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50+ Subject-Line Ideas to 5X Your Conversion Rates

50+ Subject-Line Ideas to 5X Your Conversion Rates

You’ve spent days in collecting all those email addresses and finally, you’ve got hundreds of impatient prospects sticking to their computers, tablets, laptops and cell phones, just to go through the “Golden Message” from you. If that’s what you think, we’re living on Mars.

Perhaps, you’re properly awake by now, wondering what you should send to the people who’ve thrown their addresses at you. But before they go to the real message of your email, you have to come up with a subject line that will make them so uncomfortable and confused that they have no choice but to read it.

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Before we move on, let’s take a quick look at this great video from Volusion on email marketing and subject lines.

Creating a Subject Line of Your Promotional Email

That’s hard and the problem is two-fold:

  1. Perhaps your prospects don’t know the importance of your email or perhaps they’re smart enough to know what’s inside and don’t want to open it.
  2. The subject line of your email is either too good to be true or it is so bad that even your best friend won’t read.

Maybe, the root of the problem IS the subject line of your email. Maybe, the people are right to avoid it. But that doesn’t make you uncreative either. It’s simple a problem businesses face these days.

email keyboard symbol

People have social media channels, messaging apps, mobile games, and awesome videos to pay attention to. Plus, they already have their inboxes full of sales promotion emails from several different brands, especially those similar to yours.

Why should they waste their time opening an email that talks about your product? They won’t unless they’re tempted to do so. And that’s the trickiest part of all.

As the title suggests, we’re going to share some of the best Subject Line Ideas that will make prospective customers open your email. Speaking of which, there’s something really important you should know before jumping to those ideas.

Email Open Rate

computer mouse mail

There are many factors that determine average open rate:

  • Your subscriber didn’t have any motive to buy from you. He became your subscriber because of the free gift you were giving away in exchange for email address.
  • You’ve not segmented your list properly. The subscribers you’re sending an introductory email to have already purchased from you in the past.

Anyways, let’s see what average email open rate actually is and where you stand.

SmartInsights analyzed billions of emails sent via Mailchimp, and they found out that the average email open rate lies between 15% and 25% depending upon the niche or industry. This is a difference of just 10% but it says a lot about different industries and how people see their emails. For instance, the restaurant industry has the highest email open rate of 24%, followed by health and fitness (23.4%).

And if your average open rate is between these two extremes, you’re safe! Even if it’s lower than the lowest, you’ll soon learn the art of making a huge impact. But before that, you need to know why it’s important to monitor open rates.

Your autoresponder dashboard has quite a few numbers, like:

  • Bounce rate
  • Open rates
  • Click-through rates
  • Complaints, and more

These numbers are significant, but the reality is, your email needs to be opened before you can gather any other information. And another truth is, you need to make your email count because your sale from the list is totally dependent on it. Apart from the brand name mentioned in the “From” line, the subject line is the strongest factor that encourages your subscriber to open your email.

Why Subject Line?

question marks

Now, going back to where we started, what makes your subject lines so tempting that people stop, click and read the message? Here’s what experts suggest:

  • Your subject line should “Provide succinct summary” within 40 characters – roughly 5 to 10 words.
  • The subject line should “Develop a sense of urgency” so that the reader will open your email then and there.
  • Your email’s subject line should “Match your content” because readers get easily annoyed with contradicting content.
  • The subject line should “Arouse curiosity” in your subscriber and inspire him or her to immediately open it.
  • The subject line of your email must “Convey clear and strong benefits” to the reader. The benefit can be a 50% limited time discount offer or free eBook.

Here is a comparison of two subject lines to let you decide which one’s more appealing.

  1. “Do my wicked email ways work in B2B?”
  2. “Major elements of B2B marketing – Summer 2017 Kit”

The first subject line may seem weird but it’s worth an open, isn’t it? It has almost everything we discussed above.

Subject lines are the point of contact between your subscriber and your message. So, make them count. The problem is you have to generate emails on regular basis.

For each of the messages, you have to create a unique subject line right from scratch. This is the reason why we have come up with 50+ subject line formulas to help you create an impressive subject line throughout the year.

