Write emails that improve click-through rates and land more sales.
Subject lines are the first thing a reader sees and can be the deciding factor on whether they choose to open an email or delete it. That’s why it’s so important to spend time perfecting your email subject line writing — especially when you’re talking about cold emails.
If you’ve ever written a cold email, the subject line can often be the toughest part. But the subject line of a cold email is one of the most important parts to get right. If you don’t make a good first impression, you could lose that business forever.
Luckily, writing your cold email subject lines doesn’t have to be a painstaking process. With just a few tips, you can be headed in the right direction.
In this article, we’ll take a look at 5 tips to help you write click-worthy cold email subject lines that convert.
Here’s a quick look at the tips we’ll discuss:
- Keep it short
- Add personalization
- Lead with value
- Keep your tone conversational
- Be genuine
5 Tips to Writing Cold Email Subject Lines
Improving your cold email subject lines doesn’t mean you have to change everything you’re already doing. There are a number of simple things you can do to improve your messaging and increased click-through and conversion rates.
Let’s take a look at 5 tips to help you improve your cold email subject lines.
Keep your subject lines short and sweet. Just like this message, four words is the best practice for writing emails that are most likely to get clicked and convert leads. Image courtesy of Pixabay.
Tip 1: Keep it Short
When it comes to writing subject lines, the shorter the better.
We’ve all received an email with a long-winded subject line that gets cut off by the email browser. These emails just don’t work. On top of that, readers are missing a big chunk of valuable information.
You don’t want this to be the case when writing the subject lines for your cold emails. In most cases, you’ve only got a few chances to get the message across, meaning you need to make a good first impression. Sending emails with long, unreadable subject lines won’t help you see an increase in conversions.
Generally, subject lines with 4 words or less perform best.
When writing your subject lines, don’t forget to consider that a large majority of your customers will read the email on their mobile device. This means that the viewing screen will be even more limited and the message could easily be lost if the subject line is too lengthy.
Long story short, it’s always best practice to keep your cold email subject lines concise and to the point.
Each of your customers is unique and you need to take that into consideration when reaching out to them. Spend time getting to know them and then add personalization to our emails for better results. Image courtesy of Pexels.
Tip 2: Add Personalization
Personalization is an important factor when writing your cold email subject lines, in fact, it’s actually becoming a necessity.
A successful cold email requires a bit of pre-work. You should take time to learn about your prospect and find ways to make your communication with them more personal — especially the subject line.
While using their name in the subject line is a great start, to make a bigger impact you can search for additional connections and common interests.
To do this, you’ll want to take the time to learn more about your prospect. Learn more about their position, the company they work for, the college they attended, or even common professional connections that you share.
Adding these types of personal elements to your subject lines will help your message stand out from the sea of other emails in their inbox. These types of personalization tidbits can also make you seem more familiar and less like a stranger.
However, you choose to go about it, adding personalization to your cold email subject lines will make a big impact on your click rates.
Tell your customers what value you have to offer them. Don’t waste their time with subject lines that trick them into clicking but don’t provide them with what they need. Image courtesy of Pexels.
Tip 3: Lead With Value
Never trick prospects into opening your emails with clickbait content. While you might see an increase in open rates, your conversion rates will not follow. In fact, you’ll likely find your emails are quickly finding their way to the spam folder.
You’ll want to write your subject lines with the value you have to offer front and center. Tell your prospect exactly what they have to gain by opening and reading your message.
Don’t waste their time on gimmicks or misleading messages. Doing this will only result in you wasting your own time and losing the trust of the prospective customers you were hoping to impress.
They call them first impressions for a reason — if you choose to take the clickbait route, you may never get another chance to get in front of that person again. Make the most out of every interaction by leading with the value you have to offer.
Keep your tone conversational when writing your cold email subject lines. It should feel like you’re a friend or colleague reaching out, not a total stranger. Image courtesy of Pexels.
Tip 4: Keep Your Tone Conversational
Cold email subject lines don’t have to be boring and professionally structured. You know the kind. The emails that are so obviously marketing or sales messages. The ones that don’t excite you and your eyes skim right past.
The good news, your subject lines don’t have to be like these yawn-inducing messages. In fact, it’s actually a best practice to keep your messages informal and conversational.
Keeping things conversational will help your messages stand out from the crowd and pique the interest of the reader. This is one of those areas that might take time to perfect, but the more subject lines you write, the better you’ll get at it.
So when you sit down to write your next cold email, try using a more conversational tone, drop all the capitalized words, and don’t think too much into it. You’ll find that when you get out of your own head, these types of subject lines are easier to write than you’ve ever imagined.
Be genuine in your communication. Building trust is very important when it comes to landing sales with cold emails. Image courtesy of Pexels.
Tip 5: Be Genuine
It’s so important to be genuine when reaching out to prospects via cold emails. This starts with the subject line but must be present throughout the entire email.
Being genuine in your messages goes back to the idea of skipping the clickbait and one-liners designed to trick readers into opening an email. It’s all about building trust and giving your prospects with the content you promised.
Once you’ve lost the trust of your customers, you’ve most likely lost their business. It’s hard to win them back after they feel like they’ve been tricked into opening an email that presented them with no benefit.
It’s best to just avoid this from the start and write your subject lines and email copy with truly genuine intent.
Start Seeing Higher Click-Through and Conversion Rates With Cold Emails
Writing cold emails that convert doesn’t have to be rocket science. It all starts with the perfect subject line that is written with the needs of your prospect in mind. Be direct, conversational, add personalization, and lead with the value you have to offer for the best results. When done right, cold emails can result in higher conversion rates and help you continue to grow your business.
