While I was preparing the post according to the Internetlivestats stat this year the number of emails was sent: 69,546,814,775,890. Among all of these emails, how can you make yourself stand out? In my personal experience, it’s the subject line of your email which will make a buzz in the readers’ minds to open your email. On the web, you will find so many blogs on that particular topic. But I like to share a list of best email subject lines to boost your email open rates.
What Is A Good Subject Line?
You and your audience have something in common: You want to write less, and they want to read less.
Right?
And email subject lines — like blog post titles, tweet, and meta descriptions — don’t take up a whole lot of space.
For this reason, you’d think they must be easy to whip up. Everyone is capable of stringing together a few words, right?
Wrong.
As it turns out, writing short copy takes more than just good writing skills — it requires a deep understanding of your target customer and a talent for translating a larger message into a few words designed to strike the right chord.
To help you train your brain to write more concisely, we recommend pulling up a long-form piece of content and running through the following steps:
• Remove adverbs, adjectives, pronouns & prepositions.
• Replace phrases with one word.
• Use numerals instead of writing out numbers.
Why You Need Good Email Subject Lines?
You will be surprised that 47% of email recipients open an email based on the subject line whereas 69% of email recipients report email as spam based solely on the subject line. Emails with no subject all together have an open rate of 8% more than those with a subject line, whereas e-mails with personalized subject lines are 22% more likely to be opened. Here is an infographic that will help you to get a clear understanding of all the matters.
Open rate by the number of words in E-mail subject line
| Number of words | Open rate |
|---|---|
| 0-5 | 16% |
| 6-10 | 21% |
| 11-15 | 14% |
| 16-20 | 12% |
| 21-25 | 9% |
Open rates with recipients name in E-mail subject line
| Name | Open rate |
|---|---|
| With name | 18.30% |
| Without name | 15.70% |
How to Write Good Subject Lines
By following simple six steps you can write a better subject line for your own. But you need to practice more and more to become a pro in writing subject line copies.
Types of Email Subject Lines with Examples
We can categorize email subject lines into 7 categories. It will help us to get an idea about all types of subject lines. Here are those-
- FOMO: Fear of Missing Out subjects
- Curious Subject Lines
- Funny Subject Lines
- Pain Points
- Reengagement
- Emoji Subject Lines
- Social Proof Subjects
FOMO — the fear of missing out
It is a powerful motivator. Thanks to our psychological bent toward loss aversion, people react much more strongly when they feel they’re about to lose something they already have then when they expect to gain something.
It’s the best for sending offers or discount emails to the recipients.
Here are some examples of FOMO subject lines
- JustFab: “By Invitation Only: Exclusive Rewards Inside!”
- Ibotta: “Don’t let this $5 bonus slip away!”
- J.Crew Factory: “Click it or miss it, people: Over 500 styles under $25 is ending!”
- Book of the Month: “May’s best books are just too good to miss.”
- InstantBoss Club: “NEVER AGAIN SALE”
- Uber: “Grab a ride pass before they’re gone”
- Shoes of Prey: “In case you missed these…”
- Crate and Barrel: “2x the rewards, 2 brands, 5 days only.”
- Airbnb: “Barnstable is in high demand for August”
- AMC Theatres: “Hurry, Get Your Tickets to SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY Fan Event!”
- Charles Tyrwhitt: “Shirts for $39 ENDS MIDNIGHT”
Curious Subject Lines
Curiosity prompts action — and in the world of email, action often equates to better engagement rates.
Curiosity is powerful. It’s the force that leads you to stay up late watching the next episode of that exciting show. It’s the push that keeps you turning pages in a good book. It’s the seed that prompts you to Facebook stalk your former classmates to see what they are up to.
See it in action
- UX Collective: “Your fingerprints are all over the place”
- Select All: “The Two Possible Futures of Virtual Reality”
- Refinery29 Everywhere: “The $1,000 hair trend with a dirty little secret”
- Book of the Month: “Our most riveting book this month.”
- Sephora Insider: “You NEED to see this new eye treatment.”
- Madewell: “Everyone’s gonna ask you about these”
- Hiten from Product Habits: “2 hours before launch and we are still scrambling”
- Instant Boss Club: “80 likes to 458 likes SAY WHAT?”
