The Perfect Email Subject Line: First Impressions Count

1. What is the subject of an email?
2. Why is an email subject line important?
3. Creating email subject lines: Dos and Don'ts
4. Examples of email subject lines
5. What email marketing tools are suitable for creating a subject line?
6. Designing a persuasive email subject line is an essential part of any successful email marketing campaign. It is the first thing the recipients of your mails see and therefore should leave a

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to expand the customer base, enhance brand visibility and increase sales numbers. The success of your email campaign doesn't solely depend on the content of your mail. Contrary to popular belief, the subject line, which is often assigned little importance, is decisive in whether your mails are opened at all. In this article, you will learn how important an email's subject line is and what you should consider when creating it.

What is the subject of an email?

The first thing that a recipient of an email sees after the sender's name is the subject line. It summarizes the email content and ultimately determines whether your mail is read, ignored, or marked as spam. Therefore, an email subject line should not just catch the reader’s attention, it should also provide a value addition, compelling them to open the email. During subject line creation, email marketing tools like GetResponse

Why is an email subject line important?

Two out of three marketers use email marketing for organic content distribution, making emails the third most popular channel for content distribution, following a company's website and blog.

Key to the success of your email campaign is something as seemingly simple as the subject line. According to FinancesOnline, 65% of recipients decide to open an email based solely on the subject line. 69% reported marking an email as spam based on the subject alone. So, even if you have excellent content, if your target audience doesn't bother to open your emails, it’s all worthless.

Creating email subject lines: Dos and Don'ts

Do #1: Keep it short

As a rule of thumb, an email's subject line should be a maximum of ten words or 40 to 60 characters long. This is because users are inundated with emails every day. Therefore, they do not have the time or the patience, to read long or complicated subject lines. Keeping your subject line short makes it easier for recipients to understand the purpose of your email and decide whether to open it.

Hence, there are three important factors, you should consider regarding the length of the email subject line:

1. Device type: Depending on the size of the screen your recipients are using, the subject line might be cut off. This is particularly common with smartphones and other mobile devices. ⁠
2. Email provider: Remember that email apps or programs also impose character limitations for subject lines - regardless of the device type. For instance, Gmail has a limit of 70 characters while Yahoo Mail allows 46 characters. If your email’s subject line exceeds these limits, it will be automatically cut. ⁠
3. The content of the subject line: Though the word and character count is a fundamental guideline, the content of your subject line is the crucial point. While short, if it sounds boring and generic, your audience will ignore your emails. As long as they generate interest, longer subject lines can still yield good results. Hence, it's important to analyze your email metrics. Check if there's a specific format or word provoking your target audience's attention and making them open your emails.

Do #2: Personalize your subject lines

Studies have shown that personalized subject lines increase the open rate by at least 50%. When you personalize the subject of your email, it shows the recipients you see them as more than just customers. It also signals that you have taken the time, to compose a message that directly addresses them. To personalize your email subject line, you could, for example, include the recipient's first name ("Hello Lea, we have a gift for you!") or their demographic data ("20% discount on everything in our Heidelberg store").

Furthermore, you can stir your target audience's interest by using their transaction history . For instance, if you know that the recipients have been searching for coffee tables on your online store, you can incorporate this item in the subject line ("50% discount on our coffee tables – only today!").

Tip: To simplify the process for you, you can take advantage of email automation. With the best newsletter tools you can automatically send bulk emails with personalized subject lines, based on various triggers. These triggers could be the behavior of the target group, like searching for a product on your website, or specific data such as the birthday of your recipients.

Do #3: Enhance FOMO

The Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) can motivate your email recipients to act. To generate this, you can incorporate an element of scarcity (limited availability) or urgency (limited time) into your subject line. For instance, you can use words like, "urgent", "limited time", or "exclusive" , that create a sense of time pressure.

Moreover, you can also use certain words to trigger emotions and actions. For example, to awaken feelings like curiosity and engage your target audience's attention, you can use phrases like the following:

• "This is amazing!"
• "Have you heard about …"
• "Did you know …"
• "We're revealing to you …"
• "Caution …"

Do #4: Use storytelling

Storytelling is an excellent method to establish a relationship with readers and convey information. Subject lines hinting at a story not only increase curiosity. They also prompt the users to open the email, read it, and click the link. Examples for email subject lines with Storytelling would be "Find out how we built our business" or "How we use eco-friendly materials for our products".

