5 Easy Ways To Increase Subject Line Open Rates

I tested hundreds of subject lines to see what gets more clicks…

And in this video, I’m going to share with you 5 easy ways YOU can increase your subject line open rate. 

PLUS, my team and I put together a massive report of the Top 50 subject lines we tested…

We’ll share the results, along with 11 key insights you can apply to your own subject lines IMMEDIATELY to boost open rates and drive more engagement…

Some of our best had open rates pushing 50%!

So you are DEFINITELY going to want to stick around to grab your free copy of that report at the end of this blog.

Hey, Posse! What’s up? It’s Alex. 

Coming at ya this week with another tutorial to help you improve your email marketing results. 

So whether you’re a business owner trying to get better open rates, engagement, clicks and conversions from your emails…

Or you’re a copywriter getting paid to do that for your clients…

THIS IS WHERE YOU NEED TO BE. 

So go ahead and join my newsletter to be notified when my next tutorial goes LIVE. 

Now subject lines are a topic I really nerd out about. 

Because 47% of people open emails based on the subject line alone…

That means that almost HALF of the people on your list are deciding whether to read your email or not based on just a few words…

Crazy right? Your email could be a perfectly written masterpiece, but if no one is opening it, does it even matter?! Nope.

So if you’re not seeing the conversions you want with your email marketing, the first thing you should do is focus on boosting your subject line open rate.

And it’s such low-hanging fruit… 

I mean, if your open rates are low, no one is seeing your emails, and no one is buying…

So by simply JUST increasing the number of people who open your email, you are instantly boosting your overall conversions…

Now you might be wondering…

What is a “good” email open rate?

According to Zippia, the average email open rate across all industries is around 21%.

Here at the Copy Posse our open rates range from 25-50%. 

Which is pretty good… 

BUT, like all smart marketers, we are always looking to improve, optimize, and outperform ourselves.  

So since the top of the year, we have been running split tests on ALL our subject lines. 

We wanted to know…

• What does our audience respond best to?
• What kind of subject lines get their attention?
• And how do we get MORE of our open rates at that 50% mark?

Well, after analyzing the winners, we recognized 5 easy ways you can instantly boost your open rates…

And here they are!

#1 – Play Up Your Brand Voice

Writing subject lines that embody your brand’s unique voice is always a good idea. 

This isn’t about sounding cutesy or being clever… 

It’s about authenticity. 

When your subject lines reflect your unique brand voice, you’re building a connection with your audience.

Many of our top-performing subject lines have a sassy, sarcastic, and even controversial tone to them…

But keep in mind, this is VERY “on brand” for me, which is why these subject lines perform well for us! 

Now, of course, if your brand voice is cutesy or clever – you can use subject lines that are cutesy and clever. 

If your brand voice is playful and flirtatious – use subject lines that are playful and flirtatious.

If your brand voice is sarcastic – use subject lines with sarcasm.

If your brand voice is more formal or serious – PLEASE do NOT use the same subject lines I use haha.

Whatever you do…

Do not sacrifice the integrity of your brand voice just for the sake of a few extra clicks. 

I’ll never forget the time I used “WTF” in an email for a client whose brand voice was DEFINITELY NOT one to curse (even in acronym form I guess).

Their audience noticed… and they were not happy about it. Then I got an earful from the customer support team.

Oops. Lesson learned!

Alright on to the next one…

#2 – Ask Questions

Asking questions is a great way to pull your target audience’s attention forward with an open loop…

• Ask them a question you know they want the answer to…
• Or a rhetorical question…
• Or a question related to a pain point you know they’re struggling with… 
• Or just ask them a question that will pique curiosity and make them WANT to find out the answer. 

This is a great way to boost open rates – but like anything, don’t overuse it.

Alright now, on to number 3… 

#3 – Use Numbers

Using numbers is an awesome way to get people to pay closer attention!

