Let’s face it. There is so much content out there to pay attention to. We all get so many emails day after day. What is the best way to rise above the noise? One way you can grab your audience’s attention is to send out captivating emails. But first you have to get people to open them, which is where it comes in handy to have excellent subject lines. The subject line is the first thing anyone sees. You want to give enough information that it makes them want to read more. Here are some tips that will help you to write better subject lines.

1. Use Groups and Segments

You can send more targeted emails using groups and segments. You can segment out parts of your audience so that you’re only contacting certain people about certain topics or events. You can use data points that you have collected on your customers like their geographic location or area of employment. So you could have a group of people all located in Georgia, for example, and another group located in North Carolina.

This is going to come in handy when you want to send more targeted emails. For example, not everyone on your list is going to be interested in events in North Carolina. However, if you have a segment of people who live in that area, you can send an email to a section of your list, and it will be much more effective.

2. Keep It Short and Simple

Your subject line should be readable in one glance. If you have an overly long subject line, that will most likely get your email deleted. The sweet spot (according to Mailchimp) for a subject line is 28 – 39 characters. That is the length that had the highest open rates in a study of 200 million emails. According to HubSpot, you should aim for a subject line of 50 characters.

Emails with short subject lines seem to see better open rates than emails with complex, lengthy subject lines. You also don’t want to give away all of the information in your subject line. Rather, you want to give them enough information so that they are intrigued, but you want to make them click on the email to find out everything.

3. Create a Sense of Urgency

As a sales tactic, urgency works well. Phrases like “24 hours left” or “one-day sale” encourages readers to act now. Using urgent language will make your readers think they have to open the email and read it now or they might miss out on something.

In today’s world where all music, movies, TV shows, information, etc. is available at any point in time, creating a sense of scarcity is a great way to get people to pay attention to whatever you are saying. The fear of missing out is a huge motivator for many.

4. Personalize

When you see an email in your inbox that uses your first name in the subject line, you are much more likely to open it, aren’t you? It may seem annoying to ask people for their names when they sign up for your mailing list, but asking someone to spend a few extra seconds will definitely be worth it for the additional information you can gather. Having a person’s first and last name will allow you to personalize emails.

According to Campaign Monitor, emails that are personalized with the first name in the subject line receive 26% more opens than emails that aren’t personalized. Personalizing emails is a great way to break through the noise and connect with prospects and leads.

5. Offer Value

You don’t just want to send emails where you ask for things all the time. “Buy my book!” “Follow me on Twitter!” “Shop on my Shopify store!” People are much more likely to open your email if it’s offering something of value to the people on your list. Then if most of your emails offer value, people are more likely to pay attention when you ask them for something.

How can you add value? You can offer them helpful content like case studies or blog posts. You can provide success stories or customer testimonials. You can offer them free downloadables like ebooks or PDF guides. The possibilities are endless.

These are just some of the ways you can make your email subject lines more enticing to the people on your mailing list. You’ll find that if you try one or more of these tactics, your open rates will increase and you will have a more engaged mailing list.

If you’re interested in writing great e-mails, give us a call about our email marketing services.

WT Digital Agency is an Atlanta marketing agency specializing in brand development, content marketing, social media marketing, website design, SEO, and more. To learn more about what we do, click here.