How to write email subject lines that get opened
This is the blog you need to read!
Now that is a HOOK. You need hook’s in your email subject lines.
Your headline is there to encourage people to open the email and get the value. While some of us give SO much energy to our email newsletter, the subject line is actually the most important part!
If you have lower-than-average open rates, it is time to make a change! THIS is what we want to explore with you.
After testing and trialling, I have come up with the 15 things you can do to increase your email open rates! So here’s what you need to know.
What are the email marketing statistic averages?
Every industry has a standard of average statistics that tell us how well your business is doing compared to others.
Understanding the industry standard is super important so you can compare your stats and see where your email marketing stands.
If you don’t know the industry standards, here are the important ones you need to know.
Average Open Rate - 21.33%
Average Click Rate - 2.62%
Unsubscribe rate - 0.26%
These are really great to come back to when you are doing your quarterly reviews!
So, if you want to check your industry standards, click here.
The 15 things you can try to boost your email open rates
1. Plan out your newsletter structure (inform, educate, engage and fun)
Staying organised is key to keeping on top of your emails and not becoming overwhelmed.
Each month break your emails into different forms. At Content Queen we do one week as a tip, then a story, then we highlight a piece of content and end with a promotional newsletter. Planning ahead allows you to test, trial and measure and see what your audience loves. You can also be organised and have more of a strategy around your emails rather than just randomly throwing newsletters out there
This can then trickle down to helping you with your subject lines. Whether it be personal with “I” in the line or more promotional with maybe more relatable phrases, you can plan ahead with a structure in place.
2. Know the pain points of your audience
Do your research and find out what your audience is looking for and what they need help with. Talk to these in your subject lines and emails and use keywords to draw them in
3. Set clear expectations
Time is precious, so you need to make sure that you’re front-loading your subject lines with the benefits. Make it clear what the recipient gets from opening your email. Remember that being clear with your audience from the beginning strengthens the relationship between you and your customers and prospects. If your subject lines always deliver on their promises when the recipient opens the email, they’ll know to trust you.
To continue with this, sometimes we can write a byline which allows you to add a bit more of a description than just a subject line. Here we can add how long it may take to read your email e.g “3-minute read”. This sets expectations that the readers can see so they can decide if they want to read it now or maybe if they have time later they can. Creating transparency within your content is golden!
4. Don’t mislead (build trust)
What you say your email is about in the subject line, is what needs to be in your email. While we want to hook people in, we can’t just mislead or clickbait, the information needs to be legitimate.
5. Keep it short and snappy
Dotdigital has some awesome information on this, so make sure to check them out here. But to summarise, Nearly 50% of all emails are now opened on mobile devices. We need to think about this when writing subject lines because smaller screens mean that we have way less space to work with in terms of what the reader initially sees. This makes it even more important to make sure with the small number of words we do get, that we make the most of them and allow them to really stand out. Best practice suggests subject lines that are 17-24 characters long are most likely to boost your email open rates.
6. Make it personal
While you are writing for a wider audience, if you try and connect with your audience members individually, it will pay off. So use language that speaks to the individual and their business because remember, when someone opens your email they are most likely reading it alone so you can play off that.
7. Emojis
Dotdigital and Campaign Monitor expand on the use of emojis as well so read more about it by clicking the links.
Brands that are using emojis have seen a 56% increase in their unique open rates, how crazy?! This isn’t a report from experience. We’re really seeing an increase in emojis, and you can use them as a brand appropriately, and they do add a nice little bit of flare and attention-getting in the inbox.
8. Personality (how you would talk tone)
We aren't robots! Put some personality and sparkle into your subject lines and emails. Pull inspiration from your brand’s tone and voice in collaboration with the content of the email. You’re allowed to have fun with it and be a bit creative.
9. Monitor what email you open and why
With everything we do in business, we need to test, trial and measure. This can also be said with our own habits as not just business owners but as audience members ourselves. So when you receive emails from other businesses you’ve subscribed to, take note of why you open emails and what you like to see, then take this information and think about applying it to your own emails and subject lines.
10. Ask questions in your subject lines
Grab interest and curiosity by asking questions in your subject lines. Whether you’re B2B or B2C, questions really speak directly to the individual and spark the want to click and open your newsletter.
11. Use numbers in your subject lines
Phrases such as “The 4 things you need to know about XYZ” or “The 10 tips to help you do …” perform really well as subject lines. Don’t be afraid to reach for numbers in your headings and subject lines but don’t mislead!
12. Mix it up
Take the ideas above and mix them up! Try different approaches and combinations, there are endless opportunities to try different subject lines. Make sure to test, trial and measure and see what works and what doesn't and go from there.
13. Use personalisation sparingly (first name in the subject line)
To get extra personal you can always program your subject lines to say the audience members' first names. However, use this feature sparingly and not with every email.
14. Check if you land in spam!
Check if your subject line sets off spam because landing in spam mail majorly decreases your open rate. Some email platforms have this built-in, if not check out Sendcheckit which is an awesome website to help you find this information.
15. TEST
We cannot stress this enough but TEST EVERYTHING. No matter what new subject lines, newsletter structures, organisational strategies or anything else you try, you need to measure the results and look at the analytics. This will tell you what is working and what isn't and you can adjust from here.
BONUS TIP - Do market research and clear your email list of unsubscribed people. We don’t want to continue sending emails to dead ends, so look into your email list and clear up those who have unsubscribed.
To do the market research, send surveys to your email list every quarter with constructive questions that can tell you what they like seeing. You can then adjust.
Here are the things that worked for Content Queen
My experience with email marketing was really good at first, however, it then decreased so it was obvious that I needed to make this a focus.
After doing the research and looking into the analytics, I’ve learnt the following things:
Experiment with the themes
Ask questions when you need to know what the audience wants to see AND when writing your subject lines to spark interest
Use I in your newsletters and subject lines.
Don’t be afraid to make statements
Use things like emojis, bylines and don’t sound ‘spammy’
Build trust for your audience to keep opening
Lastly, keep looking at the analytics!
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Final thoughts
Whether you are writing a subject line, constructing a newsletter or organising your email marketing, it’s so important to get creative and measure the results.
No matter what you do in business, we always need to be looking at the statistics, testing, trialling and measuring what we do and making sure it is working for our audience while being authentic as a brand.
Sometimes, the whole measuring thing can be a bit tricky to wrap your head around, so that is why you need to join the Content Measurement Queen workshop!
This workshop is designed to help you track the numbers, paint the picture and plan your content marketing strategy from what is WORKING (or not working) for you on Instagram, your blog, podcast - on your content channels. If you want to get on top of your measurement, click the big button below to join!
We can’t wait to see you there!