Humorous Or Controversial? More About The Email Subject Line…

Just like your social media posts and blog titles, your email subject lines need to be original and enticing enough to make someone click.  To do this you will need to employ your linguistic skills and create different types of subject lines based on your purpose and your audience.

Here are the main types of email subject lines you can use to encourage users to open that email – choose whatever suits you and your audience best:

Simple subject lines

If your email is a notification such as a delivery notice keep it simple. The user is already expecting your email and doesn’t need fancy language or tricks to help them open. In fact doing so could work against you. MailChimp conducted an email subject line study and found that short, descriptive subject lines perform better than alluring ones.

Funny subject lines

Using humour in your subject line has one huge drawn back, it implies exclusivity. However, this can also be its plus point. If you have highly targeted data or know your email list well, humour will help you connect with your audience and build up a fun approachable reputation.

Controversial subject lines

Using the shock tactic can produce fantastic results but often at the cost of losing subscribers as well. You really need to know your audience’s tastes well and make a judgement call as to whether they will “get it” or be offended.

Single word subject lines

When you scroll through your inbox, what do you see? Mostly 50 character length subject lines all merging into one big block of text. Nothing stands out. To be different, you could use one word email subject lines. The user’s eyes are more likely to be drawn to your email as it will be a different shape and length to others. You can add even greater impact by using an emotive singular word. I’ve also heard it said that blank email subject lines can lead to an 8% increase in opens…

Mysterious subject lines

Just like an author who leaves a cliffhanger at the end of their book to get you to buy their next book, you can do the same with your subject lines. How? Intrigue your audience with a little mystery or suspense. Don’t give away too much in your subject line, but be careful. If you don’t give away enough, people may not understand the subject line at all and completely ignore the email.

Scarcity subject lines

So far all of our subject line types have used the audience’s emotion to open the email (apart from the simple subject lines where it’s not required). The scarcity subject line is no different. Humanity thrives on inclusivity and socialising. This leaves us with a deep underlying fear of being left behind or missing out on something. You can utilise this fear to gain email opens. This type of subject line is perfect if you are offering a product or service when you can use language such as “limited time offer” or “available today only”.

Don’t forget: When you are writing your new awesome subject lines make sure you are covering the basics to avoid ending up in spam. 69% of email recipients report email as spam based solely on the subject line and 35% of email recipients decide whether or not to open an email based on subject line alone. Read our previous article for more tips about how to formulate your subject line and don’t get caught in the spam trap.

If you need help to achieve awesome subject lines that get your emails opened, then we would be more than happy to help. Give us a call on 01536 560 435.