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Subject Lines and Previews: Six Simple Tips to Increase Your Email Open Rate

Subject Lines and Previews: Six Simple Tips to Increase Your Email Open Rate
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We all get more emails than we could ever hope to read — and the narrative that “email marketing is dead” continues to circulate as our inboxes overflow. Yet the data paints a promising picture for email marketers. 

According to Omnisend, businesses earn $40 for every dollar spent on email marketing, while the next-closest channel, SEO, performs only half as well. Email marketing is very much alive, but to reap its benefits, you need to persuade recipients to open your emails. SuperOffice’s research shows that 33% of recipients reported the subject line as the deciding factor in whether they opened emails, second only to sender name. 

A myriad of technical and content-based factors play into your email campaign’s open rate. Here, we’ll bite off the chewable chunk that is copywriting and discuss how you can give your emails their best shot at being opened by writing subject lines and previews that clearly and concisely communicate personalized messages in your brand voice. 

Six Tips for Copy That Will Increase Your Open Rate

Use your brand voice

Foster familiarity and trust with your audience by using a recognizable tone and communication style. Whether your subscribers look to you to inform them of new shoe arrivals or to deliver peer-reviewed scientific data, it’s important to establish consistency in the way you address them and the language you use to do it. 

Consider whether the nature of your email copy aligns with your brand’s messaging on social media accounts, your website, and elsewhere. Think about what likely motivated your subscribers to opt in to receiving your content and what they already appreciate about your brand, and show them that there’s more where that came from. Here are a few things to consider when determining if your subject line or preview copy is on-brand: 

Formality, Personality, and Humor

Is your content serious? Does it need to speak for itself with minimal fluff? Alternatively, is your brand’s charisma a big part of its value or allure? 

Does your brand lend itself to sarcasm, quirkiness, levity, and silliness, or would they distract from your message and credibility? You know your brand best. 

Punctuation 

One exclamation point can express excitement, while three can read as spammy. Also, a literary newsletter likely needs to convey a different regard for formal punctuation than a trendy ecommerce brand. 

Capitalization

Uppercase, lowercase. and title case copy can communicate a range of professionalism, urgency and enthusiasm. 

Emojis

There’s a bit of debate regarding emoji use in subject lines, and the data appears to tell a different story today than it did a few years ago. According to Nielsen Norman Group in 2020, “Our research shows that emojis in subject lines increase negative sentiment toward an email and do not increase the likelihood of an email being opened.” 

However, many email marketers today argue that emoji use increases open rates, saves space, and communicates emotion better than plain text.

So while the effectiveness of emoji use is debated and may be changing, the general consensus is to use them intentionally and in moderation, if doing so aligns with your brand and objective. If you’re unsure how your audience will perceive emoji use, consider a split test. 

Here’s an example from Allbirds, a sustainable footwear and clothing company: 

Drive curiosity

There’s a fine line between a click-baity subject line and the strategic presentation of just enough information to cultivate interest. Walk that line by knowing your audience and delivering in the body of the email any value teased in its subject line or preview. Motivate subscribers to pursue your in-email content without making them feel baited or leaving them disappointed. 

Side note: Some kinds of trigger emails can be excluded from this strategy. A trigger email is sent out automatically in response to a specific action, and it should often communicate its message succinctly and overtly. There needn’t be any mystery when a customer places an order and receives a confirmation, for example. 

Here’s an example from Patagonia, an outdoor clothing and gear company: 

Be concise, but not terse

When the window of opportunity to drive an open is as small as a brief subject line to identify the topic and a short preview to layer on a bit of context, words must be chosen carefully.

 Retention Science reported that subject lines with 6-10 words resulted in the highest open rates (21%), while subject lines with either more or fewer words resulted in lower open rates (14% and 16%, respectively). 

These word counts aren’t hard rules, but they provide useful guardrails. Remember that the majority (if not the entirety) of your subject line and preview copy should be viewable on mobile devices before the recipient opens the email. 

Here’s an example from skincare company Versed:

Communicate value

There’s no scenario in which a recipient opens your email without believing it contains something of value — as we know, over a third of recipients open emails (or don’t) based on subject line. 

Adopt the vantage point of your recipient and ask “Why should I open this email?” and “What’s in it for me?”. If the answer to either question is vague or undefinable in terms of value — like love for your brand or general interest in your organization’s mission or agenda — revisit your subject line. Here are some answers that would indicate your copy communicates value: to learn the answer to a question, to receive a discount, to discover a new product or to make a confirmation. 

Remember that value doesn’t have to be monetary. Updates and educational content are examples of non-monetary value and can also be compelling. 

