According to gopromotional.co.uk, 70% of recipients label emails as trash or spam based on subject lines only. That means the subject line of your regular emails is very important! The subject line is just like the title of a book or any other article – the title has to intrigue the reader. How do you come up with a good subject line for your personal emails? Read below for more tips!

STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD!

It only takes a few seconds to decide whether to keep or delete an email. Think about your personal experience: which emails do you typically trash without even opening and which emails catch your attention?

• Less is more

Try to keep your subject line as short as possible, anywhere from 20 to 65 characters. Remember that many people check emails on mobile devices, which don’t show the subject line in the same way that computers do.

• Use catchy words

To increase open rates, use catchy words and phrases ‘Gig THIS WEEK in London’, ‘New Jazz Singer in Town’, etc.

• Emojis 

For some, emojis in text may not look ‘professional’ enough, but it all depends on how you use them. A few emojis can actually add some interest to the subject line and encourage recipients to open the email. Just be careful not to overdo it and to avoid replacing emojis for words as everyone can interpret it differently.

WHO’S YOUR RECIPIENT?

Since we are talking about a personal email rather than a mailing list, you can easily personalise it! The truth is we can tell right away if an email has been sent out as a template to numerous people. As a result, the recipients typically interpret it as spam or as being simply irrelevant.

It’s pretty obvious to include a name or some specific info about a company in the email, but what if we do the same in the subject line?

Let’s say you are sending an email to a music publicist. Which subject line do you prefer?

• My New Single 2023

OR

• [Publicist’s name], check out my new single and upcoming gigs in the UK!

CAN MY EMAIL END UP IN THE SPAM FOLDER?

Yes it can! Your email’s subject line has the same power to affect open rates as it does to direct your emails to spam or promotions folders. 

It’s not a big deal if you do any of this once in a while, but if you keep doing it regularly, it will start drawing attention and spam filters may start identifying your email as spam or promotions. 

ANALYSE REPORTS

Lastly, make sure to always analyse your open rates. Collect all the data from various emails, put it in a separate doc, and compare. Why did one email have a 50% open rate while the next one only had a 30% open rate? Think what made your email stand out from the crowd and what made people click on it?