The Psychology of the Email Subject Line: Why We Click (or Don’t)
In the overcrowded space of your subscribers’ inboxes, strong email subject lines are key to standing out. It’s the first impression, the hook, and the main reason your email gets opened or ignored.
What makes an email subject line stand out? The answer lies in psychology. Understanding how people think and make decisions is the way you can start writing email subject lines that really stand out.
Curiously Clicking
People are naturally drawn to the unknown. Subject lines that pose a question but don’t provide the answer make recipients want to learn more!
- “This is what most companies get wrong with social media.”
- “Are you making these common 3 mistakes?”
The psychological pull is called the curiosity gap and it’s a pretty powerful tool. Just make sure your content actually delivers on the intrigue to avoid disappointing your audience.
FOMO and Urgency
Creating a fear of missing out (FOMO) or a sense of urgency pushes people to act fast. This works best when it’s actually true.
- “48 hours left to get your free gift.”
- “Last chance to buy until next Spring!”
Time-sensitive language kicks in our need to avoid loss and not miss out on what our peers have.
Personalized and Tailored
Email subject lines that include your recipient’s name or address them directly are a great way to get them to open. Most email marketing platforms offer a feature to pull names from their contact form, so it’s very simple to do!
- “[NAME], we missed you at our event last week!”
- “5 buys with [NAME] written all over them”
These personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened than those with generic greetings.
When in Doubt, Test it Out
There are a few ways you can test out email subject lines for the same campaign so that you can see what is really working for you.
- Split your email list in half and send each a different subject line; note which performs better and stick with a similar one for your next email.
- Resend the same email to people who haven’t opened it yet, but with a different subject line the second time around. (Again, most email marketing platforms have features that allow you to segment your list by opens.)
As with everything, finding the perfect subject line can be trial and error, so it doesn’t hurt to combine both of these practices for a single campaign.
Don’t forget, the perfect subject line blends creativity with a good dose of psychology. It’s all about the balance! If you’re still looking for tips, here are some great tools for testing and improving your email subject lines: SubjectLine.com Testing Tool and CoSchedule’s Email Subject Line Tester are both free to try and offer great insight.
Need help improving your email campaigns? We’re here to help! Call us at 330-286-0487 or email us at info@mcconnellmarketing.com to get in touch!
