The Best Email Marketing Subject Lines Ever

What are the best email marketing subject lines?

The subject line you use in an email is more important than you probably realise. 47% of email users will open an email based on the subject line alone. In addition, some 68% of email users will unsubscribe from an email marketing list based on your subject line.

These statistics aren’t surprising when the average person receives 100 emails per day. To stand a fair chance, research has shown that your email subject lines should be brief, descriptive and contain the following:

• Personalisation
• A reason for the reader to open the email.
• Urgency.

This sounds like a lot for a single line. But it is achievable. There are some great examples of email marketing subject lines, and they can often be grouped into several different categories.

Below we have given you some examples, so you can try to identify what subject lines most align with your offer and message. Then you can tailor these to be specific to your audience and brand.

Fear Of Missing Out

Nobody wants to miss an offer, and brands take advantage of this psychological need of consumers. Subject lines that want to use this either contain scarcity and/or urgency. Time-sensitive emails especially have proven to increase open rates.

Some good examples are:

• “Uh-oh, your prescription is expiring.”
• “You’re missing out on points.”
• “[URGENT] You’ve got ONE DAY to watch this…”
• “Your 7-figure plan goes bye-bye at midnight…”
• “[WEEKEND ONLY] Get this NOW before it’s gone…”
• “Mary, Earn double points today only.”
• “Tonight only: A denim lover’s dream.”

Two things to note; writing in capital letters is sometimes viewed as spam, and personalisation, such as including offers relevant to subscriber activity, can increase open rates.

Curiosity

People love to make discoveries, and email subject lines that attempt to hide some information can receive higher open rates. There are several ways you can do this, which include leaving your subject line open-ended or asking your audience a question.

Some good examples include:

• “*Don’t Open This Email*”
• “Last Day To See What This Mystery Email Is All About”
• “Is this the hottest career in marketing?”
• “9 Disgusting Facts about Thanksgiving”
• “A faster donkey.”
• “? a surprise gift for you! {unwrap}”

Humour

Including humour in your emails can be really successful because people love to laugh, which is why comedy programmes, like Friends and The Big Bang Theory, become huge hits and multimillion-dollar programs which keep viewers coming back again and again.

The two programs mentioned use their own version of the subject line (Episode Title) to make a humorous remark to entice audiences to take interest in the episode.

Likewise, you can create subject lines that make your audience laugh and want to open your email.

• “Deals That Make Us Proud (Unlike Our Nephew, Steve)”
• “Pairs nicely with spreadsheets”
• “Need a day at the beach? Just scratch n’ sniff your way to paradise…”
• “Try To Avoid These 27 People On New Year’s Eve”
• “Yes, I’m Pregnant. You Can Stop Staring At My Belly Now.”
• “NEW! Vacation on Mars”

Pain Point

If you really understand your buyers, which you should do, then you’ll know their pain and what they need to resolve their issues. Some good examples are:

• “Feed your guests without breaking the bank.”
• “Where do all these toys go?”
• “Get more kitchen space with these easy fixes.”
• “Stop wasting money on ink.”
• “Your beauty issues, solved”
• “Since we can’t all win the lottery…”
• “Stop wasting time on mindless work.”
• “Learn a language with only 5 minutes per day.”

Personalised

People want to feel special and that an email sent to them is literally only for them. They also want to have content that is relevant to their needs and behaviour. There’s no point sending a discount for kids’ clothes to someone who has no children!

Research has also shown that personalisation can boost email open rates by 29.3%.

Some good examples of personalisation emails are:

• “Mary, check out these hand-picked looks.”
• “Happy Birthday Mary – Surprise Inside!”
• “Mary, do you remember me?”
• “I didn’t see your name in the comments!?”
• “Are you coming?”
• “You’ve Changed”
• “So I’ll pick you up at 7?”
• “Crazy Invitation, I am Going to Buy You Lunch…”
• “Vanilla or Chocolate?”
• “Seriously, Who DOES This?”
• “you free this Thurs at 12 PM PST? [guest blogging class]”
• “Thanks for helping us.”

What subject lines will you use for your business? Have you tried any others that have worked well?

Let us know in the comments below.

Tagged in: best practices, email marketing strategy, Subject Lines