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The subject line -- Is there a science to it?

A recent research of subject line effectiveness in over one billion emails shows that shorter subject lines do generally perform better than longer ones.

In addition to subject line length, the study suggests that subject line word order, word choice, brand and audience awareness are also critical success factors. Additionally, it is crucial that marketers perform subject line testing to increase open and click rates.

Too little time may be spent thinking about and testing subject lines, compared to the resources and time devoted to content. The reality is that more people will see a subject line than its accompanying creative.

1) Put the most important information at the begining.

2) Keep the subject line short, but convey the message.

3) Use longer subject lines only if you have to.

4) When in doubt, test.

If you would like to conduct a test, you will need to divide your list to 10%, 10%, 10%, 70%. Try 3 different subject lines to the first 3 lots of 10% and then use the subject line that generate the most opens for the 70%.

This is known as A/B testing in the industry.

Finding art in the subject line.

Working in tandem with the from line, the content of a subject line is one of the the key determinants for whether a recipient will open an email, delete it immediately, ignore it, file it for future access, report it and/or filter it as spam.

The subject line content is also a major component in the algorithm of many ISP and recipient-level spam filters. In other words, a poorly written subject lead may not only go un-opened, it may not even reach the recipient’s inbox in the first place.

Six points to keep in mind when determining your subject line:

1) Tell it as it is

Subject lines should convey something important, timely or valuable; and should say to the recipient: "If you don’t open and read this email, you’ll miss out on something of real value."

2) Create Curiosity

Your email is competing with 50 to 100 or more other emails for the recipients’ attention. To increase the chance of having YOUR email be opened it must intrigue the recipient, the same way a well written headline does. It must stimulate some part of the recipient’s brain, prompting them to open the email immediately.

3) Gain trust

Your subject line can support or hurt your brand image. Subject lines that over promise or mislead will ultimately destroy trust with recipients, damaging your brand and driving customers away.

4) Be relevant

While your emails may be distributed to thousands or millions of recipients, they are being received by individuals. Subject lines must recognize this and "speak" to the needs and interests of your recipients as individual customers, readers or prospects.

5) Togetherness (Subject Lines and From Lines Must Work Together)

Largely because of the dramatic increase in spam email in the last year or two, recipients increasingly look at a combination of the from and subject lines to determine whether it is from a trusted source. As a result, the job of a subject line now must not only entice someone to open an email, it must discourage the recipient from deleting it as an unwanted email.

6) Avoid the Generic:

Too many people get lazy and simply write something along the lines of: Newsletter for XYX Company, Edition 12. I can almost hear the collective yawn of subscribers immediately followed by the resounding click of the delete button. You have probably spent considerable effort putting the content of your newsletter or campaign together so don’t attach it to lead weight for a subject line.

Considering how much time this subject line will spend in the inbox of the reader before getting opened or deleted, getting it right is crucial.

Voila! This is the art of writing a Subject line.