70+ Examples of Great Email Subject Lines

Subject lines are key to email marketing success. Even exceptional content may go unread without an engaging opener. Your subject line acts as the first impression, often determining whether subscribers interact with your message. Before sending your next campaign, invest time in crafting a compelling subject line. It's the bridge connecting your valuable content to your audience's attention in a crowded inbox.

With Blocfree's email template builder, you can craft stunning, engaging emails that improve email deliverability and can deliver results.

How Do You Know Your Email Subject Lines are Working?

Email platforms provide statistics showing how many emails were delivered and opened. We recommend keeping a spreadsheet showing which email subject lines provide the best open rate. Once you compile your data, use what you gather to further build your relationship with your subscribers.

Click Through Rate (CTR): What Is It and Why Does It Matter?

The click-through rate (CTR) is the amount of people who clicked on your call to action (or links) in your email. Tracking the CTR of your email campaigns is crucial, especially when evaluating the effectiveness of your email subject lines. Your email’s subject line helps the recipient decide whether to open it; if they don’t, your email’s CTA will never get a chance.

Average Session Duration: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?

Average session duration is another key email metric to monitor. This metric reveals the average amount of time people spent engaging with your content after clicking a link in your email. If your email’s subject line was adequate and the content of your email resonated with your audience, you should see high average session durations.

Bounce Rate: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?

Bounce rate is the percentage of emails that could not be delivered to the recipients. There are two types of bounces:

• Soft bounces
• Hard bounces

Soft Bounce

Soft bounces occur when an email is sent to a valid address but gets returned. This can happen if the recipient’s inbox is full or the file size is too large. Emails that are soft-bounced may be delivered if resent after some time.

Hard Bounce

Hard bounces occur when an email is sent to an invalid address. This means the address no longer exists or was never in use. Emails that are hard-bounced will not be delivered if resent. Monitoring your bounce rate is vital to maintaining a healthy email list.

A high bounce rate indicates invalid addresses on your list, hurting your email deliverability. Email subject lines don’t directly affect your bounce rate, but if your bounce rate is high, you may want to clean your email list before sending your next campaign.

70+ Examples of Great Email Subject Lines

Subject Lines That Trigger FOMO Can Boost Email Open Rates

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) can be an impossible psychological trick to ignore. There’s something about the notion of missing out on something that gets our heart racing and spurs us into action. The benefits of capitalizing on FOMO for email marketing are real.

Research shows that 60% of millennial customers would attest to it by claiming that they make reactive purchases after experiencing it, sometimes within as soon as 24 hours. You can use FOMO to your benefit by feeding on the fear of subscribers by creating urgency or an element of scarcity in your subject lines. Words that bring limited availability and time sensitivity to mind, such as: Expiring Urgent Limited

Let’s learn from the following examples:

1. Oh no, your subscription is at an end.
2. Hey, did you know that you were missing out on points?
3. You’ve only ONE DAY left before [offer] expires…
4. Your [goal] plan goes adieu tonight.
5. ATTENTION! Get [offer] ASAP before it disappears.
6. Hey, earn twice the number of points today only.
7. Hurry! Your offer expires today.

Personalized Subject Lines Get Better Open Rates

Personalized subject lines are the email marketing tactic of today. In fact, by just personalizing your email subject line, you can boost your average open rate by 7.4% and achieve six times higher transaction rates. You can personalize your subject lines by including the name of your subscribers in your subject lines. You can also use everyday language offer location-specific deals and capitalize on interest targeting to make your subject lines more personal.

Let’s take a look:

1. Hi, [Name]. I hope you haven’t forgotten me.
2. Happy birthday, [Name]! Look inside for your surprise.
3. I haven’t seen you in a while, [Name].
4. We couldn’t find you in the comments section, [Name].
5. Hey, [Name]! Thanks for opting into our email list.
6. [Name], check out these hand-picked deals for you.
7. Hey [Name], are you still coming?

Curiosity Subject Lines Boost Engagement Rates

Composing open-ended subject lines can invoke intrigue and prompt your subscribers to engage with you. Brands that utilize interactive content have seen 70% higher conversion rates. To induce an element of curiosity in your email subject lines, offer them tantalizing deals, ask captivating questions, and even tell them what to do.

For example:

1. Don’t Open This Email
2. Know what the fuss of this mystery email is about.
3. Ten bizarre tips that can improve your engagement rates.
4. These offers… for THOSE prices?! Unreal!
5. Take a peek at your surprise gift.
6. Want to uncover the secrets to [vertical] success?
7. Astonishing methods to earn more by providing freebies.
8. Look inside for the hottest [deal/offer].
9. A surprise waiting to be unwrapped.

