How do you write a catchy subject line for a holiday promotion?

Personalisation is no longer a trend, but a prerequisite for the success of your email programme. Your customers are being bombarded with content across different channels that is competing for their attention. In order to make your email stand out in their busy inbox you have to understand your audience in depth, know what it makes them tick and craft messages that will be relevant to each of your segments/personas. That, combined with a USP for your product or service is your ticket to unlocking growth.

Personalization is the key to unlocking the full potential of your email marketing campaigns. Just like the lifeguard at the community pool who keeps everyone safe, knowing your audience is like having a dedicated team of lifeguards who ensure each swimmer's experience is tailored to their needs.

Part of knowing your audience is having cultural sensitivity and inclusivity, especially during the holiday season. Tailoring your message to embrace diverse holiday traditions can broaden your appeal and resonate with a wider audience.

Why emotional triggers work: Though we like to think we approach decision making through logic, most of our decisions are driven by emotions. Brands that can tug at our emotional heartstrings are often the ones that win. That’s why it’s important to know your audience: If we can understand what motivates their buying behaviours, we can leverage it to (among other things) write highly appealing subject lines.

Using emotional triggers in subject lines can be an effective strategy to catch your subscribers' attention and increase the open rates of your emails. Emotional triggers tap into the psychological aspects of your audience, appealing to their emotions and motivating them to take action. However, striking a balance and using emotional triggers judiciously is essential. Overusing or misusing emotional triggers can lead to a perception of clickbait or manipulative tactics, harming your brand reputation and leading to unsubscribes. It's crucial to ensure that the content of your email aligns with the emotional trigger used in the subject line, providing a genuine and relevant experience for your subscribers.

For example, if you have a subject line that uses the word "free," don't just remove it because experts say it's spammy or shouldn't be used. Test and learn. Let data drive your decision to change the words in your subject line. Sometimes you may find words that experts say don't use are actually the best words to use. Let math be your guide.

Keeping subject lines short can be a struggle. At minimum, front-load the most important keywords so they aren’t cut off by email clients/mobile devices. And, if it’s brand-appropriate, use emojis to get the message across using less real estate.

Using popular holiday phrases (think holiday movies, popular trends, etc.) or puns for a festive touch, while still maintaining clarity and relevance. This can make your subject lines more memorable and aligned with the holiday spirit. A subject line I used with a client was "You'll shoot your eye out, [FIRST NAME]" which had the highest open rate of any other campaign email during the week between Christmas and New Years.

Testing should be done throughout the year. Going into any sales campaign, you should've already run tests and know what gets your audience to open and click. However, timing matters and different segments might react differently to the same subject line, and segment-specific testing can provide more targeted insights, leading to more effective personalization.

Use storytelling in the preheader. A compelling mini-narrative or teaser in the preheader can create intrigue and encourage subscribers to open the email to discover the full story. If running a campaign of multiple emails, consider gamifying it by linking all the preheaders together for a special bonus or unlock.

Use festive language: Use language that is associated with the holiday season. Use words like "holiday," "festive," "merry," or "joyful" to evoke feelings of celebration. Use numbers or emojis: Numbers or emojis can help your subject line stand out in a crowded inbox. Use numbers to highlight the discount or percentage off, and use emojis to add a festive touch.

The #1 rule for writing effective subject lines is that it must accurately reflect the email content. If we consistently find ourselves struggling to write appealing subject lines, then we’ll want to take a look at how we can make our content more appealing. Remember that the goal isn’t opens, it’s quality opens; we want the people opening our emails to be interested in our content so that they’ll engage (high opens and low/no engagement is spammy). This doesn’t mean we can’t be creative, but don’t overpromise in subject lines only to underwhelm with content - if consumers feel like they were misguided by our subject line, they’re less likely to open the next email they receive from us (no matter how catchy its subject line is).