Why do 80% of Emails never get Opened?

Russian roulette has taken the lives of many people in history, especially the young. The game begins with a single round placed into the cylinder of a revolver. The player then spins the cylinder and places the muzzle against their head or body (or someone else's). Once they pull the trigger, there is no going back; if the loaded chamber aligns with the barrel, it will fire its deadly payload.

Imagine someone plays Russian roulette, but instead of one round, they load five rounds out of six into the cylinder. That is the game the average email marketer plays. No surprise, new businesses got killed each year.

This quote from famous American advertiser David Ogilvy highlights the importance of headlines in advertising. In Ogilvy's time, there was no internet and no email. In today's world, headlines are subject lines.

Subject lines should be attention-grabbing and succinctly convey the main idea or content of the email to draw the reader in.

The subject line is the first thing a reader sees, so it's crucial to pack an emotional punch that compels readers to learn more about your offer. Crafting compelling headlines involves understanding your audience, researching keywords, and testing different versions to determine which works best for your goals.

Effective Email Marketing Subject Lines 101

Effective subject lines must do four things:

1) Arouse Curiosity: A compelling subject line should help pique the receiver's curiosity and prompt them to open your email. It should contain enough information to make the reader curious, but not enough that they can guess what it is about and decide they’re not interested before reading.

2) Be Forthright: When crafting a subject line for an email, it's essential to keep in mind that you're trying to draw readers in. The last thing you want is to send out emails with misleading or deceptive titles, as this can be detrimental to your reputation and could even increase unsubscribes.

Instead of using trickery or attempting to deceive your audience, focus on writing concise and informative subject lines that accurately reflect the content within the email. Keep it honest and straightforward without being too long-winded or overly wordy.

3) Capitalize on Self-Interest: The best subject lines for email campaigns tap into the self-interest of their targeted readers. People want things, and they want to avoid, improve, or solve problems. Crafting a compelling subject line that speaks directly to their needs is vital in ensuring that the reader opens your email. To write an effective subject line, identify your target audience's desires and create a message around them. Make sure you keep it short but still get the point across.

4) Be Concise: Subject lines should be as straightforward and specific as possible to clearly convey the topic of the email. The goal is to make the subject line short enough that it does not take up too much space in a reader's inbox, but detailed enough so that the reader knows what they are about to read. A great way to do this is by crafting your subject line around keywords or phrases from the body text of your email. Additionally, you can use emojis to add fun or intrigue without taking away from the brevity of your subject line.

A Final Word of Advice

Creating effective subject lines is one of the most essential tasks of a great writer. Expert writers don't leave this critical work to their mood or inspiration. They collect persuasive writing methods, techniques, and even other subject lines so they can use these tools when crafting theirs.

You won't find the perfect subject line ready-made on the internet. As a professional, you should create your own subject lines based not only on your needs and your goals but more importantly, on who the newsletter is written for.

Before you start creating a compelling subject line, answer these questions:

1. To whom will I be sending this newsletter?

2. What do I want to highlight, teach, or inform with this newsletter?

3. How would I step out of the competition?

4. What do I want the customer to do after reading my newsletter?

With that information in mind, you will see the end from the beginning. Then you will have a better idea of how to grab the reader's attention by creating an effective subject line.

To help you avoid writing blocks and boost your imagination, we have collected a database of 100 effective subject lines for you. Every subject line is written under a section to make it easier for you to craft your subject lines according to your needs.

100 effective subject lines that bring results

1- 20 Effective Subject Lines That Bring Results

Ask a question.

1."What a 7-figure agency does that a 6-figure doesn't?"

2. "What Do Japanese Kids Have That American Kids Lack?"

3. "What would you do after knowing this?"

Tie-in to current events.

4. "Why FXT is not in jail and what you can learn from it."

5. "3 Lessons from Democrats that helped them win midterms."

6. "Winter is Coming. Here’s How to Prepare"

Create new terminology.

7. "how customers are beehiiving their newsletters." 

Provide news using the words "new," "introduction," or "announcing."

8. "Announcing a Painless Cut in Defense Spending."

9. "Introducing our New Referral Feature."

10."The new method to get 100 new subscribers per day."

Give the reader a command—tell him to do something.

11. "Delete this Email Now"

12. "Try Burning This Coupon."

13. "Buy this Before it’s Too Late."

Use numbers and statistics.

14. "99% Of Email Users Do This Daily."

15. "13,000 People are Doing This..."

16. "Only 10% of Businesses will Pass This Test."

17. "47% Of Marketers Say This Is Their Most Successful Strategy."

Promise Useful information.

18. "3 Proven Ways to Lose Weight."

19. "How to Ask for a Rise and Get It."

20. "How to Avoid the Biggest Mistake You Can Make in Building or Buying a Home."

21- 40 Effective Subject Lines That Bring Results

Highlight your offer.

21. "How the Soulful Entrepreneur Has Grown 61% Every Month With beehiiv."

22. "Only today, 50% off on All Our Services."

23. "Is the beehiiv Enterprise Plan Right for You?"

Tell a story.

24. "They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano, But When I Started to Play…"

25. "What I Learned After Reading 100 Books on Marketing."

26. "Why I woke up today at 4:34 am."

Make a recommendation.

27. "Top 5 Crypto Opportunities."

28. "The 5 High-Yield Stocks You Must Own NOW."

State a benefit.

29. "All-In-One Solution for Newsletters."

30. "Managing UNIX Data Centers—Once Difficult, Now Easy."

31. "Our Most Helpful (Free) Resource Yet."

Make a comparison.

32. "Why Do Men Leave Perfect Women?"