Funny Subject Lines Grab Attention

If your subject line can amuse your subscribers, you can rest assured that they will open it. As the process of telling good jokes goes, begin by knowing your audience first. Segment your subscriber list and augment your open rate by using subject lines laced with humor, such as:

1. We like being used
2. Since we can’t all hit the jackpot.
3. Spreadsheets never felt so good.
4. We’re the real deal (unlike Pinocchio).
5. Boom shakalaka! Let’s hit it.
6. Offers that you can’t refuse (unlike The Godfather kind).
7. Look what you did, you little jerk… (A reference to the movie Home Alone).

Vanity, aka Ego Boost Subject Lines

Appealing to your subscriber’s vanity can always help you. After all, everyone has a bit of it, and supplanting it can make you stand apart from the rest.

Let’s take a look at how to boost your subscribers’ egos to your benefit:

1. Hurry! We need your refined taste.
2. You deserve everything new.
3. Don’t settle for anything less than the best.
4. As seen in Vogue.
5. Wear what your favorite celebs are wearing.
6. Do you think you look fantastic in this [product]? We sure think you do.
7. Are you as ready as ever?
8. Gift ideas for your distinct eye.
9. Hey, [name]! We think you’ll make these [product] look awesome.

Incentive Subject Lines Improve Open Rates

Providing incentives through emails can inordinately improve your open rates, as seen in a survey where 80% of respondents claimed they would purchase from a new brand if they received an offer or a discount code. Use incentives to your benefit by highlighting your email’s benefits to your subscribers.

Let them know what opening the email has for them and see your open rates increase:

1. Obtain our free [lead magnet] now.
2. 20% off! Only for you!
3. Hey, [name]! Congrats on getting free shipping for your next purchase.
4. Want to access our free [content type]?

Retargeting Subject Lines Bring Customers Back

Retargeting emails have one purpose: to nudge subscribers to complete an action they were meant to take but stopped midway. If you can capitalize on this segment of customers, you can increase the conversion rate by 30 percent on average and push conversion rates by as much as 30%.

Craft subject lines that revolve around better offers, overcoming rejections, or even bringing a sweeter deal to their notice.

1. Great news! Your favorite item(s) is/are back in stock at a discounted price.
2. Hey, [name]! We have reserved your shopping cart for you.
3. Did you forget this discount coupon?
4. Hey, [name]! Great news! Your cart price has dropped!
5. Be careful to take advantage of these new features.
6. Good news, [name]! Your shipping charges are free.
7. We won’t give up on you.

Greed(y) Subject Lines Work Too

We have just established how tough it can be to pass up great deals. That’s why leveraging greed as a motivating factor can work well for your open rates.

Given below are a few excellent subject line ideas for using “greed” as a hook:

1. Meet your new friend in [product].
2. Gain a head start this quarter.
3. Alert! Flash sale!
4. New essentials for you.
5. Deals are just too good to pass up on.
6. 25% off on your wishlist.
7. A hint of luxury at an affordable price.
8. Complementary [gift] on purchases above [minimum limit].
9. Priority access for our favorite buyer.
10. Buy two, get one free.

Pain Points Subject Lines Will Get Opens

If you have a good grip on your ideal buyer persona, you can compose your subject lines around their pain points. Using pain points in your subject lines will serve two purposes: invoke the reader’s curiosity and gain their trust by solving their problem.

1. Fuel your automation efforts without going bankrupt.
2. Where do all your emails go?
3. Get higher engagement rates with these easy hacks.
4. Stop wasting resources on [pain point].
5. Your [relevant pain point] issues, resolved.
6. Since we can’t all win the lottery (used by Uber).
7. How to avoid your subsequent deadline day chaos.
8. Get over your [relevant pain point] issues with these quick fixes.
9. Stop wasting time on mindless work.
10. Increase click-through rates with these handy tips.
11. Everything you wished to know about web copy but didn’t know where to look.

Simple Subject Lines Work for Emails Too

While these subject lines aren’t as creative as those in the above categories, they are very lucrative. The trick to making these subject lines work is consistently providing good content. You can only bank upon them to deliver the open rates you desire. Following this tactic has led these ‘bland’ subject lines to attain unreal interest rates, sometimes ranging between 60-87%.

Let’s take a look at them here:

1. [Company Name] Marketing Newsletter.
2. State of the Consumer Survey [Company Name] Update (Date).
3. [Company Name]: The consumers behind your success.
4. [Company Name]: [MM/YYYY] news bulletin!
5. [Company Name] Newsletter for the month [MM].
6. [Company Name] invites you to its gala [event].
7. Happy [birthday/holidays] from [company name].
8. Invitation to [recipient name] from [company name].

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