Get Your Emails Opened with These 7 Expert Subject Line Tricks

A common thing people ask when getting started with email marketing is, “How can I improve my subject lines to get my emails opened?”

It’s a great question and one that every marketer should be thinking about before they hit send.

In this week’s #EmailChat, we asked you to spill your favorite tips and tricks for writing subject lines that get more opens. Missed out on the chat? Read on to see how modern marketers are optimizing their emails for success:

Here’s why you should optimize your subject line

The funny thing is, subject lines aren’t rocket science—your subject line should describe the content inside of your email. Plain and simple, right? It only takes subscribers a few seconds to scan their inbox and decide if your email is worth reading. The best subject lines give your readers a glimpse of what they can look forward to when they open your emails. That isn’t to say that you shouldn’t get creative with your messaging. Have fun and test emojis, punctuation and capitalization!

In short, your subject line should be influenced by your email content and the segment of subscribers you’re sending to. This will lead to higher open rates and email engagement.

This is the ideal character limit and word count

While there is no right or wrong answer for the length of your subject line, a good rule of thumb is to keep it short and sweet. This helps to keep your messaging concise and avoid getting cut off on mobile devices or small screens. According to ReturnPath, sticking to 65 characters or less seems to be the sweet spot for character count. (Emojis included!)

Try this preview text trick on your next send

While technically not part of your subject line, your preview text (or subheader) is that little line of text that gets pulled in from your message. Many marketers often forget about it, but it can be optimized to work well with your subject line and add more context to your messages. Keep it relevant or use it to tell a fun story.

Test your subject lines using these tips

From copy tweaks to adding emojis or special characters, we recommend testing a few different approaches in your subject lines to get a feel for what your audience wants to see. The more you test, the better you’ll be able to find the right approach.

We love these formulas for writing effective subject lines

Keep it short, sweet and concise. Be mysterious. There’s no formula for writing the perfect subject line—it all depends on what your subscribers respond to. One trend that keeps popping up is relevancy. People hate click bait, so keep your subject line in line with the content of your email.

Avoid these mistakes at all costs

Subject line mistakes can be as as minor as a typo or as severe as including a wrong word and getting sent to the Spam folder.

Another subject line don’t? Making every subject line the same. Not only is it boring, but nobody wants to read your “weekly newsletter.” Share something interesting or the title of the article to mix it up!

Read More: The 5 Email Subject Line Mistakes You Should Avoid At All Costs

Follow these best practices to ensure email marketing success

Write for your audience. Test, test, test… and more best practices below.

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