Improve your email open rates with these must do tips!

You'll learn how not to get flagged as spam and how to write compelling subject lines that your subscriber's want to open, read and take action!

Author: Lucy Jeffries

You’ve finished writing your email…  You're ready to send… But wait, what should the subject line be?

Email subject lines may be tricky to think of, and a maybe you think it's not something to  spend much time on, but they are actually very important. 

You’ve written your email, YOU know your email is full of good stuff, but how do I get people to open it? 

Well, here’s the truth, you gotta spend as much time on your subject line as you do writing your actual email! Crazy, but it works. 

Think about it, what good is your email going to be if it ends up unread along with the hundreds of other emails left in peoples inbox? Or in the deleted folder? Or worse, it lands in their spam folder? No good!

Creating your subject line doesn’t have to be scary, you just have to be thoughtful when coming up with it. 

The ultimate way to learn how to think about that all-important, catchy subject line is to think about what makes you click ‘open’ when you're in your own personal inbox.

Subject lines are underrated, the goal is to pique your  subscriber's curiosity, so put some thought into it. Use triggers that spark your subscriber's interest, and make them curious as to what's inside. ALWAYS BE HONEST, keeping the trust of your email list/clients/subscribers or whoever it may be, so they continue opening your future emails.

Use the information below to serve as a guide, or inspiration for the next time you’re staring at the blank subject line wondering ‘What should I put to get these guys to see my great email?’ Hopefully, this will ease your stress so you can focus on writing!

CREATING A COMPELLING SUBJECT LINE NEED NOT BE DIFFICULT OR SCARY!

Here are some ideas of subject lines that may help to decide on what to use depending on what’s inside your email and what you want to give.

Tips on how to to get people to open your emails

GAIN INTEREST

• 10 Things You NEED To Know About (Topic)
• The Number One Question I Get Asked (Topic)
• My Biggest Tip To (Topic)
• Five Things EVERYBODY Should Know About (Topic)
• The Biggest Mistake Every (Title) Makes
• I Bet You’d Never Guess (Subject)
• You’ve Been Asking, And Here’s My Answer

TEACH THEM SOMETHING

• The Ultimate Cheat Sheet For (Topic)
• How To Solve This (Fill In Problem) Issue
• Here’s My Perfect Guide To (Topic)
• Five Ways To Solve… (Problem)
• Stop Wondering How
• This Is The Number One Guide Your Business Needs Right Now
• The Cheat Sheet You’ve Been Waiting For Is Finally Here

CREATE URGENCY

• Today Only 
• Only A Few More Hours Left  
• A Few Spots Left
• Are You In Or Are You Out? (Offer)
• Last Chance For A Lower Price For Email Insiders
• Extended Just For One More Day 
• Sales Ending -  Don’t Miss Your Chance

SPARK CURIOSITY

• Five Things You Wouldn’t Guess (Topic)
• The Biggest Mistake You're Making
• The Secret Is Here.
• What You Really Should Know About (Topic)
• Checking In With You About (Topic)
• I Never Heard Back From You

ASK QUESTIONS

• Can I Help You With (Topic?)
• Tired Of… (Topic?)
• How Are You?
• Have You Been Wondering (Topic?)
• What’s The Biggest Struggle You’re Facing Today?
• This Is What You Wanted, Right?

HUMANIZE IT

• That One Time I (Fill In The Blank)
• From My Small, Quiet, Santa Monica Office (To You!)
• Calling All Boxing Lovers
• Oops, I Messed Up Big Time…
• The Most Embarrassing Thing Happened (I Can’t Believe I’m Telling You!)

SPEAK DIRECTLY TO AUDIENCE

• A Free Gift, From Me To You.
• You Were On My Mind…
• I Created This Just For You.
• An Exclusive Offer For You

Guideline on how to to stop your

emails going into their spam folder

It’s very important to make sure your email actually ends up in your mailing list inbox, and not the spam folder.

There are multiple things that can prevent your email from landing in their inbox. Check out this general guide of things you should avoid ensuring this doesn't happen...

If your email sounds to ‘spammy’, then it’s likely to end up in the spam folder. You want to tread lightly on the engaging catchy titles, while also remaining honest and sincere. 

Spammy words you should avoid using

Below are a few words which you should avoid using in your subject line that will trigger the spam folder. Save this list and refer to it when writing your subject line.

More tips to prevent your emails being flagged as spam

• Try to avoid HAVING YOUR SUBJECT LINE IN ALL CAPS  - this can trigger the spam folder. 
• Try and also avoid putting more than one question and exclamation points in the subject line, as these types or emails and filtered straight into spam. Adding one at the end of the subject line is ok, anything more isn’t needed. Add all the punctuation you’d like into the actual email but again, skip this in the subject line.
• Email attachments can also trigger the email into the spam folder if your sending emails to new contacts. If you have contacted the person before, attachments are fine, but if you have recently added a lot of fresh contacts to your list - play it safe for the sake of your future emails and make sure your first email to them doesn't have attachments. TIP: You can add links instead of attachments to work around this!
• If you send a lot of images and very little text, this can trigger the spam filter. Make sure your email is well-balanced - less is more. TIP: use the 60/40 rule - mostly text, with a few smaller images or one bigger image.
• Avoid multiple colours or fonts within your email paragraphs. Keep your email one colour, as spam folders scan emails and not just subject lines. Again, once people have engaged with you, these emails can be as colourful as you like.
• Customize your email - Use the recipient’s name. Custom emails tend to reach recipients at a much higher rate than non-customized emails - these emails have a higher open and reply  rates.