How To Write Effective Email Subject Lines That Get Your Emails Opened Everytime

In this article I’ll discuss how to write effective email subject lines.

I’m even going to share some of the subject lines that get me the highest open rates.

Why do subject lines matter?

Because email open rates have been steadily declining year after year. Back in 1995 people were reading emails like their lives depended on it. They took it as seriously as regular mail. Receiving and reading email was something special, something novel at the time.

It required all our attention.

Fast forward to 2017 and most people hate email.

It’s cluttering our inbox, it’s stealing our time and it’s mostly advertising or spam.

Just like banner click-through rates have been steadily declining year after year, email open rates and click-through rates aren’t exactly soaring. And to make things worse; it’s our fault.

Marketers destroy everything.

Period.

So what’s the solution?

On Building An ‘Open-Worthy’ Brand

Consumers have less and less tolerance for bullshit.

We’re starting to collectively realize that time is the only asset we have: We prefer Uber over Taxis, Netflix over TV and texting over phone calls. Our attention spans are short and our threshold for “time vampires” low. If something isn’t remarkable, we don’t pay attention. Most email we receive is unsolicited, irrelevant and boring. We only open and read emails from people or brands we care about, unless we make a mistake and click by accident.

Sure, we might click on an email by accident or because it’s clickbait.

On the other end of the world, some marketer is looking at his email open rates thinking you’re interested. Little does he know you don’t care and will never buy a product.

(If anything out of protest).

There is no “money” in the goodwill bank.

We like to buy products from businesses we know, like and trust. And if a company hasn’t earned these three things, you’ll treat them as annoying pest rather than a welcomed guest.

If you want to succeed at email marketing you have to create an “open-worthy” brand.

You have to create remarkable products, share interesting content and build a tribe of people who like, know and trust your brand. These are the people who will open your emails and click. Not because their mouse slipped or because you tricked them into doing so, but because they’re truly interested. This is the basis of all effective email marketing.

Everything else is a gimmick.

That being said, it’s okay to have some tricks up your sleeve. And one of them is learning how to write effective email subject lines. It’s mostly an art, but also a bit of a science.

How To Write Effective Email Subject Lines That Get Your Emails Opened

With knowledge comes power.

And you don’t want to misuse this power.

The first rule of email subject lines is to avoid being misleading. In fact, the CAN-SPAM act requires your email subject lines to be relevant to the content of the email. Using clickbait or rubberneck subject lines that are misleading is not just harming your brand.

It’s also illegal and can get you prosecuted in most countries.

The bottom line:

Make sure your subject lines are linked to the content of the email. Now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about how to write effective email subject lines that get your emails opened.

Clickbait and Rubberneck Subject Lines

These are “irresistible” subject lines.

They exploit our primitive human need to respond to novelty, curiosity and danger. If you will, clickbait and rubberneck subject lines tap into our evolutionary hard-wired sensationalism.

If there’s an accident we can’t help but turn and look what happened.

Negative headlines get more clicks than positive ones.

(Which is why I don’t read the news).

We’re drawn to anything that’s related to danger, fear and pleasure. At the same time, we have an insatiable hunger for novelty and secrecy. We also can’t resist anything that’s odd.

Clickbait and rubberneck marketing takes advantage of this “flaw” (it’s not really a flaw because we’re probably evolutionary hard-wired to be more responsive to cues like danger, fear, sex, novelty and strange patterns that could improve or threaten our chances of survival). Of course, as marketers, we can use these evolutionary triggers to draw attention to our messages, stories and products. Novelty, curiosity and secrecy work well to promote content.

Here are some examples of novelty, curiosity and secrecy driven subject lines:

• Hey
• OH HELL YES
• DAMMIT (lol)
• CRAZY NEWS
• CRAZY STORY
• NO. FREAKING. WAY. (awesome)
• VERY IMPORTANT (please read)
• DUDE. OPEN UP. (this is crazy)
• DO NOT JUDGE ME (lol)
• Read this 🙂
• One Word… “Crazy”
• Really …Really!!
• Oops…forgot to say…
• worst [product/tip/advice] EVER
• Don’t open if you’re a [gamer/photographer/dog owner]

Can you see why these subject lines work? They’re hard to resist because they scratch our itch to respond to novelty, secrecy, danger, fear and pleasure. We just can’t help it.

But these aren’t the only emotional triggers you can use when writing email subject lines.

Still wondering how to write effective email subject lines?

Try urgency and scarcity.

Urgency and Scarcity Driven Subject Lines

Other triggers include social proof, anticipation, likability, scarcity and urgency. Depending on your marketing goals, it makes sense to use different triggers in different situations. For example, urgency and scarcity driven subject lines work great when there’s a deadline.

Here are some examples:

• DEADLINE
• CLOSING TONIGHT
• FINAL NOTICE
• EXPIRING SOON (24 hours left…)
• We’re missing you…

Use these towards the end of a sale or when an offer is about to expire.

Fear and Danger Driven Subject Lines

Fear is probably the most powerful human emotion.

If used ethically, meaning to improve peoples life, it can be a great addition to your marketing. Especially the fear of missing out (FOMO) is a powerful trigger in sales and marketing.

Here are some examples of fear and danger driven subject lines:

• WARNING
• BAD NEWS

Don’t go over the top with these.

Anticipation, Likability and Social Proof

Anticipation, likability and social proof are magical ingredients for a successful product launch.

These triggers work well if you’re trying to build rapport, spread brand awareness or pre-sell a product or service. These subject lines are less “evil” than some of the others I’ve discussed so far. They exploit more positive human traits such as the need for community and social bonds.

Here are some examples of these subject lines:

• THANK YOU
• SORRY
• I messed up 🙁
• you are not alone
• we’re OPEN yayyy!
• You’re in (Early bird!)
• I need your help

There you go.

Let’s conclude how to write effective email subject lines.

As I mentioned earlier on, it’s all about using the right subject lines for the right occasions. And most importantly, be considerate and don’t overuse your new “super powers”.

These email subject lines work great, but they aren’t a substitute for real marketing.

Remember:

You have to create an “open-worthy” brand.

If you combine heart-felt brand building, remarkable products and interesting content with subject lines that exploit hard-wired emotional triggers, your email marketing will thrive. If you rely on gimmicks and trickery only, your business is built on quicksand. Don’t end up as just another spammer in people’s eyes. Create an environment where people look forward to opening and reading your emails or risk being out of business in a few years.