- Intercom: “Are you making this landing page mistake?”
- Zillow: “The truth about moving expenses”
Funny Subject Lines
Your recipients’ email inboxes are inundated with ordinary subject lines all day, every day.
So how do you pique their interest in a sea of sameness?
Humor.
But remember: When using funny email subject lines, it’s important to know your audience.
Get Some Idea of Some Funny Subject Lines
- Free People: “‘Can I PLEASE borrow?!’ – everyone you know”
- Funny or DIe: “Revised policy regarding jean shorts at work”
- Dollar Shave Club: “Open up and say wowie zowie!”
- NextDraft: “In Flawed We Trust”
- Brooks Brothers: “Up to 40% off trousers & sport coats. It’s a tailor-made sale.”
- Grubhub: “Breaking chews! We found new restaurants near you!”
- NextDraft: “OMGodfather”
- Red Sox Ticketing: “Come to Fenway May 2 – we won’t tell your boss!”
- Dollar Shave Club: “What to Do When You’re the Sweaty, Smelly Guy at the Gym”
- Nordstrom Rack: “Ray-Ban up to 50% off. Get in a new frame of mind.”
Pain Point Subject Line
These days, businesses and individuals alike are constantly looking for ways to do more, see more, and earn more.
And as a marketer, it’s up to you to identify the obstacles that prevent them from doing so and use those insights to position your product or service as part of the solution.
At the end of the day, people want to feel like their problems are recognized and being taken care of and what better place to serve up that type of assurance than right in their inbox.
Some Good Examples on This Point
- J.Crew: “Your summer outfit dilemmas SOLVED”
- Groupon Experiences: “Fun to Help You Survive the Holidays”
- Terrain: “Your all-weather dining solution.”
- Qapital: “Don’t think about saving. Save without thinking.”
- By Regina: “Struggling with a business decision? I made you a 1-page framework to help.”
- Le Tote: “Monday-Friday Style Simplified”
- Domino’s: “No address? No problem. Now Domino’s can deliver to over 150,000 Domino’s Hotspots.”
- Adobe Stock: “Beautiful brochures made faster”
- Verizon Wireless: “Enjoy NBA games right at your fingertips.”
- Vidyard: “Engaging your prospects can be hard. Video makes it easy.”
- Grubhub: “Sit back and let someone else do the cooking”
Reengagement Subject Lines
Subscriber inactivity happens to the best of us.
Sometimes we see loyal subscribers gradually slip away as the demands of their job increase or change. Other times we see people drop off because the content fails to meet their needs. For that reason, re-engagement emails are critical to list health and maintenance.
See It in Actions
- Dollar Shave Club: “Hey, did you forget to open this?”
- The Bouqs Company: “Can You Believe It’s Been a Month?”
- Chubbies Shorts: “Lemme Teleport You Back to Your Cart. Free Of Charge.”
- LinkedIn: “[Name], people are looking at your LinkedIn profile”
- Groupon: “Still Interested in That Deal?”
- ClassPass: “New things are happening!”
- Airbnb: “Pick up where you left off”
- DraftKings: “[Name], you have an undrafted contest entry!”
- Vail Resorts: “Come Back This Winter With an Exclusive Deal, [Name]”
- Glassdoor: “It’s Been A While…”
- Marriott Rewards: “We’ve missed you, [Name]! Please come back!”
Emoji Subject Lines
Emojis have quickly become powerful communication tools, making it easier for businesses to convey emotion in situations where they are strapped for space.
Aside from the fact that emojis create contrast in your recipients’ inbox, research has found that emoji usage can actually help make your message more memorable.
Here are the top 15 emojis by subject line appearances. These aren’t necessarily the “best” ones to use—they’re just the most popular.
Some Best Examples
- Crate and Barrel: “Up to 40% off 🏖 + 30% off 🍹 + 15% Off 🎁 + Free 🚚 “
- StubHub: “🚨 Great deal alert! Zac Brown Band at Fenway Park for a steal.”
- ClassPass: “Go from 🌱 to 🌳 for just $4”
- Dunkin Donuts: “🍦 We’re screaming…”
- Instacart: “🍝🍞🌽 Market Basket: Save $10 of your next order”
- JustFly.com: “✈ SEAT SALE: Boston to Las Vegas!”
