Certain email marketing experts give a somewhat exciting analogy when they describe what an ideal email subject sentence is. They say it’s a well-intended pickup line you would use to take someone out on a first date! Except, instead of going for an innocent meal with another person to gauge compatibility, you try to make a great first impression with a potential customer.
The ultimate intent of writing a solid subject line is to gain the instant attention of the person or institution on the receiving end of your email. Therefore, you must churn witty, personalized, and unambiguous email subject lines. Remember, a whopping 69% of recipients report an email as spam after reading the subject line. So, treading carefully is of utmost importance here.
In this article
Best practices for hammering out effective subject lines
Before we reveal our hall-of-fame examples of email subject lines, it’s critical to know the thought that goes behind crafting them.
Here are the five best practices that work as a talisman whenever you want to churn eye-grabbing subject lines for any type of email. Consider these best practices as the gold standard for writing email subject lines that boost your open rates.
Get the strength right
A recent study shows that email subject lines that fall within 6 to 10 words work best. Emails carrying them recorded an open rate of 21%, which is higher than average.
Write generously, edit stringently
Even though you already know the ideal length of subject lines, it’s ok to initially draft one that goes up to 15 or 16 words. You can always edit it down to 6 to 10 words. But, don’t restrict your natural thought process while writing the first draft. You can mould it later to fit into fewer words.
Ensure it’s mobile-friendly
Given that more and more people prefer mobile phones over desktops to read emails, you must ensure your subject sentence fits in one line of the screen. Also, the attention span of people checking emails on mobiles is usually shorter as they often multitask or toggle between different apps. So, ask yourself the following questions before finalizing on a mobile-friendly subject line:
- Should I use humor to connect?
- Is my subject line clear and easy to understand?
- Have I used too many big words?
Introduce numbers and figures, if applicable
If you’re offering a deal or discount, write about it in the subject line itself. Don’t simply hint that there is an offer waiting for the recipient when they open your email. Crisply reveal the percentage of discount and on what! Doing this shows the reader the direct value your email provides.
Personalize your subject lines
Gone are the days when you could send mass emails and hope the right leads read it. Today, prospects expect to receive emails tailored to their needs, and your subject line should reflect the same. Therefore, segment your lead data, and craft subject lines specific to each category to boost their desire to open your email.
Brainstorm your subject lines setting these five constraints, and you will manage a relevant and engaging result.
Time for action! 100 email subject lines to instantly engage your readers
We know that handing out email subject line best practices is not enough to help you draft them. So, here is an assortment of 100 subject lines for diverse occasions to incite varied emotions in readers.
Whether you aim to instil a sense of urgency or connect via humor, the ultimate goal is to nudge them into opening your email. For which these subject lines are fail-safe.
20 email subject lines for welcoming new subscribers
New subscribers that join your email list must be sent welcome emails instantly. Know that these individuals are at the very beginning of any sales funnel, which is why nurturing them should be your top priority.
Now you may think that welcome emails are not as effective for conversions, but this is untrue. If you leverage this category of emails correctly, they help you with:
- Setting prospect expectation
- Reminding prospects to visit your website
- Know where to reach out to you for any product-related query before purchasing
But, all this happens when a prospect opens your welcome email. And, to ensure they do, you must write a compelling subject line.
