Have you ever thought about the impact a subject line has on whether the addressee does or does not open the message? A person writing an e-mail is in a similar situation as a journalist who needs to come up with a catchy headline. Both texts have to be brief, they need to clearly state what the body is generally about, but at the same time they need to make the reader curious enough to open the message. All this in few words! Kendra Lee has covered this seemingly simple, but in fact very complex issue of writing e-mail subject lines in her article for Salesopedia.com. Below is the author's advice.
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A personalized, tailor-made subject line. It is essential not to make the subject line (and therefore the whole message) sound automatically generated or mass-produced. It must be clear from the very beginning that the e-mail is meant for that particular addressee. Although it is not advisable to include the name, it should be clear that you know who you are writing to.
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Urgency. The subject needs to engage the reader so that he or she finds it necessary to open the e-mail. In addition to personalization you can also use concrete times, dates and numbers, or words as a reminder of a meeting, a proposal, etc. that has already been planned. If you have been referred by another person, be sure to include that person´s name in the subject line.
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Brevity. Many people, especially in business, only have time to quickly skim through e-mails and their subject lines. Increase your chances by not making your subject lines too long.
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Subject lines should raise questions. The subject line should be compact and precise, but it should not cover the entire content of the message. It should raise questions and create suspense.
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