The subject line you put on your emails is one of the two most important aspects of whether your email gets opened or instantly deleted.
Over 60% of your prospects are going to use the ‘from’ line to weed out a lot of emails., But the second indicator for prospects is the subject line.
From a direct response perspective, the subject line is like a teaser line on a direct mail outer envelope. It’s there to help cut through the clutter and get the email opened.
But subject lines are also like billboard headlines—you only have a limited number of words so say what you need to say, and these days many email programs display as few as 30 characters in the subject line preview box.

Now this does not mean that your subject line can be only 30 characters, but those 30 characters need to be as strong as you can make them. Subject lines need to pique the readers interest enough for them to open the email.  Therefore, it’s vital to test subject lines in your emails.
Check out this test that I conducted for one of my clients.
In this case, I tested a long and short version of a similar subject line.
The Test: The email blast promoted an investment opportunity from a well-known financial newsletter writer. The lists were split evenly between two subject lines, then the email was sent to 233,000 recipients. The email was sent to lists targeted to financial investors.
I tested:
Double-play gain on gas and oil
Vs.
Ken Coleman’s subscribers’ May Update: Double-play Opportunity in oil and gas
Results: The shorter “Double-play gain on gas and oil” subject line had an open and click-through rate that was 336.3% better than the stronger subject line.
Do you know why?
Let me know what you think. Send me an email at [email protected].
If you want help with your next direct marketing campaign, please call me at (310) 212-5727 or email me at the address above for a free consultation.