Simple Subject Line Changes Can Increase Your Email Open Rates

Your email is beautifully designed. The writing is clever, and the offer you’re promoting is sure to get the phones ringing. But guess what—none of that matters if your subject line isn’t clicking with customers.

That’s the latest reminder from the Email Sender and Provider Coalition (ESPC), whose recent survey found that 80% of Internet users don’t even bother opening an email before determining if it’s spam, and 69% of those users base their decision on the email’s subject line.

But a few simple changes to your subject line strategy can make sure all your hard work doesn’t go to waste.

Make a Long Story Short
Shorten up those wordy subject lines, stat. The rule of thumb is 49 characters or less (and that includes spaces and punctuation). This is for two simple reasons. One, many email services, including Blackberry, Hotmail, and Outlook Express, display only 50 characters or less. And studies show that open rates improve dramatically—as much as 12.5%—when subject lines are under 50 characters. Even more impressive: click-through rates are 75% higher when the subject line is kept to the 49 character limit (source: EmailLabs). Continue Reading…