Subject-Line Ideas to Increase Your Conversion Rate Five Times

1. The “Urgency” Email

Formula: [Action] Now

Example: Open this right now

2. The “Last Call” Email

Formula: Last call: [Name Of Product] closes in [#] hours

Example: Last call: The Weight Loss Program closes in 3 hours

3. The “List” Email

Formula: The [#] way to [Benefit]

Example: The top 3 ways to lose weight

4. The “Don’t Buy This” Email

Formula: Don’t buy [Product Name] until you read this

Example: Don’t buy The Rabbit Story until you read this

5. The “Welcome” Email

Formula: Welcome to [Business/Brand Name]!

Example: Welcome to DevriX!

6. The “Case Study” Email

Formula: [Case Study] [Result of Case Study]

Example: [Case Study] Girls earns first $50,000 online

7. The “How To” Email

Formula: How To [Achieve the Desired Result]

Example: How To Get 5X Your Conversion

8. The “Do This” Email

Formula: Do THIS [Benefit]

Example: Do THIS if you want to win your customers

9. The “School Of” Email

Formula: [Insert Celebrity] School Of [Topic]

Example: Jackie Chan’s School Of Martial Arts

10. The “Branded Newsletter” Email

Formula: [Name of Newsletter] [Issue #]

Example: The WordPress Best Practices Newsletter #25

11. The “New Post” Email

Formula: [New Post] [Blog Post Headline]

Example: New Post: How to fix your Tablet

12. The “Versus” Email

Formula: [Subject] vs [Subject]

Example: Fake SEO vs Real SEO

13. The “What If” Email

Formula: What if [Negative Result]

Example: What if Facebook shut down

14. The “We’re Hiring” Email

Formula: [Brand] is hiring!

Example: Business Insider is hiring!

15. The “Product Q&A” Email

Formula: [Number] [Topic] FAQ’s You Should Know

Example: 21 Subject Line FAQ’s You Should Know

16. The “Mistakes” Email

Formula: [Number] [Topic] Mistakes You’re Making

Example: 21 Subject Line Mistakes You’re Making

17. The “Roundup” Email

Formula: [Number] experts [Topic]

Example: 50 Content Marketing Experts Share their Favorite Marketing Tools

18. The “Flash Sale” Email

Formula: [Flash Sale] [Name of Product] [Discount]

Example: Flash Sale: Ogilvy on Advertising 50% Off

19. The “Authority” Email

Formula: [Authority’s Name] [Topic + Secret/Tips]

Example: Jeff Bullas’ Content Marketing Secret

20. The “Avoid” Email

Formula: Avoid These [Number] [Topic] [Pitfalls/Mistakes]

Example: Avoid these 5 copywriting mistakes

21. The “Death Of” Email

Formula: The Death Of [Topic]

Example: The Death of Content

22. The “What I Learned” Email

Formula: What I Learned After [Accomplishment]

Example: What I learned after spending $100,000 on FB ads

23. The “Command” Email

Formula: Stop [Action]!

Example: Stop eating hamburgers!

24. The “Quick Announcement” Email

Formula: Quick Announcement: [Topic]

Example: Quick announcement: The complete web developer course is here

25. The “180 Contrast” Email

Formula: [Opposite vs Opposite]

Example: A lean man decimates 300lb attacker

26. The “Call Out” Email

Formula: [Audience] [Topic]

Example: SaaS owners! Here’s how to reduce your churn rate

27. The “Social Proof” Email

Formula: Proof That [Product] Works

Example: Proof that 5 weeks to dieting works

28. The “Question” Email

Formula: [Question]

Example: Am I the only one with a million questions?

29. The “Results” Email

Formula: How We [Result] In [Timeframe]

Example: How we got 100k followers on Twitter in 6 months

30. The “You” Email

Formula: You, A/The [Desired Result]?

Example: You, the best WordPress Developer?