Get inspired by these 20 welcome email subject lines for improved engagement rates:
- “Welcome to Uber, Smiles Davis” – Uber
- “Welcome to nDash: Important Next Steps” – nDash
- “You got Ellevested! Here’s what’s next” – Ellevest
- “Welcome to Zalando! Enjoy £10 off your next order” – Zalando
- “Welcome Gift! Offer Inside” – EyeBuyDirect
- “Welcome to TheZebra.com
. Your Quotes are here! – TheZebra.com - “Welcome to Pixelbuddha — the Most Freebie-Friendly Community” – Pixelbuddha
- “Did you say “beard”? – Welcome to Beardbrand!” – Beardbrand
- “New to Our (Curious) World?” – Fossil
- “Ready to step up? Welcome to Activité” – Withing’s
- “Welcome to Hayneedle! Your exclusive discount is here …” – Hayneedle
- “Welcome! Get $25 Off Your 1st Order” – Good Eggs
- “4 Ways to Get Started with AWS” – Amazon
- “Well, Hello There! Welcome To Our Inner Circle” – Stila Cosmetics
- “Welcome to Holland & Barett… Let’s get to know each other… – Holland & Barrett
- “Welcome to On Running – here’s what you’ve been missing. – On Running
- “Welcome to FooD52! Make yourself at home” – Food52
- “Your welcoming 10% off! | Trends, the latest updates, and much more – Mango
- “You are in. Quick video inside.”
- “You are going to love it. Our surprising welcome offer”.
20 email subject lines for cart abandonment/ retargeting
Selling online is bread and butter for conversion for countless businesses, especially B2B SaaS services. Fortunately, when prospects scour e-retail sites for buying something, they add products into a digital cart. This is one of the last stages of purchasing from you. However, sometimes prospects suddenly drop out or abandon that cart and simply vanish without buying.
It is then you must re-engage these leads and quickly. How? The best way to reach out to prospects who have recently abandoned their cart is via email marketing. Craft an eye-grabbing subject line, write crisp body content and automate cart abandonment emails right away.
Here are 20 hard-hitting cart abandonment email subject lines bound to improve your open rates:
- “Hey! Where did you go?”
- “You left something behind” – Moschino
- “Your cart is about to expire” – The Honest Company
- “Cart Expired. Items might still be available” – The Honest Company
- “Heading out without checking out” – Huckberry
- “Your cart is ready when you are”
- “Uh oh! Your cart is about to expire”
- “No pressure, but the sale on your cart items expires in 24 hours”
- “Oops, you forgot something” – J Crew
- “You left your
behind” - “Act fast to get 15% off your cart”
- “Complete your order now to get free delivery”
- “Empty your cart with 20% off” – Bonobo
- “Still Deciding? Your Dolce & Gabbana Three-Button Wool Blazer Is Waiting!” – The Real Real
- “Reminder: Get Your Items Before They Sell Out” – Surfstitch
- “We saved your cart for you” – Shower Pass
- “
, you forgot something” – Urban Skin Rx - “Hey
, complete your purchase in two clicks” - “Finish your order at Ralph Lauren” – Ralph Lauren
- “Olivia, Continue Shopping with a Discount” – Casper
20 email subject lines for newsletters
Since email newsletters usually only carry updates, news items, etc., they experience low open rates. But, email newsletters are a great way to stay in your prospect or customer’s mind, making them an important share.
So, instead of giving up on this type of email communication, make it better by sharing video email newsletters. Invest time in picking out content for them as it can help you establish yourself as a thought authority within your field.
And, to ensure readers open your newsletters, send them with a sticky subject line – something that hooks the reader almost instantly. Sure, your newsletter email subject lines can carry discount offers or promise valuable research articles or blogs as part of the newsletter. Whatever approach you take, make sure the email subject line reflects it.