Here’s an example from fitness, wellness and beauty app ClassPass

Personalize thoughtfully

Address recipients by first name or refer to personal details like products they’ve viewed, preferences they’ve expressed, and actions they’ve taken on your site. Personalize subject lines and previews based on information recipients have shared with you intentionally and how they’ve interacted with your content or site. 

Avoid calling out characteristics that recipients haven’t intentionally shared, like demographics you identify them by for targeting purposes, for example. 

Here’s an example from jewelry company Ana Luisa

Create a sense of urgency

Consider the fleeting instant you spend debating opening an email. Even if you believe that email contains something valuable, without presenting a pressing reason to investigate, it may simply lose out to the other things vying for your attention. Both summarizing an email and communicating that it’s time-sensitive in only eight words can be tricky, but it’s a skill worth mastering. 

Here’s an example from Athleta, an athleticwear company: 

Subject Line Grading Tools 

Because crafting subject lines is a nuanced craft that requires a bit of fussing over, it can be daunting, but checking your work has never been easier. Subject line grading tools evaluate the quality of your copy, and a number of them are free and offer a variety of features. This Influencer Marketing Hub article lists, compares, and contrasts the best options. 

Conclusion

You can only bring about improvements in a host of critical, subsequent email metrics — like click-through rate, for example — if your emails are being opened in the first place. An unopened email won’t usher anyone very far down the sales funnel, let alone produce a conversion. Here are the takeaways to keep in mind as you get to work on writing effective subject lines and previews: 

  • Stay on brand. Match the tone, language and personality you express elsewhere. 
  • Drive immediate interest and curiosity. Tell part of the story. 
  • Be succinct. Eight words is the perfect average for subject lines. 
  • Get personal. Make your recipients feel known and seen. 
  • Communicate value. In your subject line, answer the question, “Why should I open this email?” 
  • Create urgency. In your subject line, answer the question, “Why should I open this email right now?” 
Jenny TuckfeltJenny Tuckfelt
Jenny Tuckfelt is a DC transplant living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Jenny started writing as a part of her early career in marketing and transitioned from media and campaign oversight to content creation. She went on to work as a content writer for local marketing agencies in the Pittsburgh area. Today, she writes about digital marketing for Marketerhire and her interests and experience continue to merge. Jenny has a BA from WVU where she majored in Communications.
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Subject Lines and Previews: Six Simple Tips to Increase Your Email Open Rate

September 8, 2023
February 15, 2022
Jenny Tuckfelt

Table of Contents

We all get more emails than we could ever hope to read — and the narrative that “email marketing is dead” continues to circulate as our inboxes overflow. Yet the data paints a promising picture for email marketers. 

According to Omnisend, businesses earn $40 for every dollar spent on email marketing, while the next-closest channel, SEO, performs only half as well. Email marketing is very much alive, but to reap its benefits, you need to persuade recipients to open your emails. SuperOffice’s research shows that 33% of recipients reported the subject line as the deciding factor in whether they opened emails, second only to sender name. 

A myriad of technical and content-based factors play into your email campaign’s open rate. Here, we’ll bite off the chewable chunk that is copywriting and discuss how you can give your emails their best shot at being opened by writing subject lines and previews that clearly and concisely communicate personalized messages in your brand voice. 

Six Tips for Copy That Will Increase Your Open Rate

Use your brand voice

Foster familiarity and trust with your audience by using a recognizable tone and communication style. Whether your subscribers look to you to inform them of new shoe arrivals or to deliver peer-reviewed scientific data, it’s important to establish consistency in the way you address them and the language you use to do it. 

Consider whether the nature of your email copy aligns with your brand’s messaging on social media accounts, your website, and elsewhere. Think about what likely motivated your subscribers to opt in to receiving your content and what they already appreciate about your brand, and show them that there’s more where that came from. Here are a few things to consider when determining if your subject line or preview copy is on-brand: 

Formality, Personality, and Humor

Is your content serious? Does it need to speak for itself with minimal fluff? Alternatively, is your brand’s charisma a big part of its value or allure? 

Does your brand lend itself to sarcasm, quirkiness, levity, and silliness, or would they distract from your message and credibility? You know your brand best. 

Punctuation 

One exclamation point can express excitement, while three can read as spammy. Also, a literary newsletter likely needs to convey a different regard for formal punctuation than a trendy ecommerce brand. 

Capitalization

Uppercase, lowercase. and title case copy can communicate a range of professionalism, urgency and enthusiasm. 

Emojis

There’s a bit of debate regarding emoji use in subject lines, and the data appears to tell a different story today than it did a few years ago. According to Nielsen Norman Group in 2020, “Our research shows that emojis in subject lines increase negative sentiment toward an email and do not increase the likelihood of an email being opened.” 