This concept works the same way when it comes to blog post headlines, ads and social media captions…

Numbers instantly stand out because they break the visual “wall of text”.

And they suggest to the reader “hey this thing is specific + valuable!”

Plus, we humans LOVE learning in frameworks, lists, steps. That’s one of the reasons why listicle sites like BuzzFeed have such compelling headlines!!

OF COURSE, I need to know the 30 things I should treat my fur baby to!

This opens a loop and gets people to click!

That’s why including numbers in subject lines results can result in 57% higher open rates.

I mean tell me which one of these emails YOU’D rather open…

• “Get Higher Open Rates On Your Emails” or
• “5 Tips To Boost Open Rates”

Even though the content of each email is the exact same, and the promise is the exact same…

The one with a number is WAY more enticing because it’s super clear, concise, and implies that if I open this email I’m going to get 5 tips to boost my email open rates.

Alright, next up… 

#4 – Use Emojis (but not too much) 

Now I know not everybody loves emojis…

I personally LOVE them and I have to try really hard to not overuse them lol. 

Emojis are not only a great way to convey a message, feeling or emotion without the need to use words…

But when it comes to subject lines, they’re ALSO a great way to stand out in the inbox. 

For a lot of the same reasons why using numbers stand out – they act as a visual break from all the text. 

Emojis are so effective at this that 56% of brands who use emojis in their email subject lines have higher open rates.

Now there are a couple of caveats we need to discuss with this one…

The first caveat is that it can be easy to get carried away with Emoji usage…

Which is not only annoying, but also makes you look like spam. 

So try to keep the emojis in your subject line to ONE. 

Even just 2 can feel a little excessive. 

And the second caveat is of course you need to keep your audience in mind. 

If emojis are not in your typical brand voice M.O. then using them just for the sake of using them feels pretty inauthentic. 

And it will likely only hurt you in the long run… 

Just like we talked about in tip #1… 

NEVER sacrifice the integrity of your brand just to get a few extra clicks. It’s not worth it. 

Alright, and last but not least… 

#5 – Length Matters 

Short, punchy subject lines of about 5-7 words tend to perform best.

And that makes a lot of sense when you consider HOW most people are checking their email…

81% of people are checking from their phones.

Which means you have a lot less space before your subject is cut off,

This can make writing a great subject line super tricky because you need to communicate value and create curiosity in VERY FEW words. 

But luckily, we don’t have to JUST cap it at 7 words…

We can also utilize the preview text – aka meta description – of the email. 

This is the second line of text that pops up as a “preview” in the inbox. 

Now this is very important real estate that you need to MAKE SURE you’re using. 

You never want the preview text to be the same as the subject line,

My favorite way to use preview text is to treat it as a continuation of the subject line. 

It’s a sneaky way to add more context and get your readers more likely to engage with your email. 

Now, of course you’re not going to cram all of these tips into ONE subject line. 

The goal is to determine the type of message you’re sending and choose the method that works best! Then mix them up throughout your email calendar.

So to use the same example we talked about earlier…

Let’s say I’m writing a subject line for THIS blog you’re reading, “Get Higher Open Rates On Your Emails” could be made WAY better following the tips I’ve laid out. 

You might decide to:

• Play Up Brand Voice: “Holy sh*t. Check out these open rates…”
• Or Ask a Question: “Want higher open rates?”
• Or Use a Number: :”5 tips to boost open rates”
• Or Use an Emoji: “These open rates are 🚀”

And then of course, ALL your subject lines should follow tip #5 – keep it short & simple, between 5-7 words if possible…

And consider split-testing your subject lines on every email you send! This is the BEST WAY to figure out what resonates with your audience.

Now if you want to learn ALL ELEVEN key insights we learned from our hundreds of split-tests…

And see our top 50 winning subject lines… 

Make sure to grab a copy of my free report that REVEALS ALL our split test data and results.

You can click the link to that to read next!

Until next time, I’m Alex. Ciao for now.

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