4 tips for writing catchy newsletter subject lines

As a blogger, you probably have a lot on your mind.

You juggle dozens of time-consuming tasks daily, trying to keep your blog up and running all the time.

You make sure you write never-before-seen blog posts.

You carefully collaborate with brands without losing your readers’ trust.

You partner with fellow bloggers, to create new, exciting content for your followers.

You do all these steps just to make sure your blog posts are read, and your voice heard.

And hard work pays off.

But, hm…

Although you are satisfied with the results, you would like to raise those traffic numbers just a little bit.

The good news is that you can get traffic to your blog and connect with your audience by using the one tool you probably forgot about 一 a newsletter.

Yes.

Believe it or not, a newsletter is a powerful marketing tool that can increase traffic on your blog, and, in the long term, help you make a brand of yourself. (That’s why we previously wrote about how you can increase the number of newsletter subscribers.)

The only thing you need to make sure is that your subscribers actually open the email. What a better way to do this than to come up with catchy newsletter subject lines?

Think about it for a minute.

Your blog followers get a ton of emails sent to their inbox every single day. If they find the subject line exciting and interesting enough, they will gladly open the email. If not, they will move the email to the Trash and forget about it.

We assume you don’t want your emails to be labeled as “unwanted” or “spammy junk”.

So, to help you increase your email open rate, we decided to write down some tips that will help you come up with catchy newsletter subject lines, all on your own. Here they are:

1. Keep in mind whom you are sending the newsletter

Before you start thinking about writing newsletter subject lines, you need to be aware of who the email recipients are. Not all your subscribers are fitting for each newsletter you send.

If you are not sure what we mean, here’s an example.

Imagine being a food blogger that has over 6,000 newsletter subscribers in total. You cover topics on keto meals plans, vegan, plant-based meals and, and French cuisine. Writing about these posts got you three types of audience: the ones that are on their weight-loss journey, that are eating high-protein meals, and going to the gym; the ones that care about the environment and animal well-being, and French savants that enjoy making the “délicieux repas”.

As it turns out, all of the mentioned people come from different parts of the world. Not to mention, they are probably poles apart when it comes to age, interests, lifestyle choices, and buying habits. What they have in common is the love they share for your blog.

Now, imagine wanting to send a newsletter that contains only the recipes you learned to make when you spent two months in a village in the South of France. You are probably not going to send this newsletter to all 6,000 subscribers. Instead, you will select only French cuisine aficionados.

So, before you get to writing newsletter subject lines, be sure to separate your blog readers into groups to make sure they get the content they are interested in reading. Segmenting your subscribers’ list is the first step that will guarantee you high email open rates.

2. Do’s and don’ts of writing the catchiest newsletter subject lines

Now that you have separated your newsletter subscribers into several groups, you can move onto writing newsletter subject lines.

Here are some tips that will help you create compelling, catchy newsletter subject lines:

1. Keep the number of subject line characters below 50. Knowing that 88% of smartphone users check their emails on their mobile devices, you get the idea of why it’s crucial to keep the subject lines short.

2. Use numbers to shorten the subject line. Numbers are easier to digest, and people love seeing them. We are sure that you can spot the difference between “Here’s what happened in Brazil…” and “I met 14/100 tribes in the Amazon forest”. 

3. Make sure the subject line goes well with the newsletter content. Recipients like to know why you are sending them an email 一 they don’t want to waste time reading something they were not interested in, to begin with. For example, if you are sending an email covering top French recipes, you probably don’t want to write the subject line “Here’s what I did in France”.

4. Make opening the email so urgent users won’t be able to resist but to click. For example, if you are a fashion blogger that covers the latest haute couture trends, you can write a subject line like “Be the first one to see these FW2019 Dior trends”.

5. Use “names” in the newsletter subject lines to ignite curiosity. For example, if you run a food blog, the subject line can be “25 recipes J. Oliver taught me to make”. Just make sure that flaunt your connections and knowledge too much, it can make you sound conceited. 

6. Sometimes you should make blog readers feel special. For example, if you are sending the newsletter in the middle of the Christmas season, you might want to write a catchy subject line that goes something like “Join me on my X-mas dinner” or “My X-mas gift to You” or “This year, I’m your Santa”.

7. Ask a question. When writing a newsletter subject line in the form of a question, be sure to “hit the bullseye”, that is, ask the question readers are excited to find an answer to and that can relieve their pain points. For example, if you are a food blogger, you can write something along the line, “Why your kids don’t like your pancakes? :(”

And here are the things you should avoid:

1. Never use ALL CAPS. This move is considered to be spammy and unfriendly.

2. Avoid using spammy words (obviously). If you are not sure which words are considered spammy, you can check out the post on Prospect’s blog.

3. Avoid using an exclamation point. No one likes being yelled at 一 it’s that simple.

3. Write as many newsletter subject lines as you can

Now that you have read our tips, we would advise you to sit behind your desk, get your laptop, and open Google Docs or Google Sheets. It’s time you write as many subject lines as you can.

Once you got the first few ideas “out of your system”, you can play with the subject lines you wrote, and change their forms 一 transforming them into questions, or number-filled statements. Play with the action verbs, emojis, and do a wordplay.

4. Choose top 3 newsletter subject lines

Let’s say you wrote down 30 subject lines for one newsletter.

Now, it’s time you choose the right One.

When it comes to choosing the One, we would recommend you once again go through the tips we’ve mentioned and find the top 3 subject lines, that are short (below 50 characters), attention-grabbing and speak to your audience on a personal level. Once you choose your top 3, you won’t have a problem choosing the One you will actually send.

5. Some bonus tips (for sending the newsletter)

Writing catchy newsletter subject lines will undoubtedly increase the chance of your blog followers opening the email.

But, if you really want to get to your readers’ eyes and hearts, you’ll need to put a bit more effort. Here are some bonus tips major retail companies use to increase their email open rates, and which you can steal for sure:

1.  Sending time matters. If you send the newsletter that includes a compelling subject line and you do it in the right time (when blog readers find it suitable), users will open the email as soon as they get it. Be sure to test different time zones, depending on your subscribers’ location.

2. Never stop testing your subject lines. Some of the tips we mentioned may work well for your audience, some of them don’t. Test different newsletter subject lines to see which ones work the best.

3. Avoid the “no-reply” sender’s name. HubSpot did some email marketing testing and found that people hesitate to open emails from unfamiliar senders. Be sure to add your full name when sending the newsletter.

It’s time to get to writing!

Now that you know what a compelling newsletter subject line should contain, we believe you are ready to spark your subscribers’ interest and get the email open rate of at least 45%.

Be sure to let us know how your campaign went and whether our tips helped you drive more traffic to your blog.

In the meantime, if you want to get more tips on growing your blog, you can subscribe to our newsletter. Just click on the button below. Just click it.

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