Email marketing is a powerful tool for ecommerce stores. So powerful in fact that on average, every dollar spent on email returns $38 for ecommerce stores.
The problem, however, is that no matter how good your emails are, they’re completely useless if people aren’t reading them. Half the challenge is simply getting people to open your email.
The biggest factor that determines whether someone will open your email is its subject line. In fact, 35% of people base their decision whether or not to open an email solely on its subject line. Another 69% of people who mark emails as spam do so entirely based on the subject line as well.
With so much riding on your subject line, it’s worthwhile knowing how to write a good one.
This is exactly what this article will aim to do: show you how to write ecommerce subject lines that make sales.
The Basics of Email Subject Lines
First things first, before you can start getting creative with writing your subject lines, you must first nail down all of the technical considerations. These include things like how long your subject line is and whether people will actually be able to read it.
Subject Line Length
When it comes to length, different email clients have a varying amount of characters they display. It’s also important to remember that mobile email apps will be even more aggressive with cutting off subject lines than their desktop counterparts. This is particularly relevant seeing as most email opens are now occurring on mobiles.
Subject line length also correlates strongly with the number of opens. The best open rates were achieved with between four and 15 characters, whereas the worst had over 50 characters.
In other words: brevity is key.
In terms of actual character limits, the Mail app on the iPhone tends to cut subject lines off at the 30 character mark:
Keeping your subject line within four to 15 characters isn’t always going to be feasible. So if you’re looking for a limit to remain within, 30 is a good starting point.
Emojis
Adding an emoji or two is a popular means making a subject line stand out in people’s inboxes. When done well, this is a great strategy. However, there are a couple of things you should keep in mind.
First of all, emojis appear slightly different across different platforms and devices. For instance, take a look at how the “face with rolling eyes” emoji appears across Apple, Google and Samsung.
As you can see, Samsung’s version includes a slight smile, which changes the emotion conveyed.
This is one of the most pronounced examples of emojis, so practically speaking this isn’t something you’re going to run into on a regular basis. It is something you should keep in mind though.
The other thing to be aware of is whether your subscribers’ email clients can actually render emojis. Virtually all major clients support emojis now with the exception of Outlook 2003. Emojis on Outlook 2003 will instead be displayed as either rectangular boxes or as 2D, black and white glyphs, such as in the image below.
Emails being viewed on computers running Windows 7 (or earlier editions) may also not properly display emojis. As this is due to the operating system itself, it doesn’t matter which email client is being used.
Don’t let either of these two things dissuade you from using emojis though. When used well, a single emoji in a subject line results in more opens and fewer complaints.
How to Write Your Subject Line
Now it’s time to go about actually writing your subject line.
Obviously, the entire point of the subject line is to inform your subscribers of what your email is about. While we don’t recommend straying from this purpose, there’s plenty you can do while still having an informative subject line.
Be Personal
Personalization is key when it comes to email marketing. There are countless studies out there showing that personalized emails outperform bulk emails. From an over 50% increase in customer satisfaction to having a 30% higher open rate. The message is clear: personalize your emails.
Personalizing your subject lines is not just about including your subscriber’s first name either. Ideally you’d be sending your subscribers content within the email that’s tailored to their interests. This makes coming up with a personalized subject line much easier.
For example, let’s say you’re sending order confirmation emails, your subject line could be something like “Look out {name}! Your {product} is on its way”. This instantly personalizes the email and grabs the recipient’s attention.
As soon as you start personalizing the content of your email, personalized subject lines should follow naturally.
Be Clear
Again, the purpose of subject lines are to inform people of what the email is about. Don’t opt for the strategy of vagueness to get people to open your email purely to discover what’s in it. We know that open rates improve as subject lines become more descriptive. Therefore if you’re not being clear, people are simply going to ignore your emails.
The email below from The Curiosity Box is as good of an example as any at being clear with its subject line.
For regular automated messages, like personalized product recommendations, you’ll also want to keep your subject lines fresh. Sending the same line week after week or month after month will only train your subscribers to tune out your email.
Generate Curiosity
Conversely, you’ll also want your subject lines to generate a degree of curiosity. This doesn’t prevent you from also being clear, you just don’t want to give everything away.
Examples of subject lines that strike this balance well include:
- 5 Ways to Stay Cool this Summer
- Wondered how we make our t-shirts?
- Our new Podcast
These clearly communicate what the email is about, while still being interesting enough to entice people to open them.
Again, having a subject line that peaks people’s interest is much easier when you’re sending genuinely interesting emails. Just like with personalization, creating a great subject line often starts with the email itself.
Create a Sense of Urgency
A common tactic to increase conversions in marketing (whether that be email opens, sales or anything in between) is to have time-bound offers. Subject lines that employ this on average see a 22% higher open rate compared to those that don’t.
Achieving this is as simple as giving your subscribers a deadline to do something. This can be as simple as just including the word “tomorrow” which was found to increase open rates by 10%.
A good example is this email from Williams Sonoma.
Including the words “FINAL HOURS” means that subscribers cannot put off opening the email to a later time. They need to read it as soon as they receive it if they want the savings.
Scarcity is a related concept that you can also leverage to create a sense of urgency.
Booking sites often use scarcity to get your business. Doing so creates a fear of missing out (FOMO) in the mind of your subscriber compelling them to take action quickly.
Subject lines successfully employing this tactic include:
- Our biggest sale ever: Limited stock remaining
- Only 5 seats left. Book Now.
- Places are filling up fast. Don’t miss out.
Things to Avoid
When it comes to writing your subject line, there are a few things you should avoid doing. Usually, these things come down to a single point: don’t be annoying. This means:
Don’t Use All Caps
Shouting at your subscribers is not a good strategy to get them to open your emails. And that’s what you’re effectively doing if you WRITE YOUR SUBJECT LINE WITH THE CAPS LOCK ON.
Not only is it aggressive, it’s also spammy. This can potentially increase your chances of missing people’s inboxes altogether and landing in their spam folders.
Using title case where you begin each word with a capital is fine. As is using all caps for just a word or two, such as with “FINAL DAYS: Don’t Miss Out on Massive Savings”. Just don’t abuse the caps lock.
Don’t Overuse Punctuation
Another easy way to make your subject lines look spammy is to use excessive punctuation. It might attract people’s attention, but for all the wrong reasons. It’s best to keep things to a single question or exclamation mark and avoid the example below.
Avoid Spam Trigger Words
Spam filters have come a long way from only being triggered the inclusion of certain words in your subject line or email. That said, there are still words you’ll want to avoid using to be on the safe side.
These include phrases such as:
- Work from home
- Fast cash
- You’re a winner
You can find a longer list here.
Even if these words don’t trigger spam filters like they used to, including them will still make your emails look spammy to subscribers. If you want a sure fire way to destroy your open rates, then try including as many of these words as you can.
The Bottom Line
Getting people to open your email is essential to achieving the impressive results that email marketing has brought other stores. And subject lines play a deciding role in whether people will open your emails or not.
By putting the above tips and suggestions into practice, you’ll be well on your way to improved open rates and more sales.
The next step is to start A/B testing different subject lines. This will help ensure that you’re always sending the best one that generates the most opens.
All of this will set you on course to surpass the average return of $38 for every dollar you spend on email marketing.
Author bio: Aaron Wiseman is a marketing assistant at SmartrMail, an email marketing app for Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce and Neto stores.