Increase Opens with Killer Subject Lines

One of the most important elements of a successful newsletter is the subject. 1 out 3 Americans open emails solely based on the subject line (Jupiter Research, 2007) and nearly 70% of Americans choose to click the “This is Spam” button based on what they see in the subject line. The challenge is then to grab the attention of your subscribers: a compelling subject line can improve dramatically your emails’ open ratios. Below are some tips:
– Short is better. Keep subject lines between 20 and 50 characters.
– Avoid spam keywords. Words such as free, stock, money, password etc may trigger spam detection software. Even misspelled words, symbols and punctuation such as ! , € and $ can play a role in your email being filtered. So it not necessary, keep them out of your subject lines.
– Forget all CAPITAL LETTERS. It increases the chances of getting blocked as spam by the filters.
– Write different subject lines. If you have a list of 100.000 addresses. take out three groups of 1.000 emails and send each a separate test subject line. 24/48 hours later look at your reports and choose the winning subject lines according to open and conversion rates.
– Brand your email. Include the name of your site or your newsletter. It will create a stronger name recognition. It’s a good habit to set the “From” attribute of your email to include your name and your companies name.

– Be clear and honest. Your subject line should clearly tell what’s inside your email. And of course, be sure you keep the promise of your headline inside the message.
– Avoid irrelevant data. Do not use the issue or version numbers in the subject lines. Space is precious!
– Make it personal. Personalized subject lines may lead to higher opens such as including the contacts first name. But remember. your subscribers may not respond the same way if you personalize on every single message.
– Create sense of urgency. Set a deadline by incorporating a time element or with a time-limited special offer such as: “24 Hours Left …” or “Today Only….”.

In conclusion.
There is no guaranteed formula to a successful newsletter. What works in one email marketing campaign might fails with the next.
That’s why the most important hint is to keep testing. Track the results for each sending and finally choose the best headlines according to your business and your audience.