7 Ways to Generate Creative Email Subject Lines to Boost Open Rates

How often do you delete an email without even opening it? I'm guessing pretty often, especially if the subject line is boring. Email marketing can be a great way to drip on prospects in your pipeline and keep your firm at the top of potential clients’ minds, but a bad subject line can ruin your chances of reaching them. With these 7 tips, you’ll be writing click-worthy subject lines in no time!

1. Use Questions

Posing questions in your subject line will make your audience stop and think about themselves and their behavior. Subject line questions like “Are You On Track For Retirement?” or” Are Your Struggling to Save Enough For Your Emergency Fund?” force the reader to investigate their own reality and connect to your content. If they can relate the content to themself, they’ll be more likely to think the content is applicable to their life.

You can also think about Google Searches. When people want information, they search a specific question. What question is your content answering? Start there to reel them in.

MYRA Wealth asks clients what their New Years Resolutions are to get them thinking before they open the email.

2. Use Numbers

When you open your inbox, you probably see an overwhelming amount of letters and words. Numbers will stand out against all of this clutter and more easily catch someone’s eye. Even better, numbers provide a sense of comfort to readers by signifying a definite beginning and end to the email. Including a specific number defines the amount of information they’ll get from your newsletter and how long it might take to read. If the reader knows this before clicking, they’ll be much more likely to take the next step.

For example, if your email newsletter includes a roundup of recent blogs, specify how many articles the reader will get. A subject line like “5 Articles You Can’t Miss For Your Financial Future” will make the reader understand what they get from opening the email and how much time it will take to get through.

3. Use Emojis

Just like numbers, emojis can stand out against the thousands of letters in an inbox. Emojis are a fun way to spice up your content and keep readers interested. You can use an emoji to show an emotion, substitute for a word, or emphasize an idea. However, beware of overusing emojis. Emojis should be used only when they’re relevant and enhance your content.

There are countless emojis that you can choose from, but you should choose them wisely. You should also consider your firm’s voice. In some circumstances, uses of emojis can seem unprofessional. Don’t throw a smiley face emoji in your subject line just for the heck of it. Limit your use to when they really enhance and fit with your newsletter.

Constant Contact shows how emojis can pop against the words in an inbox.

4. Evoke Curiosity

Your subject line should be like a movie trailer that leaves the audience wanting more. People are naturally curious and crave information, so you should make it obvious your newsletter contains some knowledge that is valuable to potential clients. Define what you’re providing of value and why your audience should care. You should be keeping your niche and their needs at the center of the subject.

Try using words that shock the reader. Below, Twenty Over Ten stirs up curiosity by including “most interesting” in the email subject. This makes readers feel like they can’t pass it up.

5. Get Personal

No two email subscribers are exactly the same, and not every client has the same wants or needs. This means you should NEVER send the same email blast to every subscriber on your list.  For example, millennials will have very different pain points and areas of interests than retiring business owners and recent leads will benefit from different information than your long-term clients.

You should start your email marketing by creating segmented lists depending on your clients’ wants, needs, and where they are in the financial advising process. You should make multiple newsletters with different content tailored to each of your segments. 

Now, it’s possible to tailor emails even more individually than just the needs of your clients. To collect more personal information from your subscribers, you can include optional checkboxes or fields out on a landing page promoting your blog. Once you get this information, you can include your subscriber’s name in the subject line. This is an effective way to immediately grab the recipient’s attention and stand out from other mass-marketed emails.

6. Make it Exclusive

Including words like “exclusive” or “limited” can make potential clients feel powerful. People naturally find value in things that are rare, so positioning your content as exclusive can make them more eager to take action. The more rare you make your content or offering seem in the subject line, the more they’ll want to get in on it.

For example, show how opening your newsletter will give “exclusive tips” to smart spending or financial planning. If you offer free introductory calls, prompt them to “sign up today” to get started soon. If you’re hosting an upcoming workshop or webinar, include a countdown in your subject line to create a sense of urgency. 

7. Test Before You Send

Once you’ve practiced these tricks, it’s always good to get a second opinion on your subject line. Whether it’s running the line by a coworker or using an online tool, getting another set of eyes on it can ensure you’re sending the most convincing and interesting content to your leads’ inboxes.

I recommend trying out CoSchedule's FREE email subject line tester. By simply typing your subject line idea into the tool, CoSchedule will analyze its effectiveness to drive more opens, clicks, and conversions. It will help you capitalize on keywords that convert, optimize word count, and conduct A/B testing. Not only does it score the effectiveness of your subject line ideas, but it can also help you figure out which are most effective in getting engagement. 

With these 7 steps, your email newsletters will be hard to ignore. Sell your value, catch subscriber’s eyes, and continue testing subject lines to capture clicks and conversions! 

Looking for More Help With Your Email Marketing Efforts?

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