough rates, spam complaints, bounce rates and unsubscribes—to make sure that a bump in your open rate didn’t lead to an increase in unsubscribes, bounces and spam complaints.
In a recent white paper, Guru’s Guide to Email Marketing Success, online marketing firm Lyris, with offices in California and Canada, provides tips for writing better subject lines—and increasing the likelihood your e-mails will get opened.
1. Segment/Personalize. Personalizing subject lines does not mean putting someone’s first name in the subject line followed by generic information such as, “John, Your Personalized May Newsletter,” the white paper states. If you are segmenting your list in any way, then each segment should receive appropriate and different subject lines. Even if you aren’t creating separate versions of your e-mail, if you have relevant information on segments of your subscribers, tailoring the subject line to their interests should improve open and clickthrough rates.
2. “Brand” Your Subject Line. Include the name of your company or newsletter/promotion in the subject line, usually at the beginning and enclosed in brackets. An example would be: "{Intervention Report} 15 Tips for Better Subject Lines." This practice reinforces the from line, ensuring recipients that the message is coming from a trusted source.
3. Use a Consistent Style. While subject lines should be different each time, from and subject lines should become immediately trusted and recognized by recipients. After testing and learning what style works best for your recipients, stick with that approach—whether humorous, provocative, incentive-based, tip-oriented, etc.
4. Send Subject Lines to Yourself. One of the best gauges of the strength of a subject line is to send sample e-mails with different subject lines to yourself. What kind of response do they warrant when they arrive in your inbox—“gotta open it immediately,” “delete/ignore” or “read it later”?
5. Push the Envelope (or Inbox). Don’t be afraid to try subject lines that are more aggressive, creative, tantalizing or specific than you’re currently using. Try some new styles, and test them. Monitor the results across all metrics—open rates, clickthrough rates, spam complaints, bounce rates and unsubscribes—to make sure that a bump in your open rate didn’t lead to an increase in unsubscribes, bounces and spam complaints.
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