The Importance of Your E-mail Subject Line

August 13th, 2008 Posted in The Email Advantage

The first thing most people do when they open their e-mail program is start hitting the delete key. They have an abundance of mail in their inbox and they want to get rid of the clutter, so they delete anything that looks like spam or an ad.

How do they determine what is junk? The subject line is usually the deciding factor. It is essential that your e-mail subject line not look like ad copy.

Subject lines should be brief, with the keywords appearing first. The longer the subject line is, the more likely it will not be viewed in its entirety because different people set the viewable subject line space at various widths.

The subject line of your e-mail message is equivalent to a headline in a newspaper in terms of attracting reader attention. When you read a newspaper, you don’t really read it; generally you skim the headlines and read the articles whose headlines grabbed your attention. The same is true with e-mail. Many recipients, especially those who receive a significant number of e-mails daily, skim the subject lines and read only the articles whose subject line grabs their attention. The subject line is the most important part of your e-mail message because this phrase alone determines whether or not the reader will decide to open your e-mail or delete it - never send an e-mail message without a subject line.

Effective subject lines:

  • Are brief, yet capture the reader’s interest
  • Don’t look like ad copy
  • Build business credibility
  • Attract attention with action words
  • Highlight the most important benefits
  • Are always positive
  • Put the most important words first.

Effective subject lines should grab the reader’s attention, isolate and qualify your best prospects, and draw your reader into the subheads and the text itself. Avoid SHOUTING! Using CAPITALS in your subject line is the same as SHOUTING AT THE READER! DON’T DO IT!! Stay away from ad copy in your subject lines - it is the kiss of death for an e-mail.

Need to know more about the e-mail advantage? Take a look at my Private Mail List Marketing webinar on CD.

- written by, Susan Sweeney, CA, CSP, HoF

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