The subject line of your sales email is often what determines if your email gets opened or not. 

That’s why it matters that you put effort into making your subject lines gold.

We’ve been working with sales reps in the advertising industry for over 15 years—and here are some of the most effective subject lines we’ve seen and why prospects are more likely to open them.

But before we jump into five subject lines that will get your emails opened, here are some general guiding principles to follow.

What makes an effective email subject line?

Get to the point.

Subject lines are short—they leave you room for only 41 characters on an Apple iPhone (portrait view) or 70 characters in Gmail. According to Litmus, in 2021 41.6% of emails were opened on mobile devices. That being said, you need to make it easy for your prospects to see that your email could potentially be valuable to them. 

Make it unique, while relevant

A good subject line should capture your prospect’s interest in a non-gimmicky way. Make sure your subject is connected to the purpose of the email’s body content, gets at the pain points or goals of the prospect, or shows that you understand who they are in some way. 

You could:

• Share new and relevant research related to their industry, with data in the subject line
• Leverage preexisting relationships to stir up a personal connection
• Ask an interesting or personal question related to their business or competitors

Include the call-to-action (CTA) in the subject line

Do you want something specific from the recipient? Will it take just a moment of their time? Let them know right away.

As productivity and management focused Youtube creator Jeff Su explains to Harvard Business Review:  

“Most of us are familiar with a generic “action required” in subject lines, right? My recommendation is just to take it a step further and include exactly what you need the recipient to do and the estimated time it takes for them to do it.

For example, instead of writing “Action required, feedback for project X,” write “Five minutes — survey feedback for project X,” instead.”

When sending a cold sales email, you can tell the prospect how much time they can expect to devote to the CTA. If it’s five or ten minutes of their time, they might be more open to taking action.

Make your value clear

Have you helped similar clients achieve outstanding results recently? Have you noticed that your competitor’s clients are coming to you for a particular reason? Use these insights to woo over your prospects. 

You need as much information on your prospects as possible in order to know what will be uniquely valuable to them. MediaRadar lets you see into any advertiser’s spending profile, their contacts, relationships and more. Leverage this to perfect your pitch.

Write in a personal way

Include personal names of the recipient and, when appropriate, your name. People are more likely to open emails that are coming directly from other people. Even if the email is automated, it can feel personal. 

Top 5 Subject Lines to Get Your Sales Email Opened

1. “Introduction: [Your Personal Name]” or “Introduction: [Your Company] <> [Prospect’s Company]

This works because it’s personal. Sales professionals constantly need to be networking to do their jobs effectively. Introductions are typically something valuable they can use to achieve their goals in their current role or to build their own personal brand.

2. “Quick question about [prospect’s company]”

This type of “quick question” email subject line can be modified to fit your goals of the email. 

Other forms of this subject line could look like:

• “Quick request” 
• “Quick question about your [time period] goals”
• “Hi [prospect’s name], quick question”

Take time to experiment with different ways of framing the questions to your leads. When email subject lines are concise and direct, they feel more personal and like they are going to cost the prospect less energy for opening them. 

Remember that prospects often receive hundreds of emails a day. And on average for every 100 emails received, they only open two, according to research from GetResponse’s Email Marketing Benchmarks Report (2020).

It has to look like you took the time to research the prospect individually and that they are not part of a batch list (even if you are using automation.) A specific question related to the company can help overcome this. 

3. Congratulations, [Name] on your new role at [Company]

When individuals are promoted or start a new position at a different company, they are often jumping into a planning and decision-making period. This is the ideal time to reach out to them. 

With MediaRadar, you can receive alerts when there is a new decision maker at one of your accounts. 

You’ll also see when your accounts have new representation, key players have received a promotion or even when an agency contact has been added for a brand you care about. This is the perfect time to introduce yourself or nurture a lead.

When prospects are new to a position, consider asking them quick questions about their goals or biggest challenges—but choose only one question and make it easy for them to respond. 

4. “Hi, [name]. 10 mins this week?”

This subject is quick and to the point. The prospect will immediately know what the purpose of the email is—and it’s not a big ask. 

Prospects are asked for 30 minute or hour-long calls all the time. Working in a busy advertising environment, they might not have the space to block off for a sales demo or meeting. But 10 minutes? That’s not too big of an ask.

5. “Connect?”

This is as simple, to the point and as human as possible. It also has a very direct CTA that most professionals are willing to explore. They will want to know who you are and why you want to connect. 

Having a great subject line is just part of the process of building a great relationship with your leads. Don’t be surprised if you have to do significant research on your leads and prospects to build a solid email campaign. 

Learn how MediaRadar has helped media companies strategize more effectively by reading our case studies.

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Like you, your prospects and clients are tired.

They’ve met a lot of people, and are inevitably going to get inundated with generic follow-up emails and phone calls. This is why the smart networking gives you the vital ingredients to send more personal and effective emails.

I recommend that at the end of each night when you get back to your hotel room, you write some interesting facts about each person on the back of their business card.

