5 Tips to Write More Compelling Subject Lines


You can have the most compelling, well-written email on the internet…

But if the subject line is sub-par, nobody is going to read it.

So, if you’re looking to make strides in your email success, subject lines are a great place to start.

Of course, the content must also be good – but we’ve talked about how to create awesome email content on several other blog posts.

So today, we’ll focus on subject lines.

Your audience will judge your emails based on your subject lines. They play a huge role in getting your emails open, read, and clicked.

But unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately for you), many companies don’t know the first thing about creating compelling subject lines.

So, even their best emails often go unread and are ineffective. But I don’t want you to fall into that same trap.

That’s why, today, I’m giving you 5 easy tips for creating more compelling subject lines….

  1. Ask a Question
    This is a great way to engage your subscribers. When you create a compelling question in your readers’ minds, they’ll feel like they have to open your email and get the answer.

Asked the right way, a question makes the subject line more personal, like it could be affecting them.

For example, if you’re writing an email about email subject lines mistakes to avoid, you could say, “5 email subject line mistakes to avoid”.

Or, you could make it much more compelling, and ask, “Are these 5 subject line mistakes killing your open rates?”

The reader will think, “Wait, am I making these mistakes? Could my open rates be better? I need to check this out.”

  1. Use Their Name
    Do you know your subscribers’ favorite word?

It’s their name! And, if you have their info, you can use their name in your subject lines.

Now, you don’t want to do this all the time – because you can certainly overdo this until it actually hurts your open rates and annoys people.

But doing it once or twice a month should help you boost open rates.

How do you use it?

It’s simple as just incorporating their names into a regular subject line.

For example, instead of saying, “Your free gift inside!”, you can simply say, “Dave, check out your free gift!”

  1. Use A/B Testing
    Almost all email marketing software allows you to A/B test subject lines. In other words, you can try two different subject lines for the same email on a certain portion of your audience.

If your email software provides this feature, you should definitely take advantage.

How should you A/B test?

Write two different subject lines (perhaps use a different one of the tips in this post for each), and then test them out for 2-3 hours on 10% of your audience each. Then, select the winning subject line to get sent to the other 80% of your audience.

  1. Create Urgency
    This type of subject tip works particularly well for emails where you offer something. Urgency is one of the most powerful drivers – people don’t like the idea of missing out on something.

If you have some sort of time-dependent offer, like perhaps a deal on a certain product or even an opportunity to see a webinar, it’s a great chance to create urgency in your subject line.

For example, instead of “Get 50% off on XYZ product (See inside),” you could say, “[Last Chance] Get 50% off on XYZ product (See Inside).

You can even take it up a notch from there, and say something like, ” Last Chance! Get 50% off on XYZ product (Ends at 11:59pm)”.

The idea is to make readers feel like they’re missing out on something if they don’t open up the email.

  1. Create Curiosity
    Curiosity is one of the most powerful tactics you can use when crafting your subject lines. The idea is that there’s a big “secret” but they need to read the email to discover it.

Basically, you don’t give it all away in your subject line. No spoiler alert.

So, instead of something like, “How fast food sneaks harmful toxins into your body,” you could say, “How THIS common food could be debilitating your body with harmful toxins.”

A great subject line will get your emails opened, read, and clicked. Use the tips listed here and give your emails subject lines a huge boost – and make your business more profitable today.