However, many email marketers today argue that emoji use increases open rates, saves space, and communicates emotion better than plain text.

So while the effectiveness of emoji use is debated and may be changing, the general consensus is to use them intentionally and in moderation, if doing so aligns with your brand and objective. If you’re unsure how your audience will perceive emoji use, consider a split test. 

Here’s an example from Allbirds, a sustainable footwear and clothing company: 

Drive curiosity

There’s a fine line between a click-baity subject line and the strategic presentation of just enough information to cultivate interest. Walk that line by knowing your audience and delivering in the body of the email any value teased in its subject line or preview. Motivate subscribers to pursue your in-email content without making them feel baited or leaving them disappointed. 

Side note: Some kinds of trigger emails can be excluded from this strategy. A trigger email is sent out automatically in response to a specific action, and it should often communicate its message succinctly and overtly. There needn’t be any mystery when a customer places an order and receives a confirmation, for example. 

Here’s an example from Patagonia, an outdoor clothing and gear company: 

Be concise, but not terse

When the window of opportunity to drive an open is as small as a brief subject line to identify the topic and a short preview to layer on a bit of context, words must be chosen carefully.

 Retention Science reported that subject lines with 6-10 words resulted in the highest open rates (21%), while subject lines with either more or fewer words resulted in lower open rates (14% and 16%, respectively). 

These word counts aren’t hard rules, but they provide useful guardrails. Remember that the majority (if not the entirety) of your subject line and preview copy should be viewable on mobile devices before the recipient opens the email. 

Here’s an example from skincare company Versed:

Communicate value

There’s no scenario in which a recipient opens your email without believing it contains something of value — as we know, over a third of recipients open emails (or don’t) based on subject line. 

Adopt the vantage point of your recipient and ask “Why should I open this email?” and “What’s in it for me?”. If the answer to either question is vague or undefinable in terms of value — like love for your brand or general interest in your organization’s mission or agenda — revisit your subject line. Here are some answers that would indicate your copy communicates value: to learn the answer to a question, to receive a discount, to discover a new product or to make a confirmation. 

Remember that value doesn’t have to be monetary. Updates and educational content are examples of non-monetary value and can also be compelling. 

Here’s an example from fitness, wellness and beauty app ClassPass

Personalize thoughtfully

Address recipients by first name or refer to personal details like products they’ve viewed, preferences they’ve expressed, and actions they’ve taken on your site. Personalize subject lines and previews based on information recipients have shared with you intentionally and how they’ve interacted with your content or site. 

Avoid calling out characteristics that recipients haven’t intentionally shared, like demographics you identify them by for targeting purposes, for example. 

Here’s an example from jewelry company Ana Luisa

Create a sense of urgency

Consider the fleeting instant you spend debating opening an email. Even if you believe that email contains something valuable, without presenting a pressing reason to investigate, it may simply lose out to the other things vying for your attention. Both summarizing an email and communicating that it’s time-sensitive in only eight words can be tricky, but it’s a skill worth mastering. 

Here’s an example from Athleta, an athleticwear company: 

Subject Line Grading Tools 

Because crafting subject lines is a nuanced craft that requires a bit of fussing over, it can be daunting, but checking your work has never been easier. Subject line grading tools evaluate the quality of your copy, and a number of them are free and offer a variety of features. This Influencer Marketing Hub article lists, compares, and contrasts the best options. 

Conclusion

You can only bring about improvements in a host of critical, subsequent email metrics — like click-through rate, for example — if your emails are being opened in the first place. An unopened email won’t usher anyone very far down the sales funnel, let alone produce a conversion. Here are the takeaways to keep in mind as you get to work on writing effective subject lines and previews: 

  • Stay on brand. Match the tone, language and personality you express elsewhere. 
  • Drive immediate interest and curiosity. Tell part of the story. 
  • Be succinct. Eight words is the perfect average for subject lines. 
  • Get personal. Make your recipients feel known and seen. 
  • Communicate value. In your subject line, answer the question, “Why should I open this email?” 
  • Create urgency. In your subject line, answer the question, “Why should I open this email right now?” 
Jenny Tuckfelt
about the author

Jenny Tuckfelt is a DC transplant living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Jenny started writing as a part of her early career in marketing and transitioned from media and campaign oversight to content creation. She went on to work as a content writer for local marketing agencies in the Pittsburgh area. Today, she writes about digital marketing for Marketerhire and her interests and experience continue to merge. Jenny has a BA from WVU where she majored in Communications.

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