- Yummly: “🍓 Berry impressive summer recipes”
- BuzzFeed News: “Instagram will let you mute your friends’ baby pics 🙌 ”
- IMPACT Branding & Design: “IMPACT Live: Last week to save 💰 ”
- Hotjar: “Customise your visitor feedback experience 😠😁😍 ”
Social Proof Subjects
Social proof is the idea that people will adapt their behavior according to what other people are doing.
When we see a line of customers waiting to eat at a restaurant or a photo of a celebrity drinking a certain brand of coffee, it lends an air of gravitas and quality to the product, doesn’t it? But there’s more to it than that. In fact, according to Buffer, there are actually five different types of social proof: Expert Social Proof, Celebrity Social Proof, User Social Proof, “Wisdom of the Crowds” Social Proof, and “Wisdom of your Friends” Social Proof.
See It In Action
- Patagonia: “Top reviewed styles from customers like you”
- HelloFresh: “Pssst… your friends are cooking up a storm!”
- GolfNow: “You deserve some golf this week (top picks inside)”
- Yummly: “Most Popular Recipes this Week”
- Airbnb: “Make it a good night with John Legend and Airbnb”
- Yummly: “Simple recipes from popular chefs”
- Zillow: “5 homes that are trending right now”
- Lenny: “Rachel McAdams and Rachel Weisz on the Female Gaze”
- Inc: “18 Habits Highly Successful People Have (And the Rest of Us Probably Don’t)”
- Adobe: Adobe named a Leader in customer analytics”
These are all about the 7 categories of the email subject lines. You can use them as per your requirements. If you are looking for more examples then keep scrolling. I’m sharing more real-life examples and techniques for email headlines.
The Game-Changing Subject Lines to Boost Holiday Sales
You will get the best email subject lines along with the 100+ words which will help you to boost your holiday sales.
Best Holiday Sales Email Subject Lines
100+ Gamechanger Subject Line Words to Boost Your Sale
24 Best Email Subject Lines
Hubspot just listed up the best 24 email subject lines which will definitely help you in real life.
- “Uh-oh, your prescription is expiring”
- “Best of Groupon: The Deals That Make Us Proud (Unlike Our Nephew, Steve)”
- “👗 Free (Cool!) Clothes Alert 👖”
- “The timer’s going off on your cart!”
- “What Did You Think? Write a Review.”
- “Important Weather Advisory”
- “1,750 points for you. Valentine’s flowers & more for them.”
- “Rock the color of the year”
- “Black Friday shoppers are the worst customers”
- “Don’t Open This Email”
- “I got Botox—& THIS is what it looked like”
- Zillow: “What Can You Afford?”
- “As You Wish”
- “Google sees smartphone heroics in Oreo. It’s The Daily Crunch.”
- “Where to Drink Beer Right Now”
- “Not Cool, Guys”
- “DO NOT Commit These Instagram Atrocities”
- Buffer has been hacked – here is what’s going on”
- “Everything you wanted to know about email copy but were too afraid to ask”
- “🐶 Want a Custom Emoji of Tullamore & 6 Months FREE Walks? Book a Walk Today for Your Chance to Win!”
- “Abra-cord-abra! Yeah, we said it.”
- “China Falls, Sleepy Unicorns, And The Deals Aren’t Bigger In Texas”
- “🔥 Hot freebie alert! 15 free gifts, you pick 5.”
- “Watch Out for This Amazon Phishing Scam.”
Summing Up
It’s really tough to finish the whole study on the Best Subject Line for Emails in one article. I just tried to cover every single area on creating the best subject lines for emails which will help to open the emails. But to ensure your email promotion efforts make an impact, you need to invest time to get the subject line just right. After all, if your emails are left unopened, your content will never earn the recognition it deserves.
Some Must Read Contents To Learn More About Email Subject Lines
22 Eye-Opening Statistics About Sales Email Subject Lines That Affect Open Rates
The 9 Best Email Subject Line Styles to Increase Your Open Rates
39 Sales Email Subject Lines That Get Opened, Read, and Responded To
36 of the Best Email Marketing Subject lines to Increase Your Open Rate
43 Cold Email Subject Lines That Get Your Emails Opened Instantly (and When to Use Them)