But as the famed author of Paradise Lost, John Milton, said: “All is not lost.” 

This article explores the art and science of how to write better sales emails. We’ll dive into the pivotal role of understanding your prospects, precise targeting, and how MediaRadar’s Outreach Writer can significantly ease the process.

1. Decipher Your Prospect’s Media DNA and Understand Their Pain Points

Scroll through your inbox and take note of the subject lines that grab your attention.

What do they have in common?

They all strike a chord. Whether that chord strums on an emotion, need, want, or something in between, the subject lines stood out because they meant something to you. 

Think about this when sending emails to your prospects. But to do that, you must decipher their media DNA and understand their pain points.

• Which channels are they investing in right now? 
• Which formats do they value?
• Are they spending heavily to promote a product line? 
• What does their creative approach look like this year? 

Take this insight and craft subject lines that genuinely resonate with your prospects. For example, “78% of your competitors are using YouTube. Are you?”

You could also challenge the status quo.

If your prospect is investing big ad dollars in traditional media, like TV ads, but their competitors are splurging on digital formats such as social media and OTT, a subject line like, “Did you know your [competitor name] spent $1mm on Facebook in Q1?” could grab their attention. 

2. Timing Isn’t Just for Comedians. It’s for Sales, Too

Understanding your buyer’s fiscal calendar can be the difference between them opening your email or sending it straight to the trash. 

It’s cliché but true. The right message at the right time can go a long way. More importantly, it can make your email not just another email but a solution to your prospect’s problems. This relevancy and timeliness will ultimately help you stand out in a world where people send and receive 333b emails a day. 

Here are examples of time-based subject lines:

• We noticed it’s your peak advertising season—let’s make it the most effective one yet. 
• Cyber Monday is around the corner. Are you prepared for the craze?
• Are you expecting an RFP soon? We can give you the competitive edge you need.
• You decreased ad spending by 50% this month. Let’s talk about it. 
• Is your company planning a product launch in Q1? We can help.

Each subject line creates a sense of urgency from an operational standpoint that can significantly increase the chance your prospect opens your email. In fact, urgent subject lines can increase open rates by 22%. 

That level of granularity isn’t a necessity, though. Studies show that sending emails on certain days makes them inherently more likely to get opened. For example, emails sent on Monday have the highest open rate (22.0%), while emails sent on Tuesday get clicked the most (CTR of 2.4%). 

If you want the best of both worlds, send emails on Tuesdays and Wednesdays because they get the highest click-to-open rate (~11%). 

Additional subject line stats to nibble on:

• Email subject lines with the word “free” included in them are opened 10% more
• Having the word “video” in the subject line increases open rates by 7% to 13%
• 56% of brands using emojis in their subject lines have higher open rates
• Subject lines between 61-70 characters are read the most
• The word “newsletter” in a subject line can decrease the open rate by almost 19% 

Pro Tip: Remember these stats, but don’t obsess over them. For example, if many salespeople send emails on Monday (when open rates are high), you could opt for a different day since your prospect’s inbox may be less crowded than usual. 

3. Capture Attention with Numbers That Mean Something

Numbers don’t lie. They can also increase email open rates by 57%. That said, mindlessly throwing numbers into your subject lines and emails isn’t wise; the numbers must resonate with your prospects. 

For example: 

• Boost Your CTR by 20% with our platform
• Looking for $3.75 CPM? We can help! 
• You’re spending 75% of your ad budget on one product line
• Your category investment in native advertising is up by 500% this year
• Insight: Your biggest competitor spent $5mm on TV and print ads

These subject lines blow their generic counterparts out of the water. 

Would you open an email with this subject line: “Your competitors are investing in native advertising”?

Probably not. That’s why using numbers and showing tangible results can pay such big dividends. 

4. Crafting Sales Content from Scratch is Hard! MediaRadar Can Help.

In a world hit by recession and changing sales tactics, sending sales emails that convert is no longer just about having a snappy subject line. It’s about understanding your prospects, highlighting their pain points, spending patterns, and the media formats they value, and ultimately using this intel to craft timely, relevant, and impossible-to-ignore emails.

