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Email Subject Lines:
Are You Wasting Your Time
Being Clever?

If you do any email marketing, you face the subject line challenge. You might be asking  yourself:

-- What should I say?
-- Are there tricks can I use to increase open rates?
-- How can I avoid SPAM filters?

Here are some ideas to help you answer these questions.

Start by understanding that the subject line of an email is NOT what your recipient looks at first.  Not when it comes to getting the email opened…  It turns out recognition is the most important factor in getting your email opened.

A survey completed last year by DoubleClick showed: “The “from” line continues to be the most compelling reason to open permission based email, cited by 64% of all respondents.”

Email recipients look to see who you are first.  It’s like the return address on an envelope.  The question they’re asking is: “Do I know this sender?”

WHAT SHOULD YOU SAY IN THE SUBJECT LINE?

So what should you put in the subject line? 

DoubleClick’s survey says, “Of all types of subject lines, discount offers and compelling news” do best.

A lot of marketers try to use the subject line as if it were the teaser copy on an envelope.  That doesn’t seem to work.  Especially if you’re trying to create a clever message in the recommended 35 characters or less.

This is thirty-five characters here -- Tough to be real clever in that little bit of space.

You’re better off just being upfront.  Tell the recipient what you’ve got to offer – as simply and briefly as possible. 

For example, “25% Off All Sweaters.”  Or, “How To Write Email Subject Lines”
Note: you’ll need to test to avoid getting blocked by spam filters if you put in a percentage.  But the best defense for that is being a known “From.”

DO ANY OF THE TRICKS WORK?

The most effective subject “trick” seems to be personalization – putting the recipient’s name in the subject line.   It’s another way to establish that you have a relationship with the recipient.  Supposedly the recipients thinks they must know you because you know them.  It probably doesn’t really work that way but personalization does seem to work to a minor degree.

Is personalization overused?  Sales psychologists say you can never use a person’s name too often.  So, probably not.  Although a lot of marketers employ this technique, it’s still seems worthwhile.

What about the tricky “Re:” to fool the person into thinking you’re replying to one of their mails? Anecdotal evidence seems to be saying that this gets ignored more often than not.

AVOIDING FILTERS

There’s a lot of hearsay about what does and doesn’t get filtered out.  Some sources insist your mail gets blocked if you put currency symbols like the dollar sign,  or punctuation like exclamation points in your subject.  It really all depends on who’s doing the filtering.

The two best ways to not get filtered out are to be a recognized brand, or barring that, have your recipient whitelist you.  The best time to ask to be whitelisted is when your subscriber opts in.  Don’t stop there though.  The subscriber may not completely trust you at this point so it’s best to ask again periodically.  That will also help if the subscriber changes their service provider.  Nowadays many email addresses go with the subscriber because of new email services.

CONCLUSION

When you’re trying to get your email opened, the subject line is not as important as your relationship is.  You’re better off spending your time finding ways to build the relationship.  Offer your recipients what they really want from you.  Whether it’s valuable information or good pricing or the latest gear. 

Meet their needs and  they’ll always be happy to hear from you – no matter what the subject…

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