One-Minute Communications Tips Archive
March 2007

The Art of Email Subject Lines

Your email is one of scores of messages in your recipient's inbox. If the recipient does not know you, your subject line determines whether your email is opened or deleted.

Good subject lines for routine correspondence are specific and tell the reader what to expect in the message. Lines such as "Product launch announcement at 10:00 today" or "Complaint from ABC Inc." telegraph the emails' content and motivate the reader to open them. By contrast, subjects such as "New Product" or "ABC Inc." say little and prompt no action.

Subject lines of sales emails are most effective when they're short and contain a promise. Tell the reader what's in it for him and what action he might be expected to take. Put key information up front so it isn't truncated by the email client. And as with all sales messages: test, test, test.
 

© Arun Sinha, Access Communications. Access Communications is a marketing communications and technical writing firm based in Stamford, Connecticut, USA. Sign up for Access Communications's One-Minute Communication Tip at http://www.accessc.com. Once a month, you'll receive an actionable idea or technique on an aspect of business communications, distilled into about 150 words.

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