33. "How to Solve Your Emissions Problems—at Half the Energy Cost of Conventional Venturi Scrubbers."

34. "Why You Should Switch From Mailchimp to beehiiv Today"

Use words that help the reader visualize.

35. "Why Some Foods' Explode' in Your Stomach."

36. "I Was Burning My Money Until I Found This."

37. "Split in Half. How I Lost150 Pounds."

Use a testimonial.

38. “Doone Roisin of Female Startup Club Shares Her Content and Business Structure”

39. "How the Blueprint Scaled Past 15,000 Subscribers"

40. “How Seedphrase Daily Went From TikTok to Media Empire.”

41- 60 Effective Subject Lines That Bring Results

Offer a free special report, catalog, or booklet.

41. "New FREE Special Report Reveals Little-Known Strategy Millionaires Use to Keep Wealth in Their Hands"

42. "5-Step Guide to Being Taken More Seriously."

43. "Free Ebook: "How to Find the Right Partner"

State the selling proposition directly and plainly.

44. "Surgical Tables Rebuilt—Free Loaners Available."

45. "Get Your Credit Card Approved in Less Than 3 Minutes."

46. "Lose 10 Pounds per Week With This Product"

Arouse reader curiosity.

47. "The One Internet Stock You MUST Own Now. Hint: It's NOT What You Think!"

48. "The 3 Types of Customers You Must Avoid."

49. "How Biden Will Affect Real Estate This 2023."

Promise to reveal a secret.

50. "What Rich Dad Didn't Tell You About Money."

51. "Unlock Wall Street's Secret Logic."

52. "3 Websites That Should Be Illegal."

Be specific.

53. "Arouse Curiosity: The Number One Strategy for Effective Subject Lines."

54. "At 60 Miles an Hour, the Loudest Noise in This New Rolls-Royce Comes from the Electric Clock."

Target a particular type of reader.

55. "Advice Before You Enter Your 20s."

56. "We're Looking for People Who Want a Higher-Paying Career."

57. "Only for Homeowners"

Add a time element.

58. "$50 Free Chip Redeem Coupon Code. Only for Today"

59. "Instant Incorporation While U-Wait."

60. "Our Christmas Gift to You. 30% Off on All Products Only Today!"

61- 80 Effective Subject Lines That Bring Results

Stress cost savings, discounts, or value.

61. "$1,000 Worth of Gifts for You."

62. "Get $2,177 Worth of Expensive Stock Market Newsletters for Just $69!"

63. "How I Made My First $10,000 Online."

Give the reader good news.

64. "You're Never Too Old to Hear Better."

65. "I Wish I Started Doing This Sooner"

66. "How I Started a Side Hustle After 40 and You Can Too."

Offer an alternative to other products and services.

67. "How to Migrate From Revue to beehiiv."

68. "No Time for Yale—Took College at Home Online."

69. "Stop Wasting Money on FB Ads, Use This Instead."

Issue a challenge.

70. "21-Day Weight Loss Challenge."

71. "Will Your Scalp Stand the Fingernail Test?"

72. "Can Your Business Survive This Test?"

73. "9 Out of 10 Businesses Can't Scale Their Newsletter. Can You?"

Stress your guarantee.

74. "Get Your YT Channel Monetized or Get Your Money Back."

75. "Develop Software Applications Up to 6 Times Faster or Your Money Back."

State the price.

76. "Link 8 PCs to Your Mainframe—Only $2,395."

77. "You Can Get All This for Just $1."

78. "Last Tickets, Only $399 Each."

Set up a seeming contradiction.

79. "Profit from 'Insider Trading'—100% Legal!"

80. "Legal Website That Should Be Illegal."

81- 100 Effective Subject Lines That Bring Results

Offer an exclusive the reader can't get elsewhere.

81. "No Other Newsletter Service Has This. Get It Now"

82. "Earn 500+% Gains with Little-Known' Trader's Secret Weapon.'"

Address the reader's concern.

83. "Why Most Small Businesses Fail—and What You Can Do About It."

84. "Is Crypto Dead?"

85. "Why Most Men Never Succeed."

"As Crazy as It Sounds…."

86. "As Crazy as It Sounds, I Will Do 9-5."

87. "As Crazy as It Sounds, Newsletter Does Better Than FB Ads"

88. "As Crazy as It Sounds, This Is Bigger Than Bitcoin."

Make a big promise.

89. "Slice 20 Years Off Your Age!"

90. "How to Make 10K in 10 Days."

91. "Get 100 Email Newsletter Subscribers Today With This Strategy."

Show ROI (return on investment) for your product purchase.

92. "Hiring the Wrong Person Costs You Three Times Their Annual Salary."

93. "Invest $100, Get $120."

Use a reasons-why headline.

94. "7 Reasons Why Your Business Is Not Growing"

95. "Why You Aren't Losing Way."

96. "Why You Shouldn't Resend to Subscribers Who Didn't Open"

Answer important questions about your product or service.

97. "How to Create a Successful Email Newsletter." 

98. "7 Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Collection Agency … and One Good Answer to Each."

99. What Are the Must-Have Components of an Email Newsletter Platform?

Help the reader achieve a goal.

100. "Get Paid for Writing a Newsletter"

Professional Email Subject Lines - A Parting Tip

You are now more than prepared to create effective and compelling subject lines that get emails opened. In beehiiv, we have created a fantastic feature to help you run A/B tests on your subject lines. This exclusive feature can help you determine which will get the most opens and clicks.

Sign up now and start crafting subject lines that increase your open rates, get more readers, and create more value with your newsletter.