How To Write Improved Subject Lines That Get Your Promos Opened

Inundated as we all with a constant barrage of emails, chances are high that any promo email you send will be ignored and never opened. Unless, that is, you're able to craft a subject line that's truly masterful. Here, we review the different types of attention grabbing subject line.

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Guest post from Promoly 

How many unopened emails are currently in your inbox? 200? 600? Or perhaps, you’re on a few different mailing lists – 1,653 then? And that’s after doing some Gmail housekeeping!

We receive tons of emails day by day (105 billion emails are sent daily!), and a vast majority of them are never read.

People are being inundated with truckloads of information – as never before in history. Sadly we don’t have enough time or mental bandwidth to let it all seep in.

The probability that your email will be ignored is quite high – unless you can craft a masterful subject line.

Forty-seven percent of email recipients will open an email purely because of the subject line. And on the flip side, sixty-nine percent of email recipients will report an email as spam simply because of the subject line.

In other words, think of email subject lines as the first (and possibly the last) impression you’ll make on a reader.

In lots of ways, the subject line is even more relevant than the body of your email.

After all, sending an excellent music promo is insignificant if it never gets to meet the dance.

So, while writing your new music press releases, don’t take your subject lines for granted. The ideal subject line is short, descriptive, and makes the reader want to open your promo!

Are you a music promoter looking to develop into an email subject line writing Yoda?

There are a few different styles for generating jaw-dropping subject lines when sending promotional music to your mailing lists, let’s cover them below:

The Informational

Active, well-organized people appreciate efficiency. Such readers want you to be brief and understandable with your subject lines since their time is a precious asset.

Make things easier for them by prioritizing relevant information when writing your subject lines. For example, ‘New release from Maverick Records, 4min’. This sort of subject line cuts to the chase quickly and lets the recipient know the intention of the email right away via its subject line.

The Personal

Who doesn’t love a personal touch?

Taking the personalized route when writing subject lines, will help you engage your audience right from the start and quickly help your email stand out from the rest because there’s contextual relevancy that separates it from being a mass email.

Try to include the first name of the recipient, or other personal details such as recent downloads from your record label.

The Urgent

Why are infomercials effective? Because they create a sense of importance; requiring swift action.

People habitually respond to the likelihood of missing out on something, instead of promises of gaining something.

Similar effects can be used when writing your subject lines and including tags that demonstrate a sense of urgency can help with this. For example, including ‘[URGENT]’ in the promotional email subject line, or attaching a fear of missing out such as ‘Download this before midnight…’ may draw in recipients to opening the email.

The Clever and Catchy

A memorable subject line will stand out amid the scores of dull ones around it.

Humour can be tricky, though, and you must be careful not to alienate or confuse the reader.

However, if you are familiar with your audience, a witty joke will ensure that your email is opened and shared.

The List

There’s a good reason why listicles have become so widespread: they work.

A list provides snappy, snackable content and builds curiosity.

Besides, including numbers in your email subject line causes the reader to focus, since our brains are instinctively attracted to digits.

The Short and Sweet

Because most mobile devices can only display five to six words of your subject line—and given that over forty-one percent of email campaigns today’s are opened on smartphones — brevity is critical.

The Question

Starting with a curious subject line will engage your audience immediately and generate immediate dialogue.

Try asking open-ended questions so that your reader cannot respond to them with a swift “no.”

The Scarce

We humans have an innate dread of losing out on anything. Hence, an email subject line that threatens scarcity (such as “hurry, while offer lasts”!) tends to perform well.

The How-to

A how-to email subject line gives insight into the exact benefits your audience will discover if they open and read your email.

And provided that your “how-to” is helpful to the reader, open rates will soar.

The Sneak Peek

Everybody wants to be an early adopter or a trendsetter, so why not fuel that desire?

Let’s say you have a priceless opportunity, integrating sneak peeks and an exclusive into your email subject line is an easy guaranteed to boost your open rates.

While a lot of these tips seem simple, they’re tried and tested – but most importantly, rely on experimentation. The best way to figure out which of these works best (when sending promos) for your record label is to a/b test. Create two identical promos in Promoly and then adjust the subject lines. Once complete, create an A and B group then deliver a promo to each audience. Give it a good seven days and compare which audience had a higher open rate. Once you’ve worked out a formula, keep testing and you’ll see your open rate increase!