Let MediaRadar help. With tools like MediaRadar’s Outreach Writer, you’re not shooting in the dark. Instead, you’re a sharpshooter writing emails with precision with MediaRadar insights and templates that’ll automatically create compelling content that’s specific to the unique needs of each prospect. 

Remember: Craft smarter, not harder. That’s the future of sales emails with MediaRadar.

Standing Out in Your Prospects’ Inboxes Isn’t As Hard As You Think

Your prospects are swimming in a sea of emails, but that makes sense given the tactic’s continued effectiveness, especially as third-party cookies and other identifiers go away. According to HubSpot, 37% of brands are increasing their email budget this year, while 33% of marketers send weekly emails and 26% send emails multiple times a month. 

So, let’s do some math: 

Let’s say your prospect gets 120 emails a day. According to HubSpot, the average email open rate across industries is 38.49%, which means your prospects, on average, open less than 50 emails. The remaining emails are left unread or sent straight to the trash. 

How can you make sure your email is one of the 50 or so your prospects open and read? 

Four things: 

1. Write emails with your prospect’s media DNA and pain in mind
2. Be strategic about when you send your emails
3. Use numbers to capture their attention 
4. Tap into MediaRadar’s Outreach Writer to ease the writing process 

Check all of these boxes and start sending sales emails destined for clicks. 

For more insights, sign up for MediaRadar’s blog here. 

With inboxes flooded with offers, news, and requests, standing out is crucial. The cornerstone of a successful email begins with the subject line—it’s your first, and often only, shot at capturing attention. 

Let’s delve into the psychology and strategy behind crafting email subject lines that not only get clicked but also convert, thereby turning the odds in your favor in the increasingly crowded email landscape.

What Makes a Good Subject Line? 

The best subject lines tap into human nature. We’re talking about being personal, striking intrigue, and considering, but not obsessing over, our dwindling attention spans. And, most importantly, they don’t try to do too much.

Personalize your email subject lines 

Personalization has been a staple of B2C businesses for years. It’s what consumers want—76% of consumers said receiving personalized communications was a key factor in prompting their consideration of a brand. B2C companies, especially retailers, have rolled out the red carpet accordingly.

That desire for personalization is the expectation among B2B buyers, too, with 80% of them expecting the same buying experiences from B2B companies that they get from B2C ones.

It should go without saying, then, that your subject lines will shine a little brighter if they’re personalized. For example, if you know your prospect is gearing up for the holidays and is shifting their ad buys to OTT, highlight that in your subject line with something like, “Jenny, are OTT ads part of your holiday season ad strategy this year?” (Read: Make the subject line about them.)

Putting their name in the subject does help to capture their attention, but then having a subject line about OTT advertising, something that they value compels them to click on your email.

Create urgency, curiosity, and relevancy

People are naturally curious. They also respond to urgency. Business leaders, in particular, jump on opportunities to stay ahead of the competition (or catch up) and gain first-mover advantage. McKinsey calls these quick-thinkers “the winners” because they make “good decisions fast, execute them quickly, and see higher growth rates and/or overall returns from their decisions.” 

With those characteristics in mind, write subject lines that get your prospects thinking and wonder if not engaging with your email will be a missed opportunity. 

Here’s an example you could use in the lead-up to next year’s Super Bowl: Do you want 100mm+ people to see your Super Bowl commercial this year? 

The subject line taps into curiosity—do that many people really watch the Super Bowl?—but also creates a sense of urgency due to the annual nature of the Big Game. 

Keep subject lines relatively short (but don’t obsess over the length)

In a recent article published by CNN, Dr. Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, said, “In 2004, we measured the average attention on a screen to be 2½ minutes.” She continued, “Some years later, we found attention spans to be about 75 seconds. Now we find people can only pay attention to one screen for an average of 47 seconds.” 

People don’t have the time or patience to read anything long. Case in point: 73% of people admit to skimming blog posts. Conventional wisdom would be that this dislike to lengthy content would also apply to subject lines. Especially, since people are skimming easily 100 subject lines in their inbox each morning to determine what they are going to read.

Interestingly, according to a study by Adestra, a U.K.-based email service provider, emails with subject lines of 90 characters and more produced the highest response rates. That said, subject lines with 30 characters or less also performed well. 

