The goal of subject lines is to encourage subscribers to open your email and take steps . Don’t let the stress of writing the prefect subject lines get to you. Finding the right words doesn’t have to be challenge .
Open ratio depend on several factors like collection practices, list age and the industry in which you are sending. The average rate ranges from 10% to 25% (at the high end of the spectrum). We analyzed thousands of subject lines to find those with the highest open rates and the most impact. Here’s what we learned.
Be Precise : The subject line should tell subscribers what they are going to get inside.
It is totally clear what the email is about and the recipient knows, when they open the email, they will get the details about the special offer. Also, note the "call to action" and a sense of urgency. However, it’s worth avoiding overwrought proclamations — you don’t want to come on too heavy.
Be True To The Purpose Of A Subject Line: The purpose is a preview of the email; a handful of words that capture the essence of the subject matter.
Words With Friends: Feedback is extremely constructive and with subject lines, getting some outside aspect is vital.
Inquire with your friends and colleagues what they think the subject line should be or have them rewrite your subject lines. Better yet, come up with a few options and ask them to come up with some themselves. Then see which ones are best. You will be surprised at how often this results in the perfect subject line.
Split Second Impressions: The initial few words matter! When the email is being previewed, your starting few words are the ones that will be seen so make them count. Litmus has a neat tool to preview how your subject lines will appear across multiple email programs .
Content Is King: Subject lines are a necessary factor in generating lively open rates. It’s the first step to engagement and as such, it is worth looking at how your content drives your subject line rather than viewing the subject line as an afterthought .
A fascinating subject line can only be built on a strong support of content so make sure that your newsletter itself offers value. Thinking comprehensively , if you want to drive higher open rates, create content that provoke great subject lines.
While inspecting our best performing subject lines, a trend did emerge. Of emails that had the highest open rates, 76% of them had either their business name or the product name mentioned in their subject lines.
That’s more than a coincidence, that’s a pro tip: the top subject line writers use either their company name, the product name or both.
Use Google Insights For Search: If you are unsure of which words are best suited to your subject line, try comparing them with Google’s Insights For Search. While it is technically a tool to help improve search engine optimization (aka SEO) and help you understand what people are searching for on Google, the tool offers great ‘insight’ into online interests in general.
It is most helpful for subject lines when you want to compare which words will be more powerful or whether to lead with a certain timely topic over another.