Top 10 Tips for Email Subjects
The Email Subject is the most important thing that subscribers see, in their inbox, when they are thinking about opening your latest email.
MarketingXD’s top tips for Email Subject Lines:
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Keep subject lines reasonably short, so they can be read on a wide range of hardware. For example, GMail shows about 30 character on a typical Android phone.
- Match the content of the email. If you try “bait and switch” tactics, by promising something exciting in the subject which is not backed up by the email, this will damage your brand and increase spam complaints.
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Keep the subject lines of Transactional Emails simple, for example “Reminder: flight leaves on {date}”. This is so the user recognizes them as transactional emails, which they are much more likely to open. If you like, you can supply part of the necessary information - in this case the date but not the time - so they will open the email.
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For maximum opens, provide exciting subject lines. This is what you want to promote your brand and generate buzz.
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For maximum click-throughs on the main call to action, provide subject lines which copy that call. This provides qualified opens, helping increase ROI.
- A:B Test (Multivariant Test) your subject lines. Any reasonable commercial email system will do the actual testing automatically - you just need to provide need several candidate subjects for every email.
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Spend time over the subject line. I like to start with a straightforward, plain subject line which just explains what the email should be about. Next I write the content. Finally I look at the most exciting parts of the content and extract other subject lines. I use the straightforward subject and the exiting subjects as alternatives for A:B testing.
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Use world-language characters in the subject line, if you have a largely non-English speaking audience (technical details).
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Do not make subject lines look too spammy, by including too many words such as “Free” or “Special Offer”. And, if you need to use these, be sure to test deliverability.
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Use conventional English, not ALLCAPS or too much abbreviation. It’s important that subject lines can be easily read.
- Pete
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