The first hurdle of a successful email campaign is to motivate someone to open your message. Otherwise, your terrific offer never gets seen. Studies show that 35% of email recipients decide whether to open your email based on the subject line alone. So, before you press send, make sure it’s a good one. Two tips to remember:
Short and Sweet Can’t Be Beat – This is for impact. Give them a quick reason to open. Also, everyone (with the possible exception of two or three people nationwide) is impatient and wants to know pronto if this is worth their time.
Furthermore, stats show that about 40% of emails are being read on mobile devices (though that number has probably gone even higher since that study was done). To prepare for mobile devices that cut the subject line short, stick to 50 characters or less.
Use a Familiar Name – Nobody wants to hear from their old friend “Info”… a la [email protected] and various other iterations of anonymous sending. The more relational your email is, the better received it will be.
Therefore, use a real name, and keep using that name as your sender so that it becomes more and more familiar. You would open an email from a close family member or friend regardless of subject line, right? So, the closer relationship your company has with your customers, the less dependent you will be on the subject line to get an open.