Fifty characters could be all that stands between you and success in your next email campaign. Fifty characters is all the space you have in a typical email subject line to catch your reader's eye and entice him to open your email and take the action you want.

 

How could something so small make or break an email marketing campaign's success? Because many recipients use the email subject line to decide whether to open or delete an email.

 

Because so much is riding on your email subject line, we came up with 10 rules for crafting a good one.

 

10 Tips to Write the Email Subject Line Right
 

 

Tip 1: Read the newspaper.
If you want to write a better email subject line, pick up your local paper. The headline usually highlights a story's most important fact in a limited space. A subject line, in turn, should clearly state what your reader can expect from your email message, what's in it for them or what you want them to do as a result of the email. However, there isn't enough space to do all of them all the time. Look at the newspaper headline to see how it interplays with the story.
 

 

Tip 2: There is no sure-fire formula.
What works in one email campaign might bomb with the next. A discount offer should be worded differently from an up sell, and both are different from a breaking-news announcement.

 

Even if you are sending out email messages to promote similar campaigns, you shouldn't recycle an email subject line from a past campaign. You need to stand out each time, yet be familiar to the reader, too. How do you find out what works best? See Rule 3.

 

Tip 3: Test, test, test.
Test continually to determine trends and styles that appear to work. Add a day to your campaign-creation schedule to give you enough time to try out different email subject lines.

 

Tip 4: Open rates don't always measure subject-line success.
Look at the subjects associated with the highest number of conversions, such as registrations, clicks to view newsletter articles, sales or downloads. If you drill down into your web analytics, you might find some anomalies, such as an email with a relatively low open rate but a high sales-per-order rate. That could mean something in the subject line strongly appealed to a narrow segment of your email list and could point the way to a more lucrative segmentation. Remember, your end goal is not necessarily high open rates, but to have email subscribers take a specific action. Focus on your end goal.

 

Tip 5: Urgency drives action.
Set a deadline: "Order by midnight tonight;" "Last day to ensure Xmas delivery." Use urgency and deadlines as part of a planned series of emails as well. For example on Monday incorporate: “5 Days Left…” and then on Thursday follow it with: “Only 24 Hours….”.

 

Tip 6: Watch spam filters.
There's a fine line between "catchy" and "spammy." Run your email copy through a content checker to identify any spam like words, phrases or construction. The content checker will tell you which phrases to avoid.

 

See subject line specifications here:

 

 

Subject line must not be all in upper case.
Subject line must begin with a capital letter.
Subject line, words with more than three letters must have first letter capitalized.
Subject line must be more than a single word.
Subject line should be a description of the e-mail.
Subject line cannot use "RE" or "FW".
Subject line can not contain punctuations marks.
Subject lines can not contain website address.
Subject line can not contain e-mail address.
Subject line can not have any special characters.

 

Subject line can not use the following words or phases:

 

► breaking news

► breaking
► your own boss
► levitra
► call now 

► loans
► cash bonus

► make money
► cialis 

► multi level marketing
► click here

► notspam
► Dear Friend 

► numerical digits at the end
► don't delete

► online degree
► earn extra cash 

► online marketing
► easy terms 

► online pharmacy
► eliminate debt

► alert
► extra income

► apply now
► fast cash

► as seen
► financial freedom

► as seen on Oprah
► free access

► as seen on TV
► free gift

► act now
► free info

► all words that relate pornography
► free instant

► promised you
► free offer

► refinance
► free samples

► reminder
► friend

► satisfaction
► g a p p y t e x t

► search engine listings
► get out of debt

► serious cash
► god

► sex
► get out of debt

► Sunday morning alert
► hello

► teen 
► herbal

► undisclosed recipient 
► Hi

► valium 
► hidden

► vicodin 
► home based

► winner 
► hot

► work from home 
► information you requested

► xanax 
► instant

► your family 
► insider

► Your own 

 

 

Tip 7: Lead, but don't mislead.
Don't stretch the truth in the subject line or promise more than the email can deliver, or make grand claims that readers will find hard to comply with in order to get a special offer or benefit. Readers will distrust you (and reach for the report-spam button) if your subject line doesn't reflect the email content.  
 

 

Tip 8: Write and test early and often.
Writing the subject line is often the last and most hurried step in email campaign development. It should be the other way around. As you plan the email marketing campaign, start thinking about what will go into the subject line. That will help you sharpen your campaign's focus and may even change or tweak the offer or article focus.
 

 

Tip 9: Review subject-line performance over your last several campaigns or newsletters.
See which email subject lines delivered the action you wanted – the most conversions, the highest average sale per order, the highest click-through rate, etc.
 

 

Tip 10: Continue the conversation.
Sending email more frequently than monthly or quarterly helps you create a conversation with your readers. Your tracking reports should show you what their crucial or hot-button issues are, what topics get them opening and clicking more vigorously. Feature those keywords or issues prominently in the email subject line where appropriate -- first or second position -- to capture readers' attention.