Selling email to SMB’s? How to write a subject line that gets opened

For local media who are selling email marketing to SMB’s, what factors affect the rate of opens and clicks has taken on critical importance. 

We asked Site Impact, which sends millions of third party emails per year, what the data shows on subject lines with the highest open rates. Here are their top five recommendations:

1. Keep the subject line to 41 characters or less 

“Short and simple subject lines perform better in most cases,” Site Impact says. “The best performing subject lines have fewer than 50 characters.”

Marketo has created a survey whose findings recommend 41 characters– or 7 words as the sweet spot for email subject line length, about 10 characters less than the average email subject line sent. 

Messages with subject lines that express moderate positivity or negativity resulted in 10 to 15% more responses than completely neutral emails. However, too much emotion brings the response rate down.

2. Use standard upper-lower capitalization

The best tone by far for an email subject line is conversational. So for best results, capitalize only the first word of a sentence in the subject line. All caps is frowned upon. 

3. Don’t use the word “newsletter” or “update” - even if the client is sending one

It sounds counter-intuitive, but in addition to wasting valuable characters, words that imply the email is one in a series lowers the open rate, perhaps because the viewer can simply wait for the next one. 

4. Use power words 

Action verbs are better than nouns and active voice is better than passive. So if your client is selling the new Mercedes SUV, the subject line ¨See the latest Mercedes SUV¨ is likely to perform better than ¨The Mercedes SUV is here¨. This helps the prospect envision looking at the new model. 

Site Impact has a great list of power words that get attention. They fall into four categories: sales phrases, such as an offer; timely words that create urgency, such as ¨today only¨; holiday words including “seasons greetings,” which tap into an elevated mood; and gratitude-related words, such as “thank you”, that promote connection.

The key is to engage the audience authentically without resorting to hyperbole. 

5. Do avoid words that trigger the spam filters

A number of words look like power words, but defeat the purpose if they trigger spam filters. These include: Free, Cheap, $$$, Success, Promise and so on. Many are not intuitively spam-worthy, so keep this list on hand in the production department. 

6. Use a compelling question 

One way to increase the open rate is to pose the subject line as a compelling question, such as “Is the new Mercedes SUV really better?¨ The email can point out the core benefits, inviting the prospect to the store to see for themselves. Questions are powerful tools! 

7. Use numbers 

Another successful approach is to build a list into the subject line, such as “Four reasons to see the new Mercedes SUV.”

A great email subject line should never make a false promise, but they don’t have to be dull!  Writing them can be a fun creative outlet for your team.