Crafting Compelling Email Subject Lines: A Guide to Increased Engagement

Let’s face it; your inbox is a real-life game of “Inbox Wars.” You’re constantly battling spam filters, boring newsletters, and emails that scream “URGENT!” but are anything but. A well-crafted subject line is more than just a catchy phrase; it's a strategic tool to capture attention, increase open rates, and boost engagement.  

Here’s the thing:

Cold email open rates stand at around 20%. Ironically, the average close rate for sales is 20%. Let’s take a minute to ruminate on that. When considering the sheer number of emails it takes the ‘average’ team to go from first contact to closed-won, it’s pretty scary. Bad subject lines with poorly chosen ‘spam-trigger’ words will render your email just another statistic in the graveyard of emails and get you sent straight to Junk.

In this post, we'll explore strategies for crafting effective email subject lines that resonate with your audience. 

1.  Understanding Your Audience: The Foundation of Success

Understanding your audience is essential to craft subject lines that truly connect. You wouldn’t try to win over a C-Level decision maker at big software companies with the same pep talk you’d give your teammates, right?

So, for this post, we’ll look at a few things most relevant to the business sphere.

Bad examples (or the Yo, wanna hang?): 

• “Quick Question?”

• “Hey {first_name}”

• “Please Advise” 

These are some of the most common subject lines sales representatives have been using, and at the end of the day, they come across as lazy and uninformed. I would not say unprofessional, but these scream ‘Sales email! Avoid’. 

Good examples (think, Stephen Nedorocik and the pommel horse but emails):

• “Re. new office” 

• “Snowflake & VyStar partnership” 

  • Now, this requires the email's body to be personalized, which is not difficult to automate with {company_name} functionality.

  • More importantly, it’s intriguing and makes the receiver think, huh, maybe this will be worth my time opening.   

2.  Brevity is Key:  Conciseness for Maximum Impact

In the age of information overload, brevity is paramount. Imagine you have a Yankees game on in the background, scrolling through your phone, watching a random TikTok video, and an advertisement comes up, or you’re now scrolling through this wall of text. You’d be tempted to switch to the more entertaining channel. 

Pro Tip: Aim for a concise subject line with no more than 4 words for optimal engagement.

Let's use this bad example:

• Clare, loved your article on clean energy - thoughts on a collab?

Remember, the vast majority of our clients will be checking their email on their phone, and when you check this subject line, the first thing our client will see is “[Client’s first name] loved your art…” This is obviously a sales email, and more likely than not, this subject line will land you in spam anyway. 

3.  Personalization: Building Relationships Through Relevance

Much like chanting “MVP” to the best player during an NBA game, personalization is also a powerful tool for creating a sense of connection and relevance with your prospects. 

Instead of generic greetings, using the recipient's company name can be effective in emails. However, if you over-personalize, you will run the risk of having your email flagged as a ‘Promotion’ or, unfortunately, spam. 

For instance:

• ‘Joe, save 20% on your favourite coffee brand’,

• ‘Sarah, save 40% on fine jewellery.’

These subject lines are personalized as they both use their latest purchasing and browsing history, but spam filters will identify these as promotions, and unless your client selects the ‘All Inboxes’ selection, these emails aren’t getting opened.

Keep in mind: if your subject lines are similar in wording to this after sending out 50-100, the spam filters will start flagging these as spam. 

It’s VITALLY important to avoid trigger words such as:

• ‘Free’ 

• ‘Discount’  

• ‘Fantastic offer’

• ‘Congratulations’

• ‘Limited time’ 

• ‘Great offer”

• ‘Special promotion’

If in doubt, you can check your subject line validity for free with our friends over at Folderly  

In a world that is filled with complexity and inboxes overflowing with emails, keeping your subject lines simple and relevant can help you stand out. Avoid generic sales language and trigger words that’ll get your messages flagged as spam. And, of course, always double-check names to avoid embarrassing mistakes. 

4.  Case Studies:  Real-World Success Stories

Kleene.ai found themselves hitting a wall and falling back; their meeting book rate plateaued, and they wanted to see what tools they could use to increase that rate. They turned to a subject line experiment between us and HubSpot:

• The Subject Line: Kleen.ai x {Company Name} Partnership

• The Result: Their meeting book rate

As we witnessed Steph Curry take over the gold medal game. Hubspot witnessed us take over the prospecting and outbound industry. Kleene.ai’s meeting rate was 3x higher using our models compared to Hubspot.  

They used a simple subject line simply saying: 

“Kleenex{company_name} partnership,” which helped them drive opens and replies.  

5.  Conclusion:  Mastering the Art of the Subject Line

A game plan is a good start, but it’s not enough. You need a subject line that will make them want to click and read, not click and delete. 

THE JOB OF THE SUBJECT LINE IS SIMPLE: pique their interest and get them to open the email. 

Remember:

• Understand your audience

• Keep it short and sweet

• Make it personal

By crafting an effective email subject line that captivates and encourages action, you’ll drive engagement and maximize the impact of your email campaigns, and you’ll develop a skill that many sales reps and marketers have lacked. 

P.S. Want to learn more about running successful outbound campaigns?

We’ve got you covered; check out our site and book a demo if you’re curious to learn more about how this technology has advanced and how we use AI models to apply best practices to scaled outreach.