Email Subject Line Ideas to Help You Improve Your Open Rates

The email subject line is the super important line of text that people first see when they receive your email in their inbox. This single line of text can be the difference between your email being opened and acted upon or getting sent straight to junk or deleted.

If your subject line fails to get the recipient to open the email, everything else you do doesn’t matter.

Here are 8 simple subject line ideas to help you improve open rates.

1. The urgency or ‘limited time only’ subject line

Your email subject line must inspire them to open your email NOW, and to do this you need to create a sense of urgency and convey the message that time is limited.

Some tactics that work well are providing a deadline within your subject line or tapping into the fear of missing out. However, make sure the urgency is relevant to the content of your email. Don’t create a deadline just to get them to click. This may just make them unsubscribe.

Example: “Hurry – sale ends midnight”

2. The personalised subject line

To improve conversions, email subject lines should always be tailored to the recipient so that they feel like it is an exclusive email. Personalising your emails using details like the recipient’s name, job title or hometown can create a sense of relevancy and make your email stand out from the rest.

Example: “Sarah, check out these hand-picked outfits just for you”

3. The discount or offer subject line

If there’s no benefit to the reader, chances are they won’t open your email. So, make it clear in your subject line that your recipient has something to gain from opening your email, and if so, what.

Example: “Get 20% off skincare this weekend”

4. The ‘how to’ subject line

The ‘how to’ subject line works well because it forces you to clearly describe the content of the email. By reading these subject lines, the recipient knows exactly what they are going to learn from opening the email.

By using a ‘how to’ subject that you know is relevant to your recipient and are much more likely to guarantee open rates.

Example: “How to get 99.9% of your emails opened”

5. The question subject line

Questions make great email subject lines because they get the reader to think about how the subject us relevant to their own life. It can also draw readers in especially if you’re asking a question you know is relevant to them…

Example: “Do you know why your website isn’t converting?”

6. The ‘why’ subject line

‘Why’ subject lines create a sense of curiosity. They convince readers that they should do something and offer compelling reasons for doing so.

Example: “Why nobody is liking your Facebook posts– and here’s what you can do about it”

7. The announcement subject line

Who doesn’t want to get the latest update or be invited to an interesting event?

Using words like “Introducing” and “New” in your email subject line gives the reader a feeling that your email contains new information that they are one of the first to hear about.

Example: “Be the first to see our new summer collection”

8. The funny subject line

A humorous subject line can really stick out among the dull emails populating recipients’ inboxes. Humour can put people in a good mood, which will likley increase the chances of them reacting more positively to your content.

Example: “Need a day at the beach?…”

Need help creating a new email marketing campaign or want to refresh your current one? Get in touch with us today and we will be happy to help.

Square Media is Northamptonshire’s premiere Web Design & Marketing Agency experienced in developing effective content and marketing strategies for forward-thinking companies in the local area. Our team of specialists consistently deliver outstanding results working in a variety of areas such as Search Engine Optimisation, Social Media Marketing Consultancy, Pay Per Click (PPC) and AdWords Management amongst a wide range of other services.