Tips for Writing A Compelling Subject Line

When you open up your inbox in the morning and there’s a slew of fresh, new, bold subject lines, there are some decisions to make: Which do you open first? Which can you trash right out of the gate?

Whatever emails are in there, they only have a small window to catch our attention or else they are gettin’ the boot! So what is it that “clicks” in our mind to open the emails that we do? That’s something that marketers have been theorizing for years, and they believe that it can come down to the subject line.

In fact, 47% of marketers say they test different email subject lines to optimize their emails’ performance.

olivia allen via Hubspot

Writing a good subject line helps your email stand out amongst the others. It’s the golden ticket to engagement. Nowadays, our inboxes are filled with so much clutter (promotions, hot deals, articles, etc.) and a compelling subject line could help capture attention. With all that said, here are a couple of subjects that could help YOU create a good subject line.

Familiarity

People will always tend to open up emails that look familiar. If a receiver sees an email from an address they have never seen or heard of, chances are, they will consider it spam and dump it. Make sure that whatever email address you are sending from, has a recognizable domain (i.e. josh@memo.com). This will help remind the receiver that you have content that they have already expressed interest in. Also, be personal! Include their name or congratulate them on their dog’s birthday.

Urgency

An urgent call to action (CTA) will always get someone off their seat and ready to engage with an email. For example, “This deal is ending soon. Act now!” voices urgency. It is saying that there is something that we would probably want, and if we don’t get it right now, it’s gone (and of course, add some creative twist on the CTA). Although, don’t go shooting off urgent emails every day or else people won’t believe things are urgent. Use this method occasionally, not all of the time.

Warby Parker, for example, gets its timing right by sending out prescription renewal emails two weeks before the actual expiration date. The tone in these email marketing subject lines is also conversational with the usage of “Uh-oh.”

shane barker via shanebarker.com

Emoji’s 😎

We all know them, we all love them. What better way to express an emotion, which is typically a hard thing to do when not face-to-face, than with a couple of these bad boys 🔥🐶💃🥑. Emoji’s can help get your point across, catch the receiver’s eye in a flooded inbox, and also appeal to a youthful audience. Show your fans just how fun you are with an attention-grabbing emoji that still gets your point across.

Regardless of what subject line(s) you test, it’s is important to be respectful of your user’s inbox and not barrage it. Here is an example from Charlie Kubal of his inbox activity from Brooklinen. With Memo, you could decide if, when and how you’d want or not want to receive communications from Brooklinen; giving sanity back to your inbox.

If any of the information in this article is inaccurate or you have a copyright complaint, please email privacy@joylabs.com.

Featured photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash