You are sitting at your desk with fingers hovering over the keys. You know what you want to say, but you aren’t sure how to say it. You have an excellent email ready to go and jam-packed with information that will be so valuable to the recipient. But, you need to grab their attention with a subject line that gets them to open the email and read it. Gulp.
My friend, let me help you!
Email subject lines are arguably the most critical aspect of email marketing. If you don’t get them right, your emails could be flagged as spam or sent directly to the digital trash bin without a second thought. So what’s the secret to successful email subject lines?
1. Don’t Use CAPS.
It can be tempting to use CAPS to highlight a particular benefit. Don’t! Using CAPS in email subject lines and your email body copy can trigger spam filters.
2. Edit, Edit, Then Edit Again.
Okay, this one isn’t just for email subject lines, and it seems incredibly obvious, but it is still worth mentioning. You want to make sure you do NOT have any spelling or grammar mistakes in your marketing emails. Bad writing is another significant spam filter trigger.
We’ve all felt that sinking feeling after hitting the send button and realizing that our email had a glaring error.
I highly recommend using a program like Grammarly. Not only is this program a lot more robust than most built-in spellcheck software, but it also has plug-ins for Chrome, Microsoft Suite, and more, so you can use it for all of your digital writing. 100% worth it, especially if you want your writing to generate sales!
3. Lead With A Benefit
Again, this might seem obvious, but I want to stress the importance.
Which of these two subject lines do you think would generate the best open-rate?
– Free Training in Microsoft Excel OR
– Save Time and Money With Free Excel Training!
The first example might get a few opens, mainly because it has the word free (which is the best benefit you can offer!). However, the second one takes it further to explain the benefits of free Microsoft Excel training.
4. Peak Curiosity
Everyone loves a good mystery, am I right? Try using an edgy subject line that piques interest and makes the recipient want to learn more. As an example:
– How to use Instagram to triple your profits OR
– How to cash in on cybersecurity
The key to using a curious subject line is to make sure you follow it up with good content that is useful and informative. You can blend curiosity with a benefit as well, as an example:
– Surprise/secret Discount for one night only!
These options are great here and there, but be careful not to overuse them. If you always have surprise sales, well, it’s not much of a surprise the 10th time around.
5. Keep It Short
When you look at your inbox, how many words do you see in the subject line in the email preview window? Usually, only the first 4-5 words appear. This is important to keep in mind, especially with more and more people checking emails from their phones. Keep your subject lines short and to the point, and try to make sure your most important words are at the beginning. Creating marketing emails can feel like a daunting task; it’s impossible to know what will work for your business until you’ve tried. The great thing about it is that you can play around a bit! Test out a few different versions until you find one that works best. A lot of email marketing programs offer the ability to do A/B testing, and it’s a great option to take advantage of. The important thing is to remember to have fun with it!
If writing isn’t fun for you, then it’s probably time you found a creative copywriter to help you out. Lucky for you, I happen to know a pretty excellent one 
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Clare is the CEO and founder of Clash Copy Corp. She lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, with her husband, three beautiful children, and a cat. Clare is passionate about bringing valuable marketing strategies with a trackable ROI to IT MSP’s and professional services organizations. When she isn’t strategizing or negotiating new partnerships to offer modern marketing services, she can be found outside in her garden, throwing water balloons at her kids, playing tag, or sipping wine in the sun.