Do #5: Include numbers and at least one emoji

Using numbers makes it easier to read your subject line. Besides, it saves characters compared to writing out the number. Instead of writing "nineteen", you can use "19" and save six characters.

Emojis, on the other hand, allow you to express emotions with a single character. Many brands use them to make their emails and newsletters more personal and appealing. Just be sure not to use too many emojis as it might come off as unprofessional and can be interpreted as spamming. Also, getting informed about their meaning in different cultures is crucial. After all, you don't want to accidentally offend anyone just to make your subject line fun.

Do #6: Test your subject line

To test the effectiveness of your email subject line, you can conduct A/B or split tests. For this, you create two subject lines for the same email campaign. Then you send emails with the first subject line to a small part of your subscribers and the second subject line to another part. After that, you assess the results. The subject line with the higher opening rate will be sent to the rest of your distribution list. Apart from subject lines, you can also test different CTA buttons, email templates, and the timing of sending follow-up emails.

Don't #1: Writing in capital letters

Writing your email's subject line in capital letters is disadvantageous for two reasons. Firstly, it gives the recipients the feeling of being shouted at. Secondly, it is interpreted by the email providers as a sign of spam. This leads to delivery problems and your emails could even land on a blacklist.

Don't #2: Using spam words

Besides capital letters, you should avoid certain words in the subject line that could make your email appear suspicious and trigger spam filters. This includes "free", "you’ve won" and "bonus" . Recipients often classify subject lines with these words as spam and usually delete these emails without opening them.

Don’t #3: Focus on advertising

If you want to grab attention with your subject line, you should not overly focus on advertising your business. Of course, there are newsletters created for special offers and product launches. However, most of your email communication needs to cater to the needs of your target audience and how your product or service can improve their life.

Examples of email subject lines

If you are out of ideas for subject lines, you are in the right place! We've prepared some examples of subject lines for you that you can include in your email campaign:

Note: You can naturally configure these depending on the purpose of your email as well as your product and your company.

Subject lines that induce FOMO

• "Your subscription is expiring"
• "[URGENT] You only have ONE DAY to check this out..."
• "[ONLY THIS WEEKEND] Get X NOW before it’s gone..."

Interesting subject lines

• "The most potent marketing strategies"
• "The ultimate guide to building your website"
• "If you're a marketer, you need this tool"

Subject lines that focus on recipient's problems

• "Feed your guests without breaking the bank"
• "Learn a language in just 5 minutes a day"
• "Beauty tips that defy age"

Retargeting email subject lines

• "Hey, didn’t you forget something? Here’s 20% off"
• "The price of X in your shopping cart has dropped"
• "We haven't forgotten you!"

Personalized email subject lines

• "Happy Birthday, Tom – here’s a surprise for you!"
• "Thanks for your order, George"
• "Reserve your place now for the next event in [residence location]"

Sales subject lines

• "Limited-time offer: Get 20% off on your first purchase!"
• "Don’t miss our biggest sale of the year!"
• "Sneak peek: Launching our newest product line"

Newsletter subject line examples

• "Stay tuned: Our new newsletter is here!"
• "Your December update is here"
• "Your weekly dose of inspiration and motivation"

What email marketing tools are suitable for creating a subject line?

Although the subject line is an important part of Email marketing, your email campaign is not just about that. To ensure the success of your marketing efforts, you need an appealing email text and a design suitable for all devices. You also have to segment your audience and ensure that they get emails tailored to their interests. These tasks are impossible to perform manually – especially if you have a large customer base. To speed up the process and maximize the yield of your email campaign, you can rely on email marketing software, such as.GetResponse Email subject line: Ensure your emails get read

Designing a persuasive email subject line is an essential part of any successful email marketing campaign. It is the first thing the recipients of your mails see and therefore should leave a

positive, yet lasting impression. To create subject lines that grab your target audience's attention and prompt them to take action, you should follow some basic rules.Firstly, you should

keep it brief and use clear language that's relevant to your target group. Avoid writing in capital letters, blatant advertising, and using spam words. To increase the open rate, you should also personalize your subject line and incorporate storytelling. In the end, by testing different subject lines you can refine your approach and determine what works best for your target audience.herausfinden, was für deine Zielgruppe am besten funktioniert.