Our recommendation: Don’t obsess over keeping your subject lines to just a few words. If you have more to say, say it. What matters is that the subject line delivers value to your prospect. Test different length subject lines and see what gets better results for you.

5 Examples of Subject Lines to Inspire Your Own

1. [Competitor’s company name] is investing in [ad type]. Are you?

Nothing gets peoples’ gears turning more than knowing they’re not keeping up with their competition. 

Tap into this by using data and insights to let your prospect know their competition is investing in a format they aren’t, why that’s a missed opportunity, and, most importantly, how you can help them level the playing field (or get the upper hand). 

2. Will you be at [industry event]?

After a loss of $2 trillion in event revenue during the pandemic, Conferences and Trade Shows are back. Highlight that in your subject lines with a relevant event and follow up in the email with how they can make a splash or when you can connect at the event.

Fellow attendees are often willing to set up some time to dedicate to a salesperson while at lunch or some other “down time” at a conference or trade show. Often it is easier to provide their undivided attention during a conference vs. a “normal” day in the office when execs are being pulled in numerous directions. 

3. Dive Into [Video]: [Your sector] is up [35%] in [Video] Ad Sales!

In the crowded sea of emails, using numbers in your subject lines can offer up clarity and specificity. According to various studies, email subject lines with numbers enjoy a 57% better open rate compared to their text-only counterparts. The reason? Numbers are straightforward and digestible, providing a quick understanding of what the email contains, whether it’s “5 Ways to Boost Your Sales” or “30X ROI You Can’t Afford to Miss.” 

Similarly, using industry-specific terms or names can also yield impressive results. For instance, incorporating the word “video” in subject lines has been shown to increase open rates by 7% to 13%, tapping into the growing trend of video content consumption.

4. Last chance to get [special offering] on premium ad inventory

We’re all familiar with FOMO, or the Fear of Missing Out. While there are downsides from a physical and mental health perspective, letting your prospects know that the clock is ticking can be an effective way to increase open rates.

If you want to add another layer to this subject line, add an air of exclusivity, e.g., “I have a special offer just for YOU.” 

5. “5-minute chat about [prospect’s company or their competitor’s] advertising strategy”

Jeff Su explained to Harvard Business, “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.” 

Take that into consideration when crafting your next subject line. For example, instead of using, “Schedule a call” as the subject line, make it actionable by writing something like, “Spend 10 minutes understanding how you can appeal to [compeitior’s] advertisers.”

People like clarity and clear expectations can go a long way in getting prospects to open your emails. 

What Role Does AI and Data Play in Writing Awesome Subject Lines?

Artificial intelligence (AI) may be the buzzword of the century, but the technology does have subject-line implications. 

Let’s start with what AI is not when it comes to subject lines: AI is not a subject-line generator and you shouldn’t use it as a copy-paste machine. 

AI is a thought starter—it’s a way to get your wheels turning and improve upon what you already have. At the end of the day, AI lacks (for now) the human element that makes subject lines stand out, so take what AI gives you and add your touch. Your prospects will notice.

If you want to take your subject-line game to the next level, pair AI with real-time insights and data about your prospects, and watch your open rates soar. 

For more insights, sign up for MediaRadar’s blog here. 

But despite digital’s dominance across social media, OTT, and other ecosystems, B2B email advertising is still a key cog in many marketers’ engines. 

According to MediaRadar’s data sample, nearly 6.3k companies spent over $287mm on B2B email advertising in the first half of 2023 across more than 400 B2B media outlets, including FiercePharma, Healio, and Travel Weekly. 

Here are 3 hot B2B email advertising trends to keep on your radar for the rest of the year. 

1. B2B Email Advertising Has Widespread Appeal

Through the first half of 2023, advertisers in five categories—technology, professional services, B2B industrial, medical & pharma, and finance—collectively spent nearly $194mm on B2B email advertising (67% of the investment). 

Technology advertisers, for example, allocated $56.8mm to B2B email ads to promote their products and services, with software and information technology (IT) advertisers contributing 70% of the investment. 

At the same time, B2B industrial advertisers spent more than $37mm on B2B email ads, with the top advertisers promoting industrial machinery (18%), manufacturing (9%), and food (9%). 

