How to increase email open rates: A guide to subject lines & preheaders

Writing a good subject line and preheader can feel like rocket science. All too often, just when you think you’ve figured out the perfect formula, some new variable or poor open rate takes you back to the drawing board. You’re not alone in feeling this frustration. There are seemingly endless factors that influence email open rates. In this article, we share our tips for crafting compelling email subject lines and preheaders.

What impacts open rates most? (Hint: It’s not your content)

Without a doubt, what impacts email open rates most is brand affinity.

Without a doubt, what impacts email open rates most is brand affinity. Are customers and members engaged with your brand? Are they interested in the information you have to share?Have you proven to them that your emails deliver valuable and meaningful content that is relevant to them? While those factors are perhaps the most critical indicators of your potential success in email marketing, they may be difficult to change in the short term.

The good news? You can employ strategies right now to increase the percentage of your audience that opens your email messages in the short term.

Writing a good subject line

A well-crafted email subject line is one of the best ways to get customers and members to open your emails. To write a compelling subject line, consider these tips and guidelines that have helped us see success.

To write a compelling subject line, consider these tips & guidelines that will help you see success.

Keep subject lines short. Some people might open your message on a laptop. Others might open it on a mobile device that only displays 30 to 40 characters of a subject line. Keep them short and to the point - 45 characters or fewer.

Use sentence case. Capitalize the first letter of your subject line and proper nouns. Resist all caps or all lowercase letters.‍

Consider using emojis. Perhaps because most companies don’t use them, emojis can help your emails stand out in the inbox. When used effectively, emojis can help audiences better connect to your brand, and they can conjure an emotion better than words alone.

Avoid words that trigger SPAM filters. Use tools like the email subject line tester from CoSchedule to ensure that you don’t include words that trigger SPAM filters. Capitalize on the research that marketing organizations have done to optimize your subject lines for the best results.

Creating a good email preheader

A preheader is the summary text that follows the subject line when an email is previewed in the inbox. Like subject lines, preheaders help motivate people to open your email messages.

Like subject lines, preheaders help motivate people to open your email messages.

Here are some best practices for email preheaders:

Build off of your subject line. When viewed in an inbox, the subject line and preheader text run together like two sentences back to back. They should set an expectation for what content recipients will see if and when they open the email. The subject line and preheader should read like a unified message, and customers should be able to take a good guess at what content they’ll find in the rest of the email.

Keep it short. Create preheader text that is 80 to 100 characters in length.

Consider using emojis. As we mentioned with email subject lines, emojis add a little personality and help your emails stand out in a cluttered inbox.

Personalize, personalize, personalize. If you don’t have personalizations in your subject line, consider using them early on in your preheader text. First name personalization is helpful, but can you also offer information like the branch closest to the new account holder to prove you know your customers and effectively advance your relationship.

Try including a call to action. Be clear about the action you want people to take next, and they will be more likely to do it.

In summary

Email marketing performance depends on strong email open rates. Writing compelling email subject lines and preheaders is key to success. Write lines that work together to explain what your email is about to set expectations. Keep lines short and sweet and avoid known SPAM triggers. Finally, try using personalization and emojis to increase relevancy and better connect with your audience.

For more tips, check out our Educational Articles and other Resources.