1. Test your subject line out.

The most important guideline is to test your subject line. You may think you have the best subject line, but you won’t know until you show it to your audience. Feel free to play with a lot of different options, compare open rates, and keep tweaking until your open rate is where you’d like it to be. A/B testing is also your friend – testing 2 or more subject lines at the start gets you more data to work with quicker.

Make sure you’re aware of industry averages, not only for your product, but also for your customer’s industry. If you don’t know what open rate you should be going for, here are some industry averages (as of June 29, 2023):

1. 1. 1. Real Estate: 41.6%
      2. Finance: 41.4%
      3. Health and Fitness: 41.2%
      4. Manufacturing: 41.1%
      5. Media: 40.7%
      6. Retail: 40.6%
      7. Computers and Electronics: 40%
      8. Beauty and Personal Care: 39.9%
      9. Architecture: 39.8%
      10. Software and Web App: 39.8%
      11. Insurance: 39.3%
      12. Legal: 39.3%
      13. Telecommunications: 39.1%
      14. Marketing and Advertising: 38.3%
      15. Consulting: 36.9%
      16. Business and Finance: 36.5%
      17. Other: 36.3%
      18. Educational Institutions: 35.4%
      19. Construction: 33.9%
      20. Online Courses and Coaching: 33.8%
      21. Information Technology (IT): 33.5%

2. Keep subject lines shorter. 

Short subject lines ensure that the audience will be able to fully read the subject line before clicking on the email. This also helps to create contrast in their email inbox against emails that have longer subject lines, making them stand out. 

3. Include a personalization like a first name to grab their attention. 

Personalizing your subject lines makes the email feel like it is coming from a real human, and not just the company. Using their first name is one of the easiest ways to personalize an email. An example of this is, “Hi, {{ first name }}, review us on TrustRadius!” 

4. Include an emoji.

Adding in an emoji is another way to stand out against other subject lines. While this might not fit every company’s style, it can be fun to switch it up sometimes. When using an emoji, it is also best to only use one or two at the most. Including one at the beginning or end of your subject line is a great way to increase visibility. For example, if you’re mentioning a gift card or something money related, add the cash or money emoji at the end of your subject line. Or, if you say “Five Star Reviews” simply replace the word star with the star emoji.

One important thing to keep in mind is that emojis can look important across different platforms, so be sure to choose carefully.

5. No false promises. 

I got an email last week where the subject line promised a 1-minute survey and a $10 gift card for my time. 10 minutes in, I finally finish it, and the final page says I need to go to a 30-minute interview to receive the gift card.

6. Send out reminders or create a sense of urgency.

Some ways to do that are by sending a follow-up email to those who never opened the first one with the subject line starting as “Reminder:” or “Last Day!” Creating a sense of FOMO will make readers want to open up the email. We also love being transparent in the subject line and email copy by giving a strict deadline.

7. Avoid spam or trigger words. 

Spam words in your subject line might not only get your email ignored, but also marked as spam, hurting your metrics even more. Don’t know what those are? Here’s one of our favorite resources: https://www.activecampaign.com/blog/spam-words

8. Tease to what will be in the email.

Ultimately, your subject line is just a preheader to what will be included in your email. Give a teaser in the subject line that will make your audience want to click and read through your email.

9. Don’t forget that you can also use a preheader so you don’t have to put everything in your subject line.

In fact, you should always use a preheader! If you don’t, whatever is the first piece of content in your email (usually an image name like companylogo.jpg) will show up next to your well thought out subject line! Use that real estate to keep the reader engaged.

10. Find the style that best suits your brand and customers (e.g. funny, sweet, serious, catchy, etc.)

Below are some examples for different style types, check them out and see if any might fit your brand. 

• Funny: “The Peanut Butter lovers have spoken” by One Trick Pony
• Funny: ““An acid trip in a bowl” and other weird reviews” by Magic Spoon Cereal
  • Not only is this funny, but it pulls in the human-ness of others leaving a review.
• Catchy: “Tastes great and no plastic waste.” by HumanKind
  •       This pulls in an actual reviewer, rolls off the tongue, and says a LOT about the value of the product right off the bat.
• Serious: “Tell us what you think” by Chewy
  • Simple and to the point. 
• Sweet: “We’d really love your feedback” by Graza