For advertisers in the industrial sector, the sizable investment in B2B email comes in the wake of an overall reduction in ad spending during the uncertain economy. For instance, advertisers for industrial companies decreased spending by 33% YoY to $169mm through April 2023, while those promoting industrial machinery reduced it by 48% MoM (March to April). 

The overall reduction comes following a fairly strong year for B2B industrial advertisers. In 2022, nearly 25k companies across agriculture, energy, and industrial machinery spent $1.9b on digital and traditional ads, up by 4% YoY. 

Finally, advertisers for medical & pharmaceutical companies spent almost $33mm on B2B email advertising in H1. Unsurprisingly, pharma advertisers were responsible for 64% of the spending ($20.8mm) as they maintained their fondness for traditional advertising, highlighted by a $2b investment (from 190 medical & pharmaceutical companies) on broadcast and cable TV in Q1 2023.  

That said, this doesn’t mean healthcare advertisers are abandoning their slow-but-steady embrace of digital advertising—far from it. 

In 2022, advertisers for 572 pharma brands spent about $1.5b on video ads, while also opening their eyes to the benefits of influencers (also known as key opinion leaders) and their sway over younger generations who turn to social media for health-related advice. 

2. Email Is a Key Piece of a Holistic Advertising Strategy 

B2B email advertising may be gaining traction in an increasingly digital world, but it’s not taking advertisers’ attention away from the fact that buyers aren’t mindlessly scrolling through their inboxes all day.

Despite 18% (1.1k) of advertisers opting for an email-only strategy, the majority of them spread their budget across formats, including display, events, native, and magazines. 

For example, 1.1k advertisers paired B2B email advertising with one additional format. Of these, 35%, including RiXtrema (financial software), PRTalent (creative staffing), and Regenxbio (stem cell technology), went with B2B print publications (magazines/newspapers), illustrating that, for better or worse, there are still fully committed to traditional formats.

Meanwhile, 29% of companies adopted a healthy mix of email and digital display ads, including Omega World Travel, Taycon Risk, and Datassential, while 22% tapped into email and events to woo buyers in their favor. The remaining 15% of advertisers mixed and matched B2B email ads with native ads, webinars/white papers, etc. 

The mixing and matching of ad formats not only highlights the power of email advertising in 2023, but also the need for advertisers to diversify their media mixes and reach B2B buyers across an ever-growing and increasingly complex journey. 

In fact, according to Gartner, 77% of B2B buyers stated their most recent purchase was very complex or difficult. 

3. B2B Email Advertising Is Set to Soar

It’s been more than three decades since email went mainstream, and over that time, it’s given ground to other means of communication. At the same time, email advertising has made room for programmatic advertising technology. 

But email advertising, B2B and B2C included, is on the rise, and all signs point to its ascent continuing, especially as third-party cookies fall by the wayside, iOS 14 continues to make advertising on iPhones challenging, and the cost of digital advertising rises.

And we’re already seeing the oh-so-slow shift away from digital formats. 

According to a recent survey, annual spending on non-digital advertising is expected to amount to $306.8b by the end of 2023. While that would represent an increase of less than 1%, that amount is expected to rise by 2.5% over the next few years. 

So far, consumer-facing companies are leading the shift back to traditional ads, with B2C service and product companies expected to dive into traditional advertising more than others. Ironically, the 28th Edition of The CMO Survey found that companies earning 100% of their sales online are making moves, too, predicting an 11.7% increase in traditional ad spending over the next 12 months (April 2022-April 2023).

Still, it’s not hard to imagine B2B advertisers following their lead and including more traditional formats into their overall strategy, digital included. 

An article by Christine Moorman, Megan Ryan, and Nader Tavassoli summed up the shift well: “Pundits have long predicted the demise of traditional advertising. However, it is alive and well and headed for growth for the first time in a decade. When used together, traditional and digital marketing can reach more audiences, build and keep trust, and motivate buying from consumers who otherwise might tune out marketing messages.”

For more insights, sign up for MediaRadar’s blog here.

Almost three decades later and the Internet and email are societal mainstays. As of 2023, around 5.