Writing effective subject lines is one of the most critical pieces of the Email Marketing process.  Visualize your Inbox.  What do you see?  You see a from name and a subject line, that’s all that you’ve got.  Talk about making a first impression, the subject line is basically it.  You want to improve your open rate?  It’s all about the subject line.

Here are some tips for writing great subject lines.

• I like to Identify Yourself – It shouldn’t overwhelm the recipient, but I believe familiarity is good.
• Keep it short – 50-60 characters is about right for the subject line.
• Strong Call-to-Action – Open rates are almost entirely based on the subject line, tell me why I should open your email.
• Choose Your Words Carefully – Stay away from “spammy” words like FREE, LIMITED TIME, CALL NOW, CREDIT, AMAZING, and other similar words.
• Tell the Truth – Don’t even think about writing a misleading subject line.
• Test – This is one of the easiest variables to test, try different things.
• Adapt – Don’t remain stale.  Familiarity is different from burn-out.

I encourage you to take a new look at your subject lines.  Think about the subject line in the context of a brand-new customer.  Do you recognize the sender?  Are you interested in finding out more?  Do you trust the content?

Happy subjecting!