If you want people to actually read your carefully-crafted emails, the best thing you can do is write a killer subject line.

Here's why:

According to Copyblogger, 8 out of 10 people will read your headline ... but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest of what you wrote.

And, according to this writer on Buffer, sometimes the number of those who click through is even smaller than that:

"Take a recent, popular tweet from my timeline. Over 3,800 people saw the tweet. Only fifty people clicked. That’s 76 times more people seeing the headline as reading the story."

Whatever statistic you wanna go with, the message is the same:

No one will read your email if your subject line doesn't get them to open it up

So here's five tips (and lots of bonus resources!) to help write great subject lines that:

This probably won't surprise you, but a whopping 81% of people check their email on their phone.

Moral of the story?  Write your headline like it's going to be read on a phone - because it probably will be.

Of course, each phone shows a slightly different number of letters - but a good rule of thumb is to make your first 25-30 characters (the first 3 or 4 words) count the most.

And it's not just about the phones, either - it's about the readers, too

According to Buffer, "KISSmetrics has reported that readers tend to absorb the first three words of a headline and the last three words, making a six-word headline ideal."

OK, so, realistically you won't *always* write a 6 word headline.  And that's absolutely fine.

But the moral of the story is this: when it comes to your headline, make sure to keep it short and sweet whenever possible.

👉  P.S. If you want a free tool that helps you preview how a subject line would look like on some of the most popular phone models, Zurb has a really cool tool called "Test Subject" you can try out! 

Ever gotten an email WITH ALL CAPITAL LETTERS?

Or maybe someone was so excited that they used! all! the! EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!

(Man, that feels loud just reading it, right??)

Writing like this is a problem for two reasons.

1. You're writing to a person - so just talk to them like a person

When someone calls me on the phone, I don't want them yelling through the earpiece at me like it's a walkie talkie or a megaphone.

It's SUPER uncomfortable, and makes me want to hang up as soon as possible.

It's the same with emails.  Treat it like a conversation on the phone - not a megaphone blast. 

2. Email spam filters get smarter every day

This means that when certain words, formatting, or language patterns show up - like !!!!! or ALL CAPS - the filters know that this is *probably* a spammy salesy email.

And will chuck your carefully-constructed email straight into the spam folder.

So, quite simply, don't yell in your subject line - be conversational.

👉  P.S. If you want a tool to check how "spammy" an email is before you send it - from subject line to signature - I just found this free cool tool called Is Not Spam that's super easy to use.  Check it out!

Vagueness is a cardinal sin in content – but specific numbers show reliability!  

So make sure to include exact numbers like 53%, 172 people, or $173,455.

There's something about those specific numbers that have the ring of authenticity - and therefore increase opens.

For example, one AdWords test compared a numbered headline (that highlighted a specific amount saved) versus a non-specific headline. Guess what? The numbered headline increased CTR by 217% and conversions by 23% (!!)

Not only that, but using numbers is one of my favorite (and easiest) methods of writing an effective headline:

See?  Couldn't be easier!

When you have a marketing tool like Mailchimp or Constant Contact, one of the most basic tools included is personalization tokens.

(This is that part in your marketing emails where it says something like [insert name here], and automatically fills in the name for each person on your email list)

Adding someone's name is a tiny detail - but a powerful one. 

We LOVE to see our names - and the message feels more personalized when we receive it.  So try adding that little name token into your subject lines whenever you can.

Statistically, it works!

Experian researched this and reported that personalized promotional emails have 29% higher  open rates (and 41% more unique click-through rates!). 

Ever write a subject line ... and then can't seem to figure out why it doesn't sound quite right?  Or practical ways to improve it?

(By the way, you can't see it, but I'm raising my hand in response to that question because - um, YES, that's me, too)

Thankfully, there's TONS of tools out there – both paid and free – to help grade and improve your subject lines.

Here are a couple of good ones that I like:

Subjectline.com

Headline Analyzer by CoSchedule

Both tools offer more or less the same thing, including:

Trust me, these tools have made my subject line writing process MUCH easier, time and again, in my writing work.

Good news! When it comes to your subject lines, you don't have to reinvent the wheel every time.

Advertisers have been wise to the importance of headlines for a looooong time, and they've paid close attention to what works (and what doesn't)

All ya gotta do is find a good formula that fits your message, and plug-and-play.

For example, here's a simple "question" formula:

"Do You Know How To _________ ?"

For your bookkeeping business, you might turn that into:

"Do You Know How To Run A Profit Report?"

Another example is what Buffer calls "the ultimate headline formula".  Just combine these ingredients:

Numbers + Adjective + Target Keyword + Rationale + Promise

A bookkeeping example of this could be:

10 Simple Steps To Start Automating Your Bookkeeping Today

Super easy, right?  :)

There are literally HUNDREDS of possibilities out there that you can choose from, so you'll never run out of options!

Here are some of my favorite sources for formulas for headlines + email subject lines:

Writing a good subject line that gets your email opened doesn't haven't to be hard or overwhelming!  

With just a few tools and basic principles, you can help improve the chances that your amazing offers and helpful newsletters will get opened up - and clicked on! 

So, to sum up:

And BONUS: Use Templates + Formulas - Why remake the wheel when you can just copy tried-and-true subject lines from the experts?  Steal tried-and-true formulas from the experts!

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