6 Rules of Great Email Subject Lines

Many newsletters and business offers are never read by Internet users for the simple reason that the email didn’t have an effective subject line. Some people tend to forget to include the “Subject” in a mail. A subject line may only be a few words but these few words are very important. You need to avoid the 5 habits that waste time and cause problems to your readers as well.

As more and more emails fill our in-boxes it’s more important than ever to have a subject line that catches our attention.  The subject line is one of the most important aspects of your email marketing campaign because it’s what creates a first impression for your business.  With just a few words you can encourage someone to read your newsletter or you can cause them to delete your email without another glance. Since the recipient doesn’t already know you, you need send them an introductory mail.

Here are some simple rules for creating a great subject line:

1. Keep the subject line direct and short.  Subject lines should never be more than ten words long.  In fact, five words or less is the perfect length.  Most email browsers won’t let users see more than five or six words so a longer subject line will be truncated and not seen by the user.  Use strong and descriptive words rather than fluffy adjectives such as “very”. It should match your content as well, don’t be fishy.
2. Emphasize the benefits to the reader.  You want to make it as easy as possible for your customers to know precisely why they will benefit from reading your newsletter.  This can be as simple as a “reward” for just opening the e-mail.  A reward can be information or a discount coupon.  You want to use catch phrases such as “save money” and “save time” to get a reader’s immediate attention.  The key is to entice your customers to want to read more and open the email.
3. Ask questions.  When you ask a question in the subject line you cause a reader to become curious and want to know more.  As well, when you ask a question the e-mail sounds more like it’s coming from a colleague rather than just a business and will more likely be opened and read.
4. Personal subject lines.  One big mistake that screams “spam” is sending your e-mail to “undisclosed recipients”.  Make sure to always use your company name or real name as the sender. Try to put the recipients name in the subject line if there is room as well as insert it into the greeting of the e-mail.
5. Take advantage of holidays and current events.  If there is an upcoming holiday, such as Christmas, you can tie it up with your e-mail subject line.  For example, “Save time on your Christmas Shopping”.
6. Avoid using the word “free”.  Hard sales phrases, such as “free” and “limited offer”, are often filtered out by e-mail services since they are a clear indication of spam.  As well, try to avoid using hype which includes explanation marks or all capital letters. 3 more words your email lines should not contain are “help”, “reminder”,  and “% of”.