31. The “Little Known” Email

Formula: [Number] Little Known Ways To [Action]

Example: 3 little-known ways to build your email list

32. The “Imagine” Email

Formula: Imagine [Desired Result]

Example: Imagine being able to travel around the world

33. The “Hack” Email

Formula: [Number] Hacks To [Desired Result]

Example: 15 hacks to work faster

34. The “National Inquirer” Email

Formula: Man/Woman/Kid [Weird Action/Thing]

Example: Man writes sales letter with straws

35. The “New York Shocker” Email

Formula: [Subject] Shocked By [Unusual Thing/Person]

Example: Gary Vaynerchuk shocked by weird FB ads

36. The “Three-Point” Email

Formula: [Topic 1], [Topic 2], and [Main Topic]

Example: UFC, sore thumbs, and email copy

37. The “I Love” Email

Formula: I [Adjective] Love Topic]

Example: I freaking love copywriting

38. The “Seasonal Discount” Email

Formula: Save [Discount] [Items] This [Season]!

Example: Save 25% on shoes this spring!

39. The “Advice” Email

Formula: [Topic] Advice To all [target market]

Example: Fashion advice to all millennials

40. The “Tao Of” Email

Formula: The Tao Of [Topic]

Example: The Tao of email marketing

41. The “Real Reason” Email

Formula: The Real Reason [Target Market] [Attracted To Product/Topic]

Example: The real reason men want to learn to pick up

42. The “Lessons” Email

Formula: [Topic] Lessons From A [Weird Source]

Example: Programming lessons from a real-life ninja

43. The “Nazi” Email

Formula: The [Topic] nazi

Example: The wine nazi

44. The “Possibly” Email

Formula: Possibly The [Smartest/Dumbest] Way To [Action]

Example: Possibly the dumbest way to train a dog

45. The “Never Met” Email

Formula: The Most [Hated/Loved] [Person] You’ve Never Met

Example: The most loved salon stylist you’ve never met.

46. The “Truth” Email

Formula: The Truth About [Topic/Person]

Example: The truth about abs

47. The “Big Mistake” Email

Formula: My Big [Topic] Mistake

Example: My big self-defense mistake

48. The “Problem” Email

Formula: The Problem With [Insert Problem]

Example: The problem with pricing too low

49. The “% Rule” Email

Formula: The [Percentage] Rule Of [Topic]

Example: The 47% rule of building a business

50. The “Art Of” Email

Formula: The Art Of [Topic]

Example: The art of gaming

51. The “Most Interesting” Email

Formula: The Most Interesting [Person] In The World

Example: The most interesting shoe shiner in the world

52. The “Most Common Mistakes” Email

Formula: The Most Common [Topic] Mistakes [Target Market] Make

Example: The most common health mistakes seniors make

53. The “Best Of” Email

Formula: The Best Of [Brand]

Example: The best of Sumo

54. The “Can’t Believe” Email

Formula: Can’t believe how much you’ll love this [product]

Example: Can’t believe how much you’ll love this app

55. The “Can’t Be Wrong” Email

Formula: [Number] People Can’t Be Wrong

Example: 5,000 people can’t be wrong

56. The “Normally” Email

Formula: Normally We [Do Something]. You Get It [New Way]

Example: Normally we charge $500 for this advice. You get it free.

57. The “Rags To Riches” Email

Formula: From [Rags] To [Riches]

Example: From homeless to Fortune 500 CEO

58. The “Use This” Email

Formula: Use This [Thing]

Example: Use this marketing plan

59. The “Try Out” Email

Formula: Try Out [Product] For Yourself

Example: Try out DevriX for yourself

60. The “War” Email

Formula: The War Against [Enemy]

Example: The war against the health industry

61. The “He/She Lost/Gained” Email

Formula: He/She lost/gained [Result]…and [blank] me!

Example: She gained $5,000 a week…and thanked me!

62. The “Great Hoax” Email

Formula: The Great [Topic] Hoax [Optional Time/Place]!

Example: The great content marketing hoax of 2016!

Do These Subject Lines Work?

Gary Bencivenga is the world’s greatest living copywriter. He came up with the following equation after analyzing some of the best headlines ever used in direct mail: 

Interest = Benefit + Curiosity

In other words, I should be able to read your email subject line, feel like I’m going to get something out of it and wonder what the rest of the email is going to say.

And this is why these email subject line formulas above work.