Subject headers that get opened
28 February, 2011Although I normally delete emails from a particular sender, they just used a great subject header that MADE me open it:
Paul, where do I send your free gift?
Now, call me opportunistic, but who doesn’t want something for free? The fact that I didn’t actually want their free gift is beside the point – curiosity drove me to open their email!
Some other principles to keep in mind:
- Ensure the reader is familiar with your “From” field. If they know your business, XYZ Company, but don’t know you, make your email show “From: XYZ Company | [Your Name]“.
- Keep your subject header short – some say less than 60 characters, maximum. I say scan your own email inbox. Which subject headers do you tend to read? For these tired eyes today, it’s those less than about six words. The shorter the better.
- Subject headers are really headlines. Some proven principles of headlines are news/announcement (“Magneto trainee voted ‘Best Writer in Universe’”), benefits (“How to get your readers saying ‘yes’ more often”), and curiosity (“Like to work less yet do more?”).
Let’s use this post to collect email subject headers that worked. Keep your eyes peeled, and when you see one, add it as a comment below!
P.S. Here are some good “sales” headlines to play with, from the founder of Copyblogger, Brian Clark:
http://www.copyblogger.com/10-sure-fire-headline-formulas-that-work/
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Paul, as important as subject lines are, I’m convinced that the From field is the biggest problem in email. I recently received an email from someone I didn’t know, with a subject line that didn’t tell me much, and with a From: field of ‘brian’.
Commonsense would say I shouldn’t open this email, but I DID use the preview pane and discovered it was an email I wanted.
Your suggestion of including the organisation name in the From field is an excellent one. If the From field isn’t right, talking about subject lines is like talking theoretical physics to a first grader. Get the basics right first!