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Whatever your line of business, you can’t make sales unless people know you exist. You may offer the best solution, but people won’t beat a path to your door unless you introduce yourself. If the thought of cold calling spooks you, thankfully, there’s email.
A catchy subject line catches your readers' attention and makes them want to learn more, but a weak subject line might mean people ghost you. Being ghosted via email doesn’t hurt as much as having someone hang up on you, but it won’t get you any new business, either.
The best cold email subject lines can bring you back from the dead quicker than a zombie movie by piquing your prospect’s interest and inspiring them to learn more. Use these sales email subject line best practices and examples to boost your open rates and attract new customers.
Why Subject Lines Matter in Outbound Sales
Everyone wants to make a good first impression. You wouldn’t show up to a job interview in a Halloween costume. Email subject lines are like an ideal interview outfit. Choose them with care to make a memorable and lasting impression.
Most email systems bold an email's subject line. If your potential customers don’t have message previews displayed in their inbox, your subject line is all they see. It's the only thing standing between you and a new lead, so you want to make it count.
You may not make a sale with a good subject line, but you can lose one with a bad subject line. A cold email with a weak subject line is like a haunted house with no visitors.
The Anatomy of a Good Cold Email Subject Line
So what makes a good subject line, you ask? It depends on your audience. Knowing your target customer will help you craft emails that resonate with your ideal customers. Great cold email subject lines do share specific characteristics. These best practices are like the perfect potion to cast a spell over your audience.
Personalization
Adding a personal touch to your subject lines keeps your customers from flagging your messages as spam. Personalization is like choosing the right kind of candy for the trick-or-treaters in your neighborhood. When you give them what they like, they will remember you.
To personalize your email subject lines, use a prospect’s name, reference the specific event at which you met them or got their email, or address a specific pain point. If you’re developing a business-to-business (B2B) campaign, add your company to the subject line. It sets a friendly tone and serves as a digital handshake between you and your potential customer.
Curiosity
Like a good horror novel, a cold email subject line will make potential customers eager to turn the page. Share enough information to draw their interest without giving your whole message away. Create a gap in information and promise to resolve it if they open the email.
For example, if you’re promoting your new hair salon, you might send a cold email with this subject line: “We know what your neighbor has been hiding.”
This email appeals to people’s innate sense of curiosity and a playful love of gossip. In your email, you can spill the secret (making sure it’s hair-related) and follow up with an offer.
You can tie this tactic in with other best practices, such as appealing to a customer's needs. Consider this subject line: “Are you tired of [pain point]?" It specifically addresses a problem your target audience needs to solve while also making them curious about how you can help them. Play with this theme by phrasing your unique selling points as questions.
Brevity
In an inbox full of emails, you want to get noticed, so keep your subject lines brief. Whether a person is scrolling through emails on their phone or their computer, they are likely sorting through multiple messages. Shorter email subject lines appeal to people with short attention spans and are easier to read on mobile devices. Aim for no more than 60 characters.
Relevance to the Recipient’s Pain Points
Addressing your potential customers’ key challenges is a great way to inspire them to open your emails. If you’ve done your homework by doing market research and creating customer personas, you probably know what matters most to your audience.
Send emails that relate to your customers’ needs so that they’re more interested in what you’re selling. Consider the difference between these two subject lines from an HVAC repair company:
- We know you’re ready to cool off
- Try our HVAC services in your home
Although the second example starts with an action word, the first one is stronger. If you read that email during a heat wave, you’ll be more inspired to get someone to your house to cool it off ASAP.
It’s important to avoid clickbait. Resist the urge to overpromise in a subject line, particularly if you know you can’t deliver. You might inspire people to open your email, but you won’t earn their trust. Clearly convey your benefits to customers, but be honest and sincere.
Best Cold Email Subject Lines To Not Get Ghosted
Before you start chasing down potential customers via email, practice crafting engaging subject lines. Use these examples for inspiration:
- Ready for a ‘Treat’? Let’s Solve Your [Pain Point]
- This Is Not a ‘Trick’”: Boost Your ROI With [Solution]
- Grab This Limited Time Offer Before It Vanishes
- Stop Being Ghosted by Your Customers: Improve Sales With [Solution]
- [Customer Name], Don’t Let This Promotional Offer Slip Away
- [Contact Name], It Was Great Meeting You at [Event]
- A Creative Solution for [Customer Pain Point]
- Don’t Get Left Behind: Take Advantage of This Limited-Time Offer
- Only XX Days Left Until [Event]
- Why Now Is the Best Time To Try [Company name]
- [Name] Are You Drowning in Your Inbox? Work Smarter With [Solution]
- How Would You Use [Number] Extra Dollars Every Month?
How To Test Your Subject Lines
It takes practice before you start killing it with cold email subject lines. Thankfully, you can use data to improve your chances of successfully capturing your audience's attention. Start by looking through your previous email marketing campaigns to see which generated the most buzz.
Evaluate your open rates and note any trends in your subject lines. You may notice that emails addressing key pain points have a higher open rate than those offering promotional deals. Or you might note that email recipients respond well to subject lines offering real-world successes or case studies.
Improve your chances of successfully connecting with your audience by testing subject lines.
A/B Testing
A/B testing involves sending two versions of the same message to small sample audiences to see which performs better. If you have an email list of 1,500 subscribers, create two small groups of 100 people and send a separate email to each with slightly different subject lines.
Once you’ve sent the email, track your open and click-through rates, noting which email subject line performed better. When you’ve found the winning subject line, send it out to the rest of your email list.
Reformat Your Subject Lines
Try different subject line styles to see which breathes life into your campaigns. Pick some of your lower-performing campaigns and try using a different style to boost the open rate. If your thought-provoking subject line didn’t drum up interest, resend the campaign using a different subject line.
For example, suppose your potential hair salon clients didn’t open your email encouraging them to discover their neighbor’s secret. Maybe they’re just not as gossipy as you expected. If the email includes a limited-time discount, highlight that in your subject line and use time-based language to create a sense of urgency: “Book a service this weekend and receive 10% off product purchases.”
Eventually, you will get a sense of what works best for your audience. Keep switching up your subject lines to entertain your audience so they’ll always want to open your emails.
Closing With a Call to Action
You only get one chance to make a first impression — unless a cold email recipient deletes your email without reading it. Then, you get another shot at it by sending them another email. With the right subject lines, your readers won’t want to delete your emails because they will be inspired to see what’s inside.
Try some intriguing sample subject lines for your next campaign. You know which keywords resonate most with your audience, so be creative. Switch up the sentence structure and communicate your unique value to your potential customers.
Inspire action by hinting at what you want readers to do once they’ve read your message (the call to action). Stating “Explore [Solution] With Us” or “Grab Your Offer Now” shows your readers what you want from them and inspires action.
Don’t let your messages haunt the email cemetery that is the trash folder — use these tips, tricks, and examples to start getting the replies you deserve!
