Did you know that 47% of email recipients open an email based solely on the subject line*? Even so, subject lines often aren’t given the forethought they deserve. With that in mind, here are a few tips for crafting subject lines that will boost your open rates.
1. Be brief.
Statistics show that more than half of all people check email on their mobile devices, most of which can only display 30-40 characters. That means you need to make your subject lines short or risk truncation.
2. Be compelling.
Use active verbs and power words that evoke urgency and build interest. Entice people to open your email with benefits, offers, humor, trends, teasers or intriguing questions.
3. Be personal.
Your email marketing service can provide segmentation options that let you personalize subject lines based on user information like demographics, behaviors, locations or psychographics. Grouping customers in this way enables you to develop subject lines that are relevant and inspire engagement.
4. Avoid being spam.
The occasional emoji is OK but using all caps is not. There are more than 200 trigger words, phrases and symbols – considered manipulative, hyperbolic, cheap and worse – that can send your email straight to spam. Take a moment to look them up and be wary of using them.
5. Test and analyze.
Find your winning subject line formula by doing A/B testing (another function provided via your email marketing service). Vary length and content to see what gets the best open rate. There also are a number of online subject line analyzers that will check and score your copy. Some are free; some are not.
If you’re still unsure of your subject line writing skills, contact Smith Kroeger. We can help you put together an email marketing campaign that’s sure to move the needle for your business.
* Source: Tidio 2020
