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write a professional subject line tips and practices
14 Tips for writing a professional email subject line

People Do Judge their new coming emails from the subject line. So, if you are a professional email marketer or you are sending emails day by day you ought to master writing a subject line so that your emails get opened, in fact practicing more on it will make you write subject lines easier and more unconsciously you will perfect writing them.

If you are just thinking of any subject line after you finish your email, you are doing a really big mistake, as the quality of your subject line dramatically affects your open rate. They may seem like a small part of the email, but also subject lines are the first impression makers to your recipients, and they are the flag that will make your email stand high in a crowded inbox.

So, we thought of the Best and Important Practices for writing a professional subject line, and here’s what we got for you:

01. Write the subject line first

One of the disastrous mistakes a person can make in sending an email is forgetting to write a subject line, this may not only lead to dramatically reduce the open rate but also get lost or unnoticed in the mailbox, and more worth it may be sent to the spam box, so the best thing is to write it first, this will help to attract attention to this email and that’s why we at FastDeliver give the user ability to write the subject line and preview text before even starting to write the email

N.B: Preview text is the text shown after the subject line in emails list to the recipients

02. Keep the subject line as short as possible

On average, email inboxes show 60 to 70 characters max from the subject line, and mobiles show an average of 25 to 30 characters, that’s the main reason to keep it short. If it’s difficult for you, you can think about which words can be eliminated or included inside the email and still not hurt your subject line. For example, the word “newsletter” can be eliminated from the subject line, some studies show it lowers the open rate in fact.

03. Be Concise, eliminate unneeded words

That’s exactly the core to keep your subject line short. You can avoid greeting words like “hello”, “Thank you”. But rather you better use words like these at the start of the email

04. Be clear and specific about the email topic

The subject line should tell exactly what your email is about, this helps your recipients to prioritize your email importance. It must not be generic or vague. Writing subject lines like “hello, please open my email” or “hi, do you have a second?” will drive you to reach a zero % open rate

05. Use logical words

In a world full of emails and of course, some of them are spammy. Many people use search filters nowadays. Thus, including logical words or search keywords relevant to your email topic can make it easier for your recipient to search for your emails and find it

06. Set a deadline in the subject line

Using a sense of urgency in your email subject line can significantly increase your open rates, especially if you present offers ending next week, or offers ending in 2 days, also it can be used if you need a reply within 2 days or before the end of the week

07. Request response if needed

Just like driving a sense of urgency, if you need a response, making it clear in the subject line pushing for a response will increase your probability to get your email opened. You can use words like “thoughts needed on X” or “waiting for your reply on Y”. of course it’s also recommended to request the response in the email body, but these are tips for increasing your email open rates

08. Highlight the value you offer

This one is huge and needs a topic by itself, anyway, if you are sending a cold email to someone you don’t know, you need to write a subject line that indicates the value and tells your recipients what they will get and why they should open your email, is there something helpful for them? A discount? A free tip? A free service? Making it clear for your recipients what’s in it for them will significantly increase your subject line quality and boost your open rate

09. Personalize, make people feel special

You have to know who you’re sending the email to, and they have to recognize that it relates to them or a subject interesting to them. Using their name, company name or any of the personalization tags is one of the best ways to do that and makes the recipient much more likely to open the email. For example, you might write, “Increase theirdomain.com traffic by 25%,” or “John, see how you compare to competitors.”

10. Don’t start a sentence and finish it in the email body

If you begin a thought or question that ends in the email, then you are forcing your recipient to open the email. This is annoying, and since clarity and being respectful of the recipient’s time is the goal, it’s not very helpful. Consider whether an instant message, a call, or an in-person chat might be a better medium for your question.

11. Don’t use ALL CAPS

The most annoying thing you can do to your recipient is to type the subject line or even worse all the emails in CAPS. You might get some attention but in the wrong way. Using ALL CAPS is the digital equivalent of yelling, and people don’t like to be yelled at.

Not only it’s annoying and disruptive but it also, look spammy. Which makes it not a wise decision. If you want to emphasize certain words, you better highlight these words in bold font.

12. Use concise language

Keep in mind that people scan their inboxes very quickly -- so the clearer and more concise your subject line are, the better. It's usually a lot better to be concise than it is to use complex and flowery language -- unless you're going for an elusive subject tone to entice your recipients.

When you're going for a concise subject line, think first about how your email will benefit your recipients. You'll want to make that benefit very clear. For example, "Increase your open rates by 50% today” is more appealing than "How to increase open rates."

13. Use a meaningful and related preview text

While preview text isn't technically part of your subject line, it does appear right after the subject line and it certainly deserves your attention as it is the first thing your recipient will read after the subject line and before opening your email.

Preview text provides recipients with a peek at the content inside your email, which email clients like Gmail, iPhone Mail app, and Outlook will display alongside the subject line. The amount of text shown depends on the email client and user settings.

When you don't set the preview text yourself, the email client will automatically pull from the body of your email. That can look messy depending on your email content especially if it’s HTML formatted, and it's also a wasted opportunity to engage your audience.

14. Reread and eliminate mistakes

To avoid misprints and other mistakes, be sure to reread the subject line. A professional email should not have any errors in the subject line. Rereading helps you eliminate copy and paste errors which can happen when sending a similar email to multiple people and you may forget to change a name or title in the subject line

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