Deck the halls..... with great email subject lines this season

According to eMarketer there were 205.6 million email users in the US in 2011, and the number will grow by about 3-4% this year.  Business users receive an average of 100 emails each day and consumers about 32.  That's a lot of email.  And we can expect it to increase during the coming holidays.

If you want your message to get through - and get opened - (even during the holidays) you have to start with a great subject line. 

Here are some of the best practices, tips and tricks for writing great email subject lines.

1. Give me a reason to open it.
   • Stimulate the reader to open the email. Answer “Why now?” and state the point of the email.
   • Should tell what the email is about, offer something of value and be relevant to the reader.
   • Act as a teaser – pass the “must-read” test and pique the readers curiosity.
2. Get personal.  And relevant.
   • Subject lines should vary by product, target, and offer and focus on what is most relevant to the target.
   • Personalization techniques can include subtle use of “you” and "your", the customers' name (although be careful here as sometimes this is preceived as SPAM), geography, product, content interests, groups they belong to, and known behavior.
3. Make the main thing, the main thing.
   • Highlight the most important fact or benefit to the reader.
   • Clearly state what’s in it for them, or what you want them to do as a result.
4. Keep it short. Get my attention fast.
   • Try to keep subject lines under 50 characters, unless there’s a good reason to be longer.
   • Front load to maximize impact of the first 35 characters.  Don’t let important words get lost if truncated by the inbox (at around 30 characters).
5. Create a sense of urgency.
   • Be careful of SPAM red flag words; but you can test the favorite words of promotion - "now", "new", "free", and "only" -  just not in all caps or with exclamation points.  Don’t use "free" as the first word.
6. Organize into distinct thoughts.
   • If the message is more complex, break up main thoughts into strategic, concise, relevant chunks so its easy to get the point quickly.  
7. Stand out from the crowd.
   • Differentiate your subject line from the rest of the subject lines in the consumer’s inbox by using buzz words, personalization, a sense of urgency or endorsement.
8. Be authentic, don’t overpromise and don’t be too clever.
   • Consumers often delete emails if they feel tricked into opening the email.
   • Don’t write subject lines like ads. Appearing as too pushy or pitching a sale will leave the  email in the spam folder. Subject lines should simply describe the offer or message of the email, or tease the reader about what's inside.
9. Play with your brand personality.
   • Unique brand attributes and personality can distinguish emails in the inbox.
10. Test, learn, refine.  Then do it again.
    • The most effective way to evaluate email subject lines is to test them, continually.  Different things will work with different audiences, products and categories. 
    • Consider subject lines early in creative development.
    • Test with a sample of your list or get consumer feedback.

That's it.  Hopefully these tips will help you get exactly what you want for the holidays - gift wrapped open rates, click-throughs and conversions.
Happy Holidays!