Best Email Subject Lines For Marketing

Subject lines are important in marketing, especially when it comes to email. That’s why I wanted to help you out by providing you with the best email subject lines for marketing. I myself have found these lines to be successful in helping grow my list, conversions and overall business.

How many emails do you receive every day? I bet most of them are from businesses. Trust me, you don’t want your emails to be unappealing to customers. That’s why it’s important to write email subject lines that keep readers interested in continuing to view your content. This post will show you how to do just that with 11 of the best email subject lines for marketing .

Why You Need Good Email Subject Lines

Did you know that 47% of email recipients open an email based on the subject line alone? At the same time, 69% of email recipients report email as spam based solely on the subject line.

In other words: your subject lines have the power to make or break your email marketing campaigns.

The best way to write email subject lines for higher opens (instead of being marked as spam) is by leveraging natural human tendencies and psychological principles.

Here are 164 examples of the best subject lines for email marketing, and the proven principles that make them work…

Fear of Missing Out

One psychological principle that is practically impossible to resist is the fear of missing out. You can use this fear in your subject lines by adding an element of scarcity (limited availability) or urgency (limited time).

In fact, subject lines that include words that imply time sensitivity–like “urgent”, “breaking”, “important” or “alert”–are proven to increase email open rates.

Here are some great sample subject lines for emails that use the fear of missing out…

1. Warby Parker: “Uh-oh, your prescription is expiring”
2. JetBlue: “You’re missing out on points.”
3. Digital Marketer: “[URGENT] You’ve got ONE DAY to watch this…”
4. Digital Marketer: “Your 7-figure plan goes bye-bye at midnight…”
5. Digital Marketer: “[WEEKEND ONLY] Get this NOW before it’s gone…”
6. Jersey Mike’s Subs: “Mary, Earn double points today only”
7. Guess: “Tonight only: A denim lover’s dream”

Curiosity

Humans have a natural desire for closure– we don’t like having gaps in our knowledge. You can leverage this desire for closure by leaving your subject line open-ended so subscribers will be curious, like a cliffhanger that can only be satisfied by opening the email.

You can make subscribers curious by asking a question, promising something interesting, or simply saying something that sounds strange or unusual.

Here are some great examples of curiosity-inducing subject lines…

8. Manicube: “*Don’t Open This Email*”
9. GrubHub: “Last Day To See What This Mystery Email Is All About”
10. Refinery29: “10 bizarre money habits making Millennials richer”
11. Digital Marketer: “Check out my new “man cave” [PICS]”
12. Digital Marketer: “Is this the hottest career in marketing?”
13. Thrillist: “What They Eat In Prison”
14. Eat This Not That: “9 Disgusting Facts about Thanksgiving”
15. Chubbies: “Hologram Shorts?!”
16. The Hustle: “A faster donkey”
17. Mary Fernandez: “? a surprise gift for you! {unwrap}”

Funny Subject Lines

If your subject line makes your subscribers laugh, then they’ll simply have to open it. After all, have you ever read a subject line that tickled your funny bone and you didn’t read it?

Being humorous requires a bit more thought and creativity, but it can really pay off in terms of your open rates.

Here are some funny email subject lines to make your subscribers laugh.

18. Eater Boston: “Where to Drink Beer Right Now” (Sent at 6:45am on a Wednesday.)
19. OpenTable: “Licking your phone never tasted so good”
20. Groupon: “Deals That Make Us Proud (Unlike Our Nephew, Steve)”
21. The Muse: “We Like Being Used”
22. Warby Parker: “Pairs nicely with spreadsheets”
23. UncommonGoods: “As You Wish” (A reference to the movie The Princess Bride.)
24. Travelocity: “Need a day at the beach? Just scratch n’ sniff your way to paradise…”
25. TicTail: “Boom shakalak! Let’s get started.”
26. Thrillist: “Try To Avoid These 27 People On New Year’s Eve”
27. Baby Bump: “Yes, I’m Pregnant. You Can Stop Staring At My Belly Now.”
28. Gozengo: “NEW! Vacation on Mars”
29. The Hustle: “Look what you did, you little jerk…” (This one’s a reference to the movie Home Alone. We hope.)

Vanity

Everyone has a bit of vanity. People love to be liked, accepted and even revered by others. It’s just a part of being human.

That’s why some of the most clever subject lines use vanity to get you to open the email. To do this, you can either promise something that makes the subscriber look better to their peers, or invoke the fear of being shamed.

Here are some great examples of clever email subject lines that leverage vanity…

30. Guess: “Don’t wear last year’s styles.”
31. Fabletics: “Your Butt Will Look Great in These Workout Pants”
32. Jeremy Gitomer: “How Have You Progressed Since the Third Grade?”
33. Rapha: “Gift inspiration for the discerning cyclist”
34. La Mer: “Age-defying beauty tricks”
35. Pop Physique: “Get Ready. Keep the Pie Off Your Thighs Returns.”
36. Rapha: “As worn in the World Tour”
37. Sephora: “Products the celebs are wearing”

Greed

You may not think of yourself as a “greedy” person, but it can be really tough to pass up a great deal… even if you don’t really need the item right now. That’s why sales, discounts and special offers work really well in your subject lines.

However, be careful about offering really huge discounts– the higher the percentage, the less reliable effect it has on your open rates (perhaps because consumers don’t believe large discounts are real).

Regardless, you can usually expect to see an increase in your click rates whenever you offer a discount in your subject line. That’s probably because the people who open these emails are already interested in your offer, so they’re naturally inclined to click.

