Although there are debates regarding the changing role of the subject line in e-mail marketing, for many people the subject line is still very important in their decision to open your e-mails. Sure, the sender, trust, what people see in the preview pane and past experiences regarding the relevance of the interaction and content, play a big role as well. But in a world where people are overwhelmed by marketing messages and this, together with marketing and list fatigue, has a negative impact on conversion (download a white paper about preventing this here), every little bit counts.

And the subject line is more than just a little bit. It is an important part of the overall e-mail marketing efficiency. Subject lines should be personal, engaging and function of the recipient and his behavior to be efficient. But if you can't achieve this yet, you still can improve results with the tips in this post.

Grabbing the attention can be difficult. Without a strong hook to reel in customers and entice them to open an e-mail, an e-mail marketing campaign may be relegated to low response rates and readership. The most effective manner of increasing your email open rate is to use creative and effective subject lines, certainly if your e-mails campaigns are not enough personalized, segmented, targeted and recipient-triggered yet.

Below you can find some more tips on optimizing your subject lines and thus conversion.

Your subject line needs a message and even a story

Convey your marketing message directly in your subject line. Tell customers about a limited time promotion, hot news item, interesting and share-worthy story, new product or store opening through the subject line. In essence, summarize your marketing message into one short blurb. Customers will review the subject and your e-mail address and immediately know your offer. This subject line methodology conveys your marketing message, even if the recipient does not open your e-mail.

Spark curiosity and dialogue through your subject line

Most e-mails get lost in the shuffle because they do not stand out from similar messages. Use your creative talents to craft subject lines that instill a curiosity factor into your mail recipients. Consider unusual statements, questions or dialogue in your subject lines. Curiosity may kill the cat, but it can get your customers to open their emails.

Personalization matters

Looking at e-mail interactions from the broadcasting perspective is less effective than recipient-driven and personalized e-mail in function of the customer lifecycle. Even if you cannot personalize as much as you could when changing your e-mail marketing strategy, you can still personalize a bit. Use personalization language that establishes a connection with your email marketing recipients. The more people feel the message is a direct communication, the more likely they will be to open it. Follow through with the customized tone you set in the subject line throughout your messaging to increase the personalization impact. Customers  want to feel they are important, so play up to their desires to increase your sales.

The first impression a customer has of any e-mail marketing message has a large impact on the effectiveness and final results of the campaign. Unfortunately, you have one line to work your marketing magic- the subject line.

Long subject lines may be overlooked, so you must be length conscious and crafty in your word selections. Experiment to find the right balance of tone, appeal and relevance that speaks to your customer base and you will have the formula for increased sales and profits.