Here are 20 subject lines to make your email newsletter stand out among a swarm of other emails:
- “Watch Out for This Amazon Phishing Scam.” – Wired
- “New recipe alert” – Hello Fresh
- “Tips to increase remote collaboration” – Asana
- “Improve Your Website from Concept to Code” – Namecheap
- “Welcome to the Fonts.com Newsletter – Your Free Fonts are Inside
- hooray! your 10% OFF code is here.”- Fonts.com
- “Introducing: Your New Learn Hub Newsletter” – G2
- “Weekly digest: Office 365 changes” – Office 365
- “Why are most Engineers not rich?” – Quora Digest
- “
Sales & Marketing Newsletter” - “
October 2021 News Bulletin!” - “Eye on the
Update (Oct 31 – Nov 4)” - “Our Newsletter for March 21, 2020”
- “Mastery in Content Marketing – Workshop Updates”
- “Save with this week’s flyer” – Ikea
- “Happy Holidays from
“ - “January update on sales — key numbers”
- “The webinar starts in a week! Add a reminder in your calendar”
- “Our next steps” – Hubspot
- “Your weekly writing update” – Grammarly
- “Weekly Alert: Two Wrongs That Prove You Aren’t Doing Content Marketing Right – Content Marketing Institute
20 email subject lines for product/ feature launch
Often overlooked, a critical feature of your product launch email is its subject line. Without a well-thought-out subject line, you can’t create enough intrigue around your new product. Simply put, a lot rides on your product launch email subject line.
Therefore, when brainstorming it, avoid using vague words, don’t be verbose, and do not capitalize the subject sentence. Here are 20 examples or product launch subject statements that work.
- “Moment 3.0 is here….crispier photos, smoother videos” – Moment
- “HERO7 is here. Pre-order yours” – GoPro
- “Introducing “Refine”: The robot that improves your subject lines” – Moosend
- “Say Hello to New ProdPad: You Asked, We Listened” – ProdPad
- “Our newest product launches tonight!” – Sakara
- “Shape a new bigger wave on the Regal 2500 RX Surf!” – Regal
- “The Pioneer Plaque just landed on Earth” – Pioneer Plaque
- “Sit well, work well, feel well with Fern™” – Fern by Haworth
- “Introducing YouTube Red: another way to YouTube” – YouTube
- “It’s official. Firewatch comes out on February 9th, 2016.” Campo Santo
- “[New!] Personalized PDF reports are here – Check our most requested feature” – SurveyAnyPlace
- “Brand new product for you”
- “Hello
, may we introduce “ - “It’s finally here! Check it out inside”
- “G2 Crowd update: We’ve officially launched!” – G2Crowd
- “Exciting announcement (and special invitation)”
- “Introducing our latest…(product/feature here)”
- “Grammarly’s Chrome Extension + Google Docs, Together at Last!” – Grammarly
- “Tesla Updates: Model 3 is Available to Order” – Tesla
- “The first Scuderia Ferrari gaming headphones: don’t miss out!” – Scuderia Ferrari
20 email subject lines for apology emails
Admitting your mistake to a customer is never easy, but it sure reaps rewards. Every time you acknowledge you made a boo-boo, you earn their trust and gain brand credibility. Therefore, you must word your apology emails with utmost honesty and clarity, and more importantly, with the right subject line.
An already angry customer might not want to open your apology email, and only an empathetic subject line will compel them to open it.
If it has been established that your side was at fault, reach out to an angry customer with any of the following 20 apology email subject lines:
- “We messed up”
- “We made a mistake. Let us make it up to you”
- “Let’s try this again…”
- “Here’s what happened, and this is how we’ll make it up to you”
- “I would like to apologize on behalf of our company”
- “We’re truly sorry about
“ - “
, we’re sorry” - “Apology letter for bad behaviour”
- “We’re particularly sorry for <…>“
- “We apologize. Your anger is justified”
- “Oops! Here’s the email we meant to send”
- About our website downtime, we’re sorry. Here’s what happened”
- “We’re rectifying your issue within 24 hours”
- “We apologize. Here’s your free annual membership”
- “Our error won’t cost you any more time”
- “Looks like we made a mistake”
- “We appreciate your patience while we rectify our mistake”
- “Hope our apology is coming at the right time”
- “Please allow us to make things right”
- “We apologize for the confusion.”
Conclusion
Your subject lines are a make or break for your email open rates. They carry the substantial responsibility of showing your email’s value to the reader even before they open it.
So, after you verify your prospects’ email ids, draft your subject lines in a way that convinces readers of important information inside. Information that will improve their personal or professional lives.
Not an easy feat to achieve is it!
