The Art of Crafting a Perfect Cold Email Subject Line
One thing about emails is that if the strategy is not polished, the results will be appalling, and we know that you will not like that. One thing that will change your email marketing for the better is a great cold email subject line. It might seem a bit easy from the look, but crafting a subject line is complex and takes a lot of practice to perfect. The good news is that we have a team of email marketing experts, and they are rockstars when it comes to writing cold email subject lines. We will teach it all to you in one article. Are you ready? Here we go.
Amazing Science of Cold Email Subject Lines
Before we go and help you become experts in writing cold email subject lines, let’s first define what cold emails are before we delve into what email subject lines are and how important they are on the email marketing scene.
What Is a Cold Email?
Cold emails or the practice of cold emailing is a principal practice in marketing and, essentially, email marketing. The reason why it is popular and quite prevalent is that it works. It is easy to see why people are big fans of the practice. Defining what cold emails are will help in creating cold email subject lines.
A cold email is an email sent to anyone with a particular purpose. In marketing, it can be defined as emails sent to clients to incite interest and sell them a service or a product. The difference between an email and a cold email is that a cold email proposes a beneficial agreement or transaction between the two parties involved in the communication. We cannot stress this enough: Cold emailing as a marketing and sales practice works extremely well. There are several kinds of cold emails, and each type has a certain kind of subject line that works best for it. Here are some of the most common types of cold emails available.
Types of Cold Emails Available
BAB (Before After Bridge)
The BAB is the most common form of cold email. How do you start? Well, it is quite simple. All you have to do is to first point out a problem in the body of your email. Then, specify how solving the problem will make the life of your potential client better and say how your client can get from the problem to the solution (it is where your product or service comes in).
The BAB form of the cold email is exciting in every sense of the word. People hate problems and love solutions. The fact that you can put your product or service in the matrix will work magic for your business. Imagine how much traction you will gain if your BAB cold emails have a perfect subject line. You do not have to imagine because we will help you do just that.
But You Are Free
It is one of the most persuasive email forms, and it works magic. If you think we are lying, well, we have over 42 psychological studies to back us up. People love the idea of free will. Imposing a decision on people will do nothing but make it complicated for them to go with what you are suggesting.
How does it work? You pitch your product to your potential client, but rather than encourage them to act and purchase or pay for your service, you tell them it is their choice to decide. In most instances, people jump for this technique, and the results are nothing but astonishing. With the perfect subject line, you can sell everything using the “But You Are Free” cold email.
Did we also mention that the psychological studies that back up this type of cold email were performed on over 220 000 people? If you do not trust the 220 000 people plus us, you just have to try it for yourself with our “perfect subject lines”. Trust us, with this, you will build a mutual connection so much easier.
AIDA (Attention Interest Desire Action)
If they are willing to give you enough attention to make your pitch, then you have to make it count. It is the principle behind the AIDA cold email. What you have to do first is grab the attention of your recipient. Blog posts use the same concept.
The best way to get attention is an engaging, concise, direct, and well-thought-out subject line. We will be delving into that in a bit. Once you have your prospects’ attention, you should incite interest. All you have to do is highlight how the product or service is “personally” suited for your potential client. You should get personal. It helps to build a mutual connection. With interest and attention in the bag, desire will easily follow. With all three elements in the bag, your prospect will act and become a client. See how it all starts with the perfect subject line.
The 3B Plan
We know all the other types of cold emails we have talked about are great, but this one is a masterstroke. Did we save the best for last? Yes, we did. The 3B plan is made up of three main elements. That is Brevity, Bluntness, and Basic all the way.
The first thing you have to ensure is that your cold email is short. No one has time to read through a litany of marketing content, especially on mobile devices. Make sure that you stick to brevity. Your subject line has to be short but comprehensive enough to ensure that you do not waste and bore your potential client with words.
Bluntness is also essential. Remember, we do not have lots of words. There is no need to sugarcoat the content. Be straight to the point. Bluntness is a business language on its own - you have to master it.
The final B is all about keeping it basic. Remember, not all people that you will be cold emailing have technical knowledge in your field. It means that you have to keep your text basic and avoid technical jargon. Cold email is not a platform to prove that you are an expert. The main aim is to send a message. The best way to do this is to use terms that are easy to understand for your potential client. It is especially important for your subject lines.
Good Subject Lines for Cold Emails
We have highlighted some of the best types of cold emails. One thing that is important to note is that all these strategies work magic. There is a need to ensure that the cold email subject lines used in every cold email are concise, informative, tailored, and, most importantly, spam-proof.
We will be looking at some examples of the best cold email subject lines that have been known to work magic for marketers over the years. With a bit of tweaking, these lines can be used for essentially any product or service.
What Makes a Good Email Subject Line?
A good email subject line has to stick to the guideline and exhibit certain characteristics. If you are creating a cold email subject line, you have to ensure that it passes these conditions.
Has to Have Sense of Urgency
The very moment a recipient sees the subject line of your email, they have to want to open it. Remember that people receive thousands of emails every day, and the last thing you would want is your delivered email to drown in the inbox. Having a sense of urgency ensures that your email is noticed quickly and opened without any impediments.
That is why most email subject lines are short. The long ones tend to take away the aura of mystery and urgency around the email. Try to make your subject lines as concise and meaningful as possible. That way, you know your email open rate will shoot to the roof.
Has to Pass a Spam Test
We know that subject lines have to be catchy and attention-grabbing, but spammers know that too. Over the years, ESPs have created tools to prevent hackers from gaining access to inboxes, and one of the techniques they use is scanning subject lines. If your subject line falls in the spam criteria, your emails will end up in the spam folder. It means that users have to ensure that their subject lines and emails pass the email deliverability check before sending your cold emails.
Remember that your subject lines work if your emails are delivered. It means that you have to employ all your available resources to ensure that email deliverability is at its maximum. Constantly check email deliverability to make sure that all your hard work does not go to waste.
Cold Email Subject Line Examples for BAB (Before After Bridge)
The Before After Bridge email is one of our favorite types of cold email marketing. Here are some good subject lines for cold emails that will work best.
“Why the Product/Service Will Solve the Problem”
The BAB type of cold email is essentially all about identifying an issue and solving it. There is no better way to catch the attention of your potential client than hitting them in the face with their problem and assuring them that your service or product can help. The best part about this subject line is that it builds interest and increases your chances of the potential client opening your email. You have to understand that businesses receive thousands of emails, and yours has to stand out. A subject line that identifies a problem and promises to fix it is the perfect option to grab their attention and increase email open rates. It does not get better than this.
“Service/Product Can Help You Achieve Company Goal”
Unlike the previous subject line that identifies the problem, this subject line mainly focuses on the After part of the BAB cold email. Highlighting what your potential client will achieve by using your service is a masterstroke. Focus on the good part of the service rather than the issue itself. The human mind is trained to always react to the positive. That is why cold emails have to feel like personal emails.
Remember, the main aim of a subject line is to get a potential client interested and take an action, which is to open an email. If you show that you can give your recipient something, they will get interested. One thing that is important to note is that subject lines have to be short; try to word the goal in as few words as possible. You do not want a litany-long subject line since it reduces the chances of your prospect opening your emails.
“We Have Solutions to Your Problem”
This subject line is short, but it gets the message across pretty well. The good thing is, you do not have to disclose your product or who you are in the subject line. Lots of things can happen in business, and chances are, most companies will get a lot of bad press. The last thing you would want is to be played out before your potential client gets a chance to hear what you offer. Some companies or brand names are, let us just say, “radioactive”. The subject allows you to focus on your problem-solving capabilities first, before the potential client can associate you with anything negative.
This subject line allows “radioactive“ companies a chance to pitch their wonderful products and get clients by hitting the pain points. If your company name has been dragged in the mud, but you still want to get cold emailing to help you sell products or services, this is the subject line that you have to go with.
Cold Email Subject Line Examples for “But You Are Free”
The “But You Are Free” cold email is a masterstroke. It allows clients to feel like they are in control, and they have not been enticed into making a decision. It means that the subject lines you choose have to exude the same type of energy. Here are some of the subject lines you can go with if you decide to use a “But You Are Free” cold email campaign.
“Can a Problem Be Solved?”
One thing that this subject line does is that it creates an aura of mystery, and that is essential in marketing. By asking a question like “Can a problem be solved?” your potential client will surely want to understand what you are talking about. The fact that you are not telling the potential client in the subject line that you can do it better means that you reinforce the idea that they are the ones who make the decisions. It is the entire concept behind the “But You Are Free” cold email.
Once you have the attention from the subject line, all you have to do is continue to reinforce that there are solutions to the highlighted problem, and your product or service can solve it. You have to mention that your product can cope with the problem better than any other available options without necessarily imposing it.
“Client, Can You Help Us?”
This subject line focuses on making the client superior in the entire conversation. You ask them if they can help you achieve their goal. It means that again, in this scenario or conversation, they are the key decision-makers. One thing about the people in power is that they have an ego, and by coming out asking for help, you message that ego, and in the end, you stir up interest in them. Mentioning the prospect’s name or company is also a masterstroke. If you are a fan of the “But You Are Free” cold email, this is the perfect subject line for you.
“It Is That Simple”
It might sound as if it is against the free will that we have previously stressed when it comes to “But You Are Free'' cold emails. The thing, though, is that this is as “liberal” as it gets. Remember, we didn’t mention a problem or a solution in the subject lines. It means that your potential client is aware of the current issues, and by simply suggesting that it can be simple, you already have them thinking about their problems and how to solve them. Once you are at this point, you have hit the jackpot, and your email will do the rest of the trick for you.
Cold Email Subject Line Examples for AIDA (Attention Interest Desire Action)
The subject lines in this type of email should have a sense of urgency, which means that you have to focus on time sensitivity. Before your potential client delves into the email, the subject line on its own should have already given them the potential to act. That sense of urgency is what makes one open their emails promptly.
“Best Way to Save $(Amount)”
Business is all about numbers. By talking about numbers in your subject line, your email recipient will give you all the attention you need. Once the subject line gets your email recipient hooked, the email will do the rest: Get you in line for that potential reward. It is a short catchy subject line. AIDA cold emails are dependent on getting attention from the get-go. It is why you should use this type of subject line.
“Product/Service Can Help You Save (the Number of Hours)”
As the saying goes, time is money. As much as people love saving money, they also want to save time. If you offer someone a chance to save time, they will gobble it up. If you promise to cut hours, email recipients will get hooked as soon as they gaze on the subject line. Remember, creating a sense of urgency is essential when writing a subject line, and this does just that. Highlighting the exact number of hours they can save shows a bit of class on your part.
Cold emailing is a “cheat code”. Knowing how to use it is a great skill. Using tools like a spam word checker is also an essential step to achieving your email marketing goals. Enjoy cold emailing!