It was a Hail Mary attempt at getting a group of inactive email subscribers reengaged. It went against everything the senders knew about email marketing best practices. So you can imagine their shock when it outperformed the reigning subject line by a long shot. What makes the average person, whose inbox gets stuffed with , choose to open one email and ignore another? We dove into some reports, case studies, and inboxes to find out — to help you figure out how to get your subscribers to open yours during your next email campaign. In short, a good email subject line convinces readers to open your email. How many people click through their emails? In most industries, around 1 in 5 20% people who get a business email will open it, with some companies seeing open rates as low as 14%. So how do you convince the other 4 out of 5 to read your email? With a compelling email subject line. While we found a variety of advice on getting your marketing messages read, there were several that appeared over and over again on industry blogs. What follows is some advice from the headline maestros, combined with tips from some of the most knowledgeable authorities in email marketing, to convince the other 80% of your subscribers to click through. Email subject lines that work 1. Remember that, on the whole, people strive to be better. We want to learn how to make more money, improve our memory, and find success with the opposite sex. Look at the email below. Our brains are wired to look for the highest return for the lowest investment. We want to take diet pills, and use that tone our midsections instead. We want a fortune, and we want it now. So instead we do things like in the hopes of winning big. Scarcity Scarcity in marketing capitalizes on our fear of missing out on something — a fun event, a valuable resource, and in most cases, a good deal. Comparison Who knew psych 101 would be so useful in helping you craft compelling email subject lines? This time, we refer to a lesson on social comparison theory. As a result, we are constantly making self and other evaluations across a variety of domains for example, attractiveness, wealth, intelligence, and success. Most of us have the social skills and impulse control to keep our envy and social comparisons quiet, but our true feelings may come out in subtle ways. Curiosity is the reason for the viral success of news publisher Upworthy. Copyhacker Joanna Wiebe used it to generate on a pricing page. When used responsibly and sparingly, it can produce similarly powerful results for email. Question Questions engage readers. Authority Authority is a powerful driver of conversions on landing pages, and it can be used elsewhere, too — including email subject lines. The first might conjure images of working at the hardware store down the street, or the furniture retail outlet in the suburbs. Did you just finish compiling a year-long report on the state of the industry? Did you finish some templates that your email subscribers can use to better their marketing? A straightforward one, like the those listed below, will do just fine. Exclusivity Are your subscribers part of an exclusive club? People like feeling special, even in their inboxes. Case study People like case studies for two reasons: They provide proof that a technique or strategy works They often offer a step-by-step, replicable process that readers can use to achieve the same results So, when you create a case study that combines scientific proof with self-interest like the ones below, make it known in your email subject line: 12. Share news News subject lines take advantage of our inherent desire to be in the know.
