Email Newsletter Subject Lines

In the world of email marketing subject lines are just as important as what is inside your email. It doesn’t matter if you have a product that everyone wants, if nobody is interested enough to weed your email out of their already packed inbox than your email is not going to be seen. So how do you fix this you ask? Well, there is no formula to a perfect subject line, or any sure fire word or phrase that will cause everyone who sees your email to open it, but there are a few tricks that will help your open rates increase.

Do keep your subject line simple. You don’t need to tell the reader every detail of what’s inside your email before he/she opens it, rather think of it more of a review of what’s inside. On the other hand you don’t want to be too basic, because you’re your email tends to get lost in the mix. Try to be just specific enough so that the reader will know what to expect when he/she opens the email.

Do start your subject line off with your company’s name. The reason why someone is on your mailing list should be because he/she signed up to be, therefore the reader will relate with you right away and probably will want to see what you have to say. It's amazing what a little personalization will do for you.

Do test different subject lines. Try splitting your email list in half and sending the same email with two different subject lines to see how your respondents react. Also try sending one subject line to all women and another to all men, appealing to two different things in your email to fit the audience better. This will allow you to perfect your subject lines for your audience.

Don’t try to sell in the subject line. These days people are so flooded with SPAM emails that start with “Closeout…”, or “Sale…” that those words tend to immediately be labeled as junk, either by the reader or by the whatever email program they’ve chosen. It is not bad to include those words in your emails, but it is better to put it towards the end of your subject .

Don’t use symbols such as multiple exclamation points, dollar signs, or all caps. This is generally labeled as SPAM by readers and many email programs and will be sent to a junk email or SPAM folder rather than the inbox.

Don’t feel like you need to create a subject line before making your campaign. A lot of times it’s easier to come up with a subject line for your email after you’ve created your campaign. This way you get a better feel of what message you want to convey about your email through the subject line.

Follow these tips to more success in getting your email marketing campaigns opened. Remember to keep on testing those subject lines until you find the combination that works for your specific audience group.