10 OF THE BEST EMAIL MARKETING SUBJECT LINES TO INCREASE YOUR OPEN RATE
There’s nothing more annoying than having unwanted email notifications offering discounts and promotions every 20 minutes, which will never be opened.
Chances are pretty slim even for companies and businesses, who are trying to promote a new product or service to drive traffic on to their website.
What do you do?
You need to come up with subject lines that encourage your customers to open your email.
Why?
Because 35% of recipients open emails based on subject lines. And nearly 70% of customers mark their emails as spam.
So, is email marketing dead?
No, 86% of professionals prefer to use emails when communicating for business purposes.
How you write your subject line will either make or break your marketing campaign.
On that note, here is a list of 10 email subject lines that’ll increase your open rates, clicks and conversions.
Let’s dive in.
1. Personalization
It’s always best to let your customers know you care by creating a sense of trust and establishing a long term relationship.
But, how does it help your emails?
A personalized email can increase your click-through rate by 14% and improve your conversion rates by 10%.
You can start by addressing the person by their first name. That way the customers will know the email was specifically created for them and is not a mass message.
The more personalized you get, the more impact it will have on your campaigns as well. In turn, a higher number of clicks increased customer satisfaction and more sales.
You can also use the person’s other personal information to connect with them. Such as:
- Location
- Birthday
- Transactional history
- Social Media Accounts
- Browsing history
- Relationship Status
There are numerous ways to have a more intimate connection with your customers. For instance, using the information above you could send a subscriber a birthday message or a free item in exchange.
Or if you’re a jewelry brand, based on their relationship status you can send an email about the perfect rings for the season.
Ultimately, it’s up to you to create a personalized approach.
Try this method out the next time you’re sending out an email.
2. Curiosity
Humans are curious by nature.
Leveraging it in your subject line will pique the interest of your subscribers.
But, remember not to give it away all in one go, just give them a little bit of a hint till they open your message.
What should you do then?
If the subject line goes like this — “50% discount on your next purchase” there’s no reason for your customers to open the email.
Because they already know what the email is about. But, if you create a sense of mystery around it the better the chance to have a high open-rate.
For example: Forever 21 uses this technique perfectly.
You can even apply it for various events or a popular guest in your video and podcast interview.
By continuously piquing the curiosity of the reader you’ve accomplished 4 things-
- improve your click-through-rates
- increased your open rate
- driving more traffic
- increasing your conversions
Instead of just stating the obvious, leaving your recipient’s guessing gives them a reason to open your email.
3. Urgency
An impossible psychological principle you can’t resist is the fear of missing out or F.O.M.O. It has impacted our lives so much so that even social media platforms are making it more prevalent.
So, how do you create a sense of urgency in your subject line?
By setting a deadline for your readers to do something.
Here’s an example by Bundle Star.
What’s great about their subject line is they mention the offer and its validity. The words “48 Hours Only” gives readers a reason to act immediately before the offer ends.
Another way to generate urgency is to include the word “ tomorrow”.
Why?
The word “tomorrow” tends to boost your open rates by 10%.
Besides urgency, you can also add the element of scarcity.
If you’ve noticed hotels and airlines use this method quite frequently. Making you feel the need to act fast before time runs out.
For instance- Violet Grey used scarcity as their subject line.
Check out this method in your next email campaign.
4. Free Stuff
“Free”! You heard the word right and you’re probably wondering “why would I do that?”
Well, for starters you don’t have to give the most expensive item on your list.
Giving away freebies every now and then gives your customers a reason to open your emails.
And no it won’t end up in the spam if that’s’ what you’re worried about.
Here’s evidence to prove it.
From the graph above the inbox placement rate shows words that contain “ free” are almost identical to those that did not.
Giving away free stuff not only encourages clicks but, for customers to come to your website to purchase more.
In addition to that, email marketing can also generate a high return on investment.
How?
Since emails are inexpensive. A dollar spent on an email campaign is over $44, so your return on investment would be 4,300%.
You’d only be paying a monthly or annual fee for your software. But, the benefits you’ll gain are getting new leads, more websites and increased sales.
So, don’t be afraid to go ahead and promote an offer for free. It’s worth the investment.
5. Breaking news
For this one, you’ll have to get a bit creative and think out of the box.
And no you don’t have to send an email regarding the local news reporting. You could link a recent news topic in your industry.
For instance, you have a coffee shop and you’ve got your customers categorized based on their location.
As summer is approaching, you could send an email about the heatwave as the breaking news. And that you’re selling cold coffee, frappuccino, iced Irish coffee at discounted rates.
Mailchimp even conducted a survey where they analyzed over 24 billion emails with subject lines having 22,000 unique words.
The data showed that people opened messages that had word breaking news.
You could also try coming up with your own news for your email campaign. Whether it’s a product launch or new employee the list is endless. Just don’t forget to use the words” breaking news”.
6. Story Telling
Are you worried about this tactic? Don’t be, you don’t need to be a writer to master the art of storytelling.
The key here is to intrigue your customers to know more and then introduce the story.
Remember, stories drive emotions and in turn emotions drive sales.
If you’re not sure where to start, use your own brand story.
For example, you could drive traffic to a blog post using the title to grab the attention of your readers. Include a few paragraphs in the email then make your readers visit your blog to read the entire story.
Businesses that use storytelling boost their conversions by 30% and 62% B2B marketers found it as an effective marketing strategy.
With such high success rates, it’s worth giving it a try.
7. Social Proof
Social proof is a powerful psychological concept.
In simple terms, if others are doing it their actions must be right.
For this technique, you need to give your customers a reason to join the list.
Social Media Examiner does just that.
The fact 255,000 have joined the list is reason enough for customers to sign up.
You can even use “ influencers” or celebrities to endorse your product.
Since they already have an established reputation you can use this for the subject line to entice your customers.
As a part of their denim campaign, Piperlime enlists style experts Rachel Zoe and Olivia Palermo to pick out the best jeans for the season.
This is a great way to promote your product because 92% of consumers trust recommendations from others, even if they don’t know them personally.
8. Short and Simple
It doesn’t matter what type of content your email contains. Always remember to keep your subject line short and simple. Try avoiding long and unnecessary sentences.
Before you send out your message, it’s best to have several drafts. That way you can decide which draft to choose to keep your content as short as possible.
So, how long should you keep your subject line?
From the graph above, subject lengths between 1 to 20 have the highest open rates.
Also, since 77% of email opens occur on mobile devices, so you’ll need to be able to craft your subject line accordingly.
Here’s an example from the Campaign Monitor.
9. Retargeting
Did you know a customer has to hear you 7 times before they buy your product or service?
For that reason alone you need to be able to get in front of your customers. Even after they leave your site via social media, ads, and emails. The latter technique is important to track your conversion rates and abandonment of your shopping carts.
You’d be surprised to know how common it is for customers to add items in their cart and never make a purchase.
Here’s a survey done by Baymard Institute on why people tend to do this.
To reduce abandonment, you can send an email reminding them of guest check-outs, free shipping or future discounts.
Just let them know what you’re offering in your subject line.
Here are some examples:
Encourage them to make the purchase and avail of the services.
Sending this email as a reminder might help the customer to close the deal.
10. Authority and Expertise
Finally, let your customers know you mean business and the expertise they are looking for.
Here’s how Campaign Monitor decided to share their knowledge.
Campaign Monitor audiences are always looking for ways to improve their email marketing.
So, in their newsletter, they decided to share 7 tips to build an engaged email. Plus tips on email personalization.
You can do the same thing in your subject line
Share your knowledge and expertise to pique the interest of your customers. Or you could enlist an expert in the industry to validate your points.
Some examples of subject lines you could use in your next campaign are :
- Learn more about
- Lets us show you
- What you need to know
TakeAways
Emails are a great way to communicate your messages. But, it’s pointless if your recipients don’t open them.
Choosing the right subject line will help you get better open rates and clicks.
Start with the topics discussed above-
Personalize your subject line
Generate Curiosity. Make your customers want to know more
Create a sense of urgency
Give away free stuff
Tell stories or promote recent news in your subject line
Get more clicks using your social proof
Most of all, remember your subject lines short and simple
Target customers that abandon their carts
Show off your knowledge and expertise
Now, it’s your turn. Which topic will you choose as your next subject line?
Leave a comment below.
