Rant: Realized my email subject lines were killing open rates for 6 months

I was writing descriptive subject lines for my SaaS newsletter and wondered why only 12% opened. A colleague showed me her test with 'Hey [Name], quick question' hitting 45% opens and it clicked that I was boring people before they even read.

2 comments

2 Comments

the_seth1mo ago

Flip the question around and ask if your subject lines were actually matching what was inside the email. I ran a test where I used a boring but honest subject line like "Monthly Update: 3 New Features" and saw 22% open rate, way better than my clickbaity "You won't believe this" ones that hit 35% opens but nobody stayed past the first paragraph. That gap between hype and reality might be what's killing your reads more than the sexiness of the subject line itself.

hugo_jones21mo ago

But what if the clickbaity ones are actually doing their job? The whole point of a subject line is to get people to open the email, not to summarize the content like a boring textbook. I'd rather have 35% open rates and lose some people than have 22% and have nobody even see what I wrote. Those 13% extra opens are still eyeballs on my content, even if some bounce. Sure, you lose the ones who hate the mismatch, but you might gain some who were curious enough to skim and ended up staying. It's a tradeoff, and honestly, I think the engagement from the hype is worth the risk of losing a few picky readers.