10 tips for optimizing the subject line of your emailings!

published on 20/06/2013,

updated on 21/12/2020

In email marketing, every opening is a victory... but there are far more defeats than victories. We can't say that email subject lines are marketers' top priority. And yet, it's not uncommon to meet email specialists who estimate the impact of subject lines on campaign results at 50%. And paradoxically, creating a subject line is probably the fastest act in the process of creating an email campaign. If we take the 50% idea of impact on performance ... we end up with a glaring imbalance!

The object line is therefore often neglected ... by ignorance!

The most used technique to optimize an object line is the AB test. This AB test is used by many marketers ... but often without any theoretical basis! However, if you don't want to end up choosing between 23.5% of opening and 24.1% (which won't optimize much) during your AB tests, there are some tips to put into practice.

How to optimize the subject line of your emailings?

Think of your subject lines as the first step in your campaign briefing.
AB test: if your potential is sufficient, create at least 4 different subject lines.
AB test: create real differences between versions. Ask several people for suggestions.
AB testing: document the AB tests you perform in order to keep a history of them.
Surprise creates action! Don't underestimate the effect of change in your subject lines.
Use the data you have on your customers. For example, geographic data can be a great source of creativity.
Think "call to action": Opening an email is an action just like clicking a button. Think about it!
Be honest: Don't disappoint your recipients with a subject line that is too catchy for the content of your emails.
Go beyond the opening rate: The opening rate of an email is not the most reliable data! Think about measuring performance on the click rate or conversion rate.
Use urgency: But not all the time, otherwise your subscribers might get bored and stop believing you.

Bonus: Don't forget to read this article by my former colleague Florent Diverchy: "Email subject lines: the Motivational Segmentation way "Photo credit : Daniel R. Blume - Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Need help?

Reading content isn't everything. The best way is to talk to us.

Support the "Email Expiration Date"

Brevo and Cofidis financially support the project. Join the movement and together, let's make the email industry take responsibility for the climate emergency.

I want to know more

The author

Jonathan Loriaux

I've been involved in email marketing for over ten years, and my career path began on the technical side (email campaign integration) before moving on to sales (as an eCRM expert) and finally marketing consultancy. For the past 9 years, I've been the author of the Badsender.com blog. Emailing isn't just an expertise, it's truly become my passion, which is why Badsender is now my main activity, with the creation of an emailing consulting business linked to the site.

All publications

One response

Dan Emailing
12 years ago
Thank you for the article with which I completely agree:
- No or little opening ==> mail title
- No or few clicks ==> html model
it's not 100% just because other more technical elements may come into play so be careful.
and please, even if it works, don't put the words around to win items 😉