If you do, this quick action ensures that you make a better connection with your target and more importantly, that your name will ring a bell when they receive your email.

So when you’re on the plane home, take out all of those business cards and connect with the people you’ve met.

Find them on LinkedIn, then email them personalized notes referencing one thing that you spoke about and wish them well. This helps them remember you and your conversation and also keeps you from seeming too “salesy”.

Towards the end of the following week, book time in your calendar to do your more “salesy” follow-up.

For instance, email them and say: “We spoke about “X,” and here’s the value that I believe that we can bring to you.”

Hopefully, when they receive your note they’ve settled back into their work and they’ve caught up with their outstanding tasks.

Following the two-pronged approach above can help you better connect with those you meet at conferences and ultimately lead to more closed business.

So, you construct your email, with a great subject line, and press send at just the right time.

Well, guess what…

After all of that, there is still no guarantee that a prospect is going to read through the entire email.

It’s one job to get your prospects eyes initially on your email, but it’s another job to get their eyes to stay there and ensure that you’re not burying the lead.

Along the way, I’ve learned that it’s extremely important to consider both of these objectives when constructing your sales emails.

I’ve also learned that doing the research and constructing the perfect email are not easy tasks. So, with that, I’ve compiled a few tips that’ll keep your prospects reading.

Here are 3 tips to make sure you’re not burying the lead:

1. Know your objective.

Make sure to start with the one objective you want a prospect to get from your email.

Too often I find development reps start with, “Hi, how are you doing?” or a quick introduction about their company. This information usually doesn’t move your prospect along to the next line in your email, let alone the next objective.

So, then, what should you do?

Don’t have a “next” objective… Simply have a, one, single objective.

If you have one thing that you want your prospect to get out of your email, then there’s no reason to give them more than that. Get to the point. Get to the part that’s most useful to them, as soon as possible.

2. Skip the pleasantries.

You really don’t know the prospect well enough to know how they’re doing, or if they’re having a good day…

However, you do know, that as a business professional and a student of their business, you can add value. And that is what your prospect cares most about.

So, skip the pleasantries.

Make sure you start the first sentence by letting your prospect know how you are going to help them improve their business.

3. Make it easy to look at.

For starters, avoid making your emails too lengthy.

If your prospect opens your email and sees multiple paragraphs, the chances that they continue are very slim.

In general, formatting is very important for building effective sales emails.

Simply put, great formatting makes your email easy to look at. If your email is easy to look at, then the information will read much more easily.

It’s about making the information concise and digestible. If you’re able to, highlight the most important parts of your email and include bullet points.

One thing you should always do is make your email actionable. Using bullet points is one of the best ways to deliver multiple calls-to-action.

Here are a few example calls-to-action, in an example of our suggested formatting (bullets):

• “I will follow up with you [this day], at [this time] for direction on how to best proceed.”
• “I will follow up with you [this day], [this time], to schedule an appointment.”
• “Please confirm your availability to meet at [this time] and [this day].”

Letting your prospect know exactly how you can benefit their business is essential. So, make sure that you start with the end in mind, and do everything you can to avoid burying the lead.

Let us know if these tips are helpful!

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I know that you’ve probably read many different blogs and articles about sales emails. They all tell you that Tuesday through Thursday are the best times to get your emails opened. The reason being that most people are in back-to-back meetings on Monday and either work a shorter day on Friday where they’re taking more meetings.

But since everyone reads the Tuesday through Thursday advice – typically everyone follows it.

Here’s a better way:

To really make your emails stand out, send them during off-peak hours.

Why?

You’re trying to get in front of a busy and important decision-maker in an organization. Though they might be busy both professionally and personally, their phone is tied to them every minute of the day.

Specifically, send your emails in the morning between 6:00 to 8:00 A.M. and start your follow-up calls at 7:30 – 7:45 A.M. – to make sure you stand out from the crowd.

Another alternative is to send emails at 8:30 P.M. – 9:30 P.M.

It’s important to understand your prospect’s schedule because through trial and error you can discover patterns.

For instance, one of our particularly difficult to reach prospects only opened email after midnight since it was away from all the clutter of the day, so our email ended up really standing out. 

Make sure you’re trying different strategies, sending emails before or after hours, but also look at what works best for your prospect’s schedule, so you can send the email that stands out and gets opened right away.

In an increasingly mobile world, newsletter consumption is on the rise explains MediaRadar CEO Todd Krizelman, “Despite crowded inboxes and the rise of push messaging and social media, email advertising is still one of the best ways to reach a targeted opt-in audience. Consumers leverage email newsletters to receive a quick snapshot of the subject matter. An example of this would be Quartz’s daily brief, as seen below.  The metrics for email marketing are also well-known and trusted.  In today’s world where online ad fraud is large, email continues to enjoy the confidence of marketers.”

Recognizing these crucial differentiators, both brands and publisher are focusing on making email advertising higher impact, with full sponsorships, native and video integration. The result has been a 28% increase in the number of advertisers running in email year over year according to MediaRadar data, as seen below. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, why not invest in an existing, but underutilized format, email advertising.

For even more information about the consumer ad space, click here to download or Consumer Trends Whitepaper.

For ad sales reps, an email is often the first touchpoint when reaching prospects. Like most of us, however, prospect email inboxes can be chaotic and overflowing. In fact, most prospects receive more than 200 emails a day.

So then, the question becomes, how do you stand out amongst the others in such a hectic environment?

There are a combination of email characteristics that will lead to your emails being opened, and more importantly, to your emails being read.

Below are 8 tips to create an effective sales email – one that your prospects actually want to read:

1. Time it Right

Experiment with different times of the day. Statistically speaking, Tuesdays through Thursdays are the best days to send emails to your prospects.

There’s also something to be said about the famous phrase, “The early bird gets the worm.”

Early-morning emails from 6-8 a.m. typically garner more clicks, because it’s the first thing you’re prospect sees when they wake up in the morning.

Emails sent in the evening between 7-8 p.m. also tend to have a high success rate.

It’s important to know your prospect’s schedule and experiment with different send times to connect with them when they most prefer.

2. Don’t Neglect the Subject Line

So you’ve sent your email at the optimal time… By no means does that ensure your email will be opened, however.

The subject line is one of the biggest factors in how professionals prioritize their email. Be clear, to the point, and catch their eye.

One best practice is to think of your subject line as a 61-70 character text message. What key points would you want to relay to someone within those 70 characters?

Adding numbers to the subject line can also increase your open rates. A number will catch the eye of the reader.

For example, “Five Ways to Increase Your Brand’s Reach,” will likely garner more opens than simply, “Increase Your Brand’s Reach.”

It’s important to be memorable and actionable, and to let your personality come through in your subject line. Don’t be afraid to be natural or humorous.

For example, one subject line that we’ve used in the past, is “I swear I’m not a stalker…”

3. Lead with the Answer

Decision makers are extremely busy.

Make emails easy for them to read. Try to write no more than two paragraphs in length, without exceeding four lines per paragraph. If you have a lot to say, use bullet points.

Part of this is jumping to the conclusion. Don’t wait to give the reader the answer. Lead with the main point, your solution, in the very first sentence. This raises the odds that your email will be read.

Don’t bury the lead in the middle of the email. In a sense, you need to lead with the lead…

4. Customize

Customization takes time, but it also creates results.

Personalize the note to your prospect and their business needs.

The average prospect gets at least 17 unsolicited emails per day. Using the same exact email for multiple prospects probably won’t raise a ton of interest, or get many responses.

Intrigue your prospect with customized solutions, like a special feature that highlights editorial related to a brand. Too often we focus on broad strokes, but taking time to relate your product to a specific need can really pay off in a big way.

Even in a world where sales and marketing emails can be automated, it is still very possible to customize in mass.

5. Be Visual

A picture is worth a thousand words.

For emails, that sentiment certainly rings true. Add a fun image to capture your prospect’s attention.

GIFS are also a great way to get your point across and let your personality shine.

For example, publishers could include an ad mock-up to showcase how a brand’s creative would look on their website.

This helps a marketer quickly visualize their ad surrounded by the perfect editorial content for their advertising message.

6. Be Their Concierge

Help advertisers overcome their marketing challenges and build trust by offering helpful content and learning tools.

Send prospects or current clients useful information for yearly planning, like an editorial calendar highlighting the issues you think are most valuable to them.

Finally, prove to them it works. Provide stats from a previous campaign with recommendations for optimization. It’s no secret that marketers are focused on ROI, and want to optimize for better results.

7. Make it Actionable

Include a clear call-to-action or response deadline to nudge your prospect in the right direction. If you’re trying to schedule a call, be sure to suggest a few different possible call times.

Furthermore, don’t give too many options, as you might appear desperate. Prospects will wonder why they should speak with you if no one else appears to be doing so.

We mentioned the importance of leading with the answer. In making that answer actionable, however, it’s important to immediately relate strongly to your prospect’s brand.

Give them a reason to participate. For example, will there be additional sponsorship opportunities at an event, giving them more bang for their buck? Relate to them, and be specific.

Let’s say you’re an ad sales rep selling ad space to an advertiser. Be specific about your offering, but also be specific in giving them deadlines, to create urgency, and thus action. Deadlines help busy professionals prioritize.

8. Follow Up with a Phone Call

Always follow up within a day with a personalized phone call.

Too often, we fall into a rut of email communication. While email is a valuable tool, picking up the phone will build a stronger relationship, and will help you get an answer faster.

All too often, it takes days to discuss something that can be resolved with a simple 10-minute conversation.

However, before you call, have something compelling to say to your prospects. Demonstrate that you know their products, target market, advertising mix and goals.

When communicating with a prospect or an existing advertiser, a good rule of thumb is to give information in order to get information. Have a conversation.

Provide insights that help make them smarter about their brand or industry. Become a trusted resource before you ever ask them to buy from you.

Regardless of what medium you’re using to communicate, it’s most important to build trust and be truly useful for your prospect.

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