65 Cold Email Subject Lines That Get Instant Replies
Your cold email subject lines can make or break a cold email campaign. It becomes obvious when you think about those generic emails that you receive in your inbox.
Do you even open them? Probably not. You most likely send them straight to your trash folder. That means that all the hard work the sender of that email put into their email was for nothing. And that is why a subject line makes or breaks an outreach campaign.
The Statistics of Cold Email Subject Lines
There are many statistics to give you insight into the importance of email subject lines. Finances Online gathered up recent trends, and they highlight:
- After reading the subject line, 69% of recipients report email as spam, according to a 2021 Invesp study.
- 64% of recipients decide whether to open or delete emails based on subject lines.
- Convince & Convert found that 82% of marketers keep their email subject lines 60 characters or less.
In short: your subject line matters. A lot.
What Makes a Good Cold Email Subject Line?
There isn’t an exact formula that will ensure your email gets opened, but there are certain crucial factors that make an effective subject line. It will most likely come down to who your audience is. To better understand your target market, use A/B testing techniques to see what appeals more to your audience.
Here are some more statistics Finance Online put together to better understand what to include or leave out of your subject lines:
- In a 2021 Invest study, there was an average 18% open rate when the recipient’s name was in the subject line - which is important context when you consider that...
- There was only a 15.7% open rate when the recipient’s name is not included, according to the same study. (So personalization absolutely makes a difference as to whether your email gets opened!)
- There’s a 22% increase in open rates when the subject line includes a sense of exclusivity and urgency.
Cold Email Subject Line Guidelines
As mentioned before, there isn’t an exact formula for creating an enticing subject line. But there are some guidelines you can follow to convince your recipients to open your cold emails:
1. Get to know your target audience
Even if you know of a generic subject line that has worked in the past, you’d be much better off getting to know the traits of your recipients. Unique subject lines that touch on people’s interests and passions will get much better open rates. If you have multiple audiences, segment them so that each receives a personalized message.
2. Personalize your subject line
This isn’t to say you’ll be writing a different subject line for each and every recipient on your list. But when possible, including their name or company name in the subject line can increase open rates.
Also read: 100+ Email Subject Lines - for Cold Emails, Newsletters, Holiday Greetings, and More
3. Keep it short and sweet
If you paid attention to one of the statistics mentioned above, email writers should try to keep subject lines to 60 characters or less. People receive so many emails a day and quickly scan and filter through them, so they don’t have time to read a long subject line. They’ll just read the first few words and move on. Plus, email clients will often shorten the subject line and add an ellipsis (“...”) to subjects longer than around 60 characters.
4. Make it urgent and exclusive
Have you heard of FOMO? It means “fear of missing out.” That’s exactly how you want your audience to feel when they read your subject line — like it’s now or never! If they think to themselves, “I’ll read that email later,” then your subject line wasn’t urgent enough.
5. Show your value
Show them how you can help them right upfront. Don’t wait until the body of the email to present your offer. It will probably be too late by then. Tell them about the free whitepaper you’re offering or how much money you saved your last client before they even open the email.
6. Leave them wanting more
Another strategy is to tease something — dangle that carrot in front of them to lead them into your email. If you show all your cards right from the get-go, then there’s nothing left to know, so why would they open the email? Even something clickbaity like “You’ll never believe what [brand] just announced” works better than the announcement itself in the subject line.
7. Avoid spammy lingo
Algorithms pick up on spammy words and phrases. While there is a long list of spam trigger words to avoid, you can probably guess which ones get flagged. If you don’t want your emails to skip the inbox and go straight to the spam folder, avoid subject lines such as “Lowest prices of the summer!” or “Free giveaway!”
8. Be distinctive
That doesn’t mean you have to be someone you aren’t. It’s actually the opposite. Be sincere and show them who your company really is. That will stand out more than being overly professional like everyone else. “Professional” is boring, and people want to be entertained with something different.
9. Make a realistic promise
You want to sound confident in your subject line, but you don’t want to promise something that you can’t guarantee. Trust is an important factor with all sales, and overpromising leads to lost trust. Even if you can save them up to 30%, it’s better to tell them a lower figure so they won’t be disappointed if they only save 25%.
10. Make it easy to understand
Avoid being ambiguous with the language in your subject lines. People are busy and don’t have time to decipher what your subject line is telling them or asking from them. For instance, leading with something like “Do you have time to chat?” doesn’t tell them how much time they’ll need to set aside. “Do you have 5 minutes?” is more definitive and more likely to get a response.
11. Use emotions to your advantage
Even if it’s a negative emotion, people pay more attention to a subject line when it makes them feel something. Try to include something that will surprise your audience or shock them. It can even be good news that they weren’t expecting. Just be careful to not evoke an emotion that could make them think worse of your brand.
12. Find a commonality
You don’t always have to be complete strangers to send a cold email. Sometimes you might have a mutual acquaintance or an event that you attended at the same time. Mention in your subject line something like “[so-and-so] said we should meet” or “I saw you at [event], do you have time to talk?”
13. Use statistical evidence
People are objective thinkers when it comes to business. They want to know exactly how you’ll help their company. By offering metrics and statistics that back up your claims, they’ll be more inclined to open your emails and read on further. You can’t go wrong by sticking to the facts.
14. Don’t forget the opening line
Recipients also get a snippet of the first words of your email before opening it. Don’t forget to make those first words count in the body of your email. If your subject line didn’t reel them in, maybe those first words of your email will.
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Also read: Effective Sales Email Subject Lines to Increase Open Rates
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Before You Send that Cold Email...
It is paramount to appear in the primary inbox of your recipient. No matter the amount of work you put into improving the subject line or draft, if you have a high spam score, you won't make it to the inbox.
What can you do? Start by reviewing the email addresses in your list. Are they valid? Sending emails to invalid addresses leads to a high spam rate. So, make sure you verify the email addresses in your list.
It shouldn't have to be a manual process; you can use a tool like Skrapp Email Verifier and start for FREE for the first 200 emails.
Also, with Skrapp.io, you get an email lookup tool that helps you find real email addresses for professionals at any company. We’re trusted by millions of professionals to find verified B2B email addresses of people that matter for your business.