Here are some great email subject line ideas for hitting your subscriber’s “greed” button…

38. Topshop: “Meet your new jeans”
39. Topshop: “Get a head start on summer”
40. HP: “Flash. Sale. Alert.”
41. HP: “New must-haves for your office”
42. Seafolly: “A new product you won’t pass on”
43. Guess: “25% off your favorites”
44. Rip Curl: “Two for two”
45. La Mer: “A little luxury at a great price”
46. Rapha: “Complimentary gift wrap on all purchases”
47. The Black Tux: “Get priority access.”

Sloth

Another common trait among all humans is sloth, or the tendency to avoid work. Even people who aren’t inclined to be lazy would prefer a silver bullet over the long and hard route.

You can give subscribers an easier way to achieve their goals by offering a shortcut, or a useful resource that saves a lot of time and energy. (These useful emails are perfect for lead nurturing too!)

Here are some great examples of email subject lines that satisfy sloth…

48. Syed from OptinMonster: “✔ 63-Point Checklist for Creating the Ultimate Optin Form”
49. Syed from OptinMonster: “Grow your email list 10X ⚡ faster with these 30 content upgrade ideas”
50. Ramit Sethi: “How to email a busy person (including a word-for-word script)”
51. Digital Marketer: “Steal these email templates…”
52. Digital Marketer: “A Native Ad in 60 Minutes or Less”
53. Digital Marketer: “212 blog post ideas”

Pain Points

If you really understand your buyer persona, you should know their biggest pain points. Use those pain points to get subscribers to open your emails by solving that problem for them.

Here are some examples of email subject lines that bring out the subscriber’s pain points and offer a solution…

54. Pizza Hut: “Feed your guests without breaking the bank”
55. IKEA: “Where do all these toys go?”
56. IKEA: “Get more kitchen space with these easy fixes”
57. HP: “Stop wasting money on ink”
58. Sephora: “Your beauty issues, solved”
59. Uber: “Since we can’t all win the lottery…”
60. Thrillist: “How to Survive Your Next Overnight Flight”
61. Guess: “Wanted: Cute and affordable fashions”
62. Evernote: “Stop wasting time on mindless work”
63. Duolingo: “Learn a language with only 5 minutes per day”

Content promotion email subject lines

Sharing content via email can help drive traffic to your website and give exposure to content that your readers might not know to search for online. Remember, a great blog post title makes for a great subject line, so indicate the value of the content and quantify when possible to give the reader an idea of what to expect.

• How to Plan Your Move in an Hour or Less 🕑
• [Ebook] ⚡️ Speeding up the Development and Design of Websites ⚡️
• Steal our Marketing Hacks (Seriously!)
• 15 Business Card Templates Up for Grabs
• [FREE GUIDE]: Name of Guide
• Guide Inside! 8 Ways to [Achieve Benefit]
• How to Start a Business [Free Guide]
• 🙌 Finally—a cheat sheet to [topic]! 🙌🏾
• The last guide to [topic] you’ll ever need.
• Top Secret! 🤫 X Lesser-Known Ways to Improve Your [X]
• Name, X% of [compelling stat from or relevant to your content]

Customer appreciation subject lines

Engage your customers with customer appreciation emails, and not just on Customer Appreciation Day! (Changes annually, usually in April or May). You can send these emails whenever you want—on holidays, anniversaries or just because. Personalize these when you can, and do NOT use the words “valued customers.”

• Free gift. No catch. Just because. ❤️
• Our way of saying thanks…
• Hi Kristen, enjoy this token 🏆 of our appreciation.
• Customer Appreciation Day calls for a celebration…
• Customers like you deserve freebies like these
• Thank you for X years together! 🎁
• Happy [business name]versary! Grab your discount

Image source

Event email subject lines

Event emails should almost always come in a series: the invite email, the reminder, and the thank you/follow-up.

Invite

• Back by popular demand: [Event Name] Round II!
• It’s That Time Again…Annual [Event Name] April 12
• We’re in Town! Free Tacos in City Square 🌮
• Yappy Hour this Wednesday @ Bark Park!
• You’re Invited! Startup Success Breakfast (Come hungry!)
• Save Your Spot Now! SEO Webinar – Limited Seats 🪑
• Paul, join my June 8 workshop for designers.
• Monday: Pub Run at 6 pm!
• You’re invited: The Future of CMX [Spots limited!] 🏃🏾
• [Webinar]: Cut Your Costs in Half – in Half the Time!
• Don’t miss out…Game Watching Party!
• Let’s talk CAC – Q&A Session 5/28
• Meet the Author: Irma Haskin [TUESDAY @ 2pm]

Follow up

• So… how was it? Share your #hashtag pics!
• That was a blast! [Pics included!]
• Thanks for coming out!
• We loved seeing your face!
• Thanks for attending [event name]!

Follow up email subject lines

In some cases, a simple “Re: [original subject line]” works just fine for follow-up emails. If you’ve tried this to no avail or if this is part of a nurture series, consider these:

• [Name], did our guide help?
• Another resource for you, [Name]!
• Your recent download—any questions?
• Any questions on the quote we sent over?
• Touching base re: gutter cleaning estimate
• [Name] here, following up on your floor plan
• Hi [Name], checking in since our last chat

Holiday email subject lines

Call me biased, but LOCALiQ is holiday subject line heaven. It is also there that you will find a treasure trove of seasonal subject lines for every month of the year. Here’s the list:

• August email subject lines
• September email subject lines
• October email subject lines
• November email subject lines
• December email subject lines
• January email subject lines
• February email subject lines
• March email subject lines
• April email subject lines

You might also be interested in writing a holiday customer greeting email.

Conclusion

Knowing a subject line will get your email opened doesn’t work very well. You probably lose more emails to the spam folder than you send out. To help with this, there are certain topics that seem to result in higher open and reply rates for marketers. That’s good news! Probably means more people are reading your emails.