Email Subject Lines: Do’s and Do Not’s

The subject line plays a pivotal role in an email campaign. If it is good, you are likely to notice a high open-rate. In fact, 47% of recipients click on an email based on its subject line. When it comes to email subject lines, there are certain things that work and a few things that don’t. Here is what you need to know.

Do:

• Reference Location: If you are working on an email campaign for a location, add a personal touch to your subject line. For instance, you can say something like “Good News for Chicago Users.” In this way, recipients feel that the email is relevant to them.
• Use Questions: Subject lines phrased as questions tend to outperform subject lines that are phrased as statements Generally speaking, people like to think that they know things and they also like to learn things passively. Questions are naturally engaging.
• Test: Send emails to two subscriber lists with different subject lines. Find out which one has a higher open rate. Make sure you test one variable at a time. Sometimes, even adding an emoji makes the difference.

Do Not:

• Use Longer Subject Lines: Today, most people open emails on mobile devices. However, the subject line is not displayed fully on smartphones — it only shows the first five or six words. So, since mobile users probably make a significant portion of your target audience, consider shortening the length of your subject lines. Even if it is not possible, see to it that the first five words convey the intended message.
• Use Clickbait: Gone are the times when clickbait was effective and expressions, such as “You will never believe what happened…” worked. The modern user is smarter and can see through these shady tactics. With time, they have been desensitized to such headlines, which means that they can even report you for spam.
• Use Capital Letters Excessively: Keeping all letters capital in the subject line is not advisable.