The key to an effective subject is pretty straight forward. Keep it short, clear, and have it convey relevance and urgency. A well-designed subject can deliver a meaningful message that will drive traffic to a website without the message being opened. The length of the subject definitely matters, and the shorter the better. Most email clients will display around 50 characters, and many mobile devices will display half that. This is not a lot of space, so you have to focus on one key point that really summarizes or highlights the message content. Always front load the subject; keeping in mind that some recipients will only read the first 3 or 4 words before hitting the delete key or moving on to the next message. Also adding a sense of urgency to the subject can help to strengthen a call to action. Simple but effective subjects that allow the recipient to bypass the content and go straight to the website might be:
Win a free iPod when you try companyxyz.com
Save 25% on all orders for the next 3 days at companyxyz.com
Coupons and More – Your savings start now at companyxyz.com
Notice in the example above how the organization’s name or website is at the end of the subject. This is because it is also displayed in the ‘from address’ and could be considered redundant, so if it is cut off by a mobile device the subject does not lose its relevance.
A subject should never be intentionally deceptive. This will only lead to unwanted spam complaints. Also, merging in a list member’s name or company into the subject is a waste of valuable real estate. As mentioned previously, only so many characters are displayed, and the recipient already know his or her name is – you do not need to remind them.
The goal is not for marketers to forget about the importance of well thought-out, targeted content, but to highlight the time restriction their
email marketing audience is under when it comes to reading mail messages. If your message is only going to be scanned for 3 seconds and never opened, you want to make sure you have it branded, that it gets the point across and has every possibility to be acted upon later.
