Email subject lines: Quick tricks to get your emails opened

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Sick of unopened emails?

Get opened, get noticed and get read with my 5 favourite tips for email subject lines.

It’s not the most exciting subject, but you’ll love the spike in engagement, that’s for sure.

You know what it’s like…you’ve been there before. You spend hours (literally) writing a useful and entertaining email to your audience. After hitting send, you go back in and check your open reports. And immediately hit refresh, because honestly, how can only 3 people have read the email?!

IT WAS YOUR BEST WORK FOR PETE’S SAKE!

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Sound familiar?

It’s deflating. Suddenly you resent the effort and the brilliant work, so much wasted time.

So, then the doubts kick in and you start questioning if you’re on the right track. Before you know it, you’re in a wee despair vortex and you’re ready to throw in the towel.

Self doubt destroys the best ideas

Seriously, STOP! As a mad busy business owner, with a real life to deal with, there’s already enough 💩 to deal with, without worrying about stuff like this.

Especially when there are tricks to fix it

It all starts with your subject line. They’re the first thing people see, so is it boring as all doo-doo? Will it stand out in the sea of emails your subscribers get day in, day out?

Even the best marketers and bloggers struggle to get emails read, so there’s no magic formula to this. But you can put some extra thought and time into it and make it connect.

Email subject lines that get opened

I like to focus on my ideal customer when I write emails. What would make yours open up and take action? And then get really clear on the type of email subject line that will work with that person.

If you’ve lost focus on your subject titles, or need to learn from the start – have a look at my 5 favourites. Which one will you use this week?

1. Curiosity Killed the Cat Opened the Email

Subject lines that ask a question or pique curiosity are way more likely to be opened than a subject that gives the answer straight away.

WHY? Because we’re nosey buggers and we can’t handle unanswered questions.

TRY:

• Are you tired of hearing this too?
• Want more XXX in your business?
• What 3 things could you do with XXX?
• What would you do with more X X X?
• When was the last time you XXX?

2. It’s not about you (it’s about your reader)

If you’ve spent ages creating a feeling with your email, then it should start with your subject line.

Time to get personal. Refer to the reader as ‘you’ for immediate connection. If your email system allows it, add their first name in the subject line.

WARNING: make sure the level of ‘personal’ fits with your own communication style. If it doesn’t feel authentic to you then it will feel even less right with your reader.

TRY:

• Imagine how great you’d feel if you could only…
• When you told me XX I knew you’d love to hear…
• I know you’re feeling X but…
• Imagine yourself a year from today…

3. QUICK! OH MY GOD DID YOU SEE THAT EMAIL HEADING? CATCH IT WHILE YOU CAN!

People often buy something because they don’t want to miss out on it. They don’t ask if they ‘need’ it till after the fact. How about you?

Subscribers are more likely to open an email with a sense of urgency. FOMO* is real! Keep in mind that urgency messaging can creep into over-salesy so don’t go too heavy on it. Remember, nobody likes being sold to.

TRY:

• Want 15% off? Expires in 48 hours
• Just 10 spaces left – will you join us before it’s too late?
• Your chance to (insert need here) closes in 3 days
• You’re going to miss our special offer
• Doors are closing – grab your space fast

4. Be an open book. Email subjects that do exactly what it says on the tin.

They’re not clever. They’re not fancy. But sometimes, you just need to tell someone what’s going on.

This is when cloaking your message in mystery will not work! It’s straight, to the point and perfect for those moments where you want to be in and out, sharp.

TRY:

• Your free guide to XXX (put benefits in here) is here
• I thought you’d be interested to know about xxx
• Your 10 day challenge starts on Monday. Joining details inside

4. Everyone loves a surprise | thrill | shock | laugh

Poking fun at someone or challenging their views can be a smart way to get people to sit up and pay attention.

TRY:

• So you’re life is crap. What you going to do about it?
• You said you’d do XXX but I see you haven’t XXX yet…
• What’s stopping you? Let’s do it together
• Everything you know about XXX is wrong…
• You won’t get (insert need) if you don’t (your solution) first

Test, experiment, play around

As with most things – there’s no magic wand or quick fix. And unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. The reasons people open emails are as varied and personal as the personalities of your subscribers.

Try different subject titles out. Be clever, be funny, be sensible, be scary – whatever makes you, you – put some of that in there. Your subscribers have signed up to hear what you have to say after all.

The five tips I’ve given are well recognised as the 5 best ways to get people to open your email but you might accidentally touch on something that doesn’t fit this list and if that’s the case, work out how you can use that concept and sprinkle in something extra from this list.

Love your service, but hate selling it?

If you want to grow your email list, connect with real people and sell your services online – in a way that feels authentic and genuine, then download my free guide Put your SALES where your SOUL is: 14 pages of tools, resources and worksheets to help you:

• Connect with your value so you can reach people who need you most
• Turn your mindset around so selling becomes enjoyable
• Write messages that inspire people to take action (buy now! Join my list!)
• Fight mindset blocks like imposter syndrome and perfectionism