How do you write email subject lines that get opened and clicked?

1 Tip 1: Know your audience

Before you write any email subject line, you need to understand who you're writing to and what they care about. What are their pain points, goals, interests, and preferences? How can you address them in a way that resonates with them and motivates them to take action? Use language and tone that match your audience's expectations and needs, and avoid jargon or slang that might confuse or alienate them.

2 Tip 2: Be specific and concise

Your email subject line should communicate the main benefit or value proposition of your email in as few words as possible. Avoid vague or generic statements that don't tell your recipients what's inside or why they should open it. Instead, use specific and concrete terms that describe what they'll learn, get, or achieve by reading your email. For example, instead of "How to improve your sales skills", try "3 sales techniques to close more deals in 2021".

4 Tip 4: Personalize and segment

Personalization and segmentation are key to making your email subject lines more relevant and appealing to your recipients. Personalization means using your recipients' names, locations, interests, or other data to tailor your subject lines to them. Segmentation means dividing your email list into smaller groups based on their characteristics or behavior, and sending them different subject lines based on their needs or interests. For example, instead of "New product launch", try "Hey John, check out our new product for dog lovers".

5 Tip 5: Test and optimize

The best way to find out what works and what doesn't for your email subject lines is to test and optimize them. You can use tools like A/B testing, analytics, or surveys to measure the performance of your subject lines and compare them against different variables, such as length, tone, format, or keywords. Based on the results, you can tweak and improve your subject lines to increase your open and click-through rates.

6 Tip 6: Avoid spam triggers

The last thing you want is for your email subject lines to end up in the spam folder or be ignored by your recipients. To avoid this, you need to avoid spam triggers, which are words or phrases that might signal to email filters or users that your email is unwanted or untrustworthy. Some examples of spam triggers are: free, guarantee, urgent, click here, buy now, etc. Instead, use words that convey value, credibility, and relevance to your recipients.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?