Increase Your Email Open Rate with These 8 Subject Line Secrets

Want more people to open — and read — your emails?

Then you need to give them a reason. A really good reason.

Here are eight secrets to writing email subject lines that boost your email open rate in a way that’s engaging and authentic, not “URGENT-ACT-NOW!!” spammy.

What Actually Gets People to Open Your Emails?

There are several different factors that influence your email open rate, including…

• Your email deliverability rate (which also depends on several factors, which we won’t get into here)
• Your email sender name (are you sending from “Quotable Copy,” “Sarah at Quotable Copy,” or “Sarah Klongerbo”?)
• Your email list size (typically, the smaller your audience, the higher your open rate)
• Your email sending frequency (typically, the less often you send, the higher your open rate)
• Your brand reputation (typically, the more people like you, the higher your open rate)

…But the #1 factor influencing your open rate is still your subject line.

If it’s interesting, people will open.

If it’s boring, they won’t.

8 Secrets to an Openable Subject Line

So if email subject lines are so important…

What’s the secret to writing a subject line that gets people to open your email — and stick around for more?

We’ve got eight secrets, actually.

1. Make it snappy: Unless you don’t mind getting cut off, keep your subject line under 60 characters for desktop and under 30 characters for mobile.
2. Include numbers: Specific figures are both more enticing and more believable than vague promises.
   • “Save 40%” is better than “save money.”
   • “Lose 15 pounds” is better than “lose weight.”
   • “8 secrets to an openable subject line” is better than “subject line secrets.”
3. Personalize it (for them): Mention the subscriber’s first name, city, industry, etc — as long as it’s relevant (and used sparingly).
4. Personalize it (for you): Tease a personal confession, lesson, or story — either positive or negative will work.
5. Ask a question: Nothing piques someone’s curiosity quite like a question. Bonus points if it’s one that involves the reader.
   • “Can you help me with this?”
   • “What do you think of [X]?”
6. Play (nicely) with formatting: Use eye-catching elements like emojis, symbols, and ALL CAPS occasionally, not often.
7. Choose your words carefully: Yes, power words grab people’s attention… but they may also grab the spam filter’s attention. Aim to create urgency without sounding like a used-car salesman.
   • “Free”
   • “New”
   • “Sale”
   • “Hurry”
   • “Fast”
8. Don’t forget the preview text: Like any good sidekick, it should support the hero in a way that’s original, not redundant. Use your preview text to provide further context or mystery.

There are other ways to arouse your readers’ curiosity. These are just eight.

And we won’t guarantee they’ll all work, all the time.

Ultimately, the key is to pair intrigue with authenticity.

Yes, your subject line should stand out — but it should also do its job description: describe the email contents.

Do that, and you’ll keep your email subscribers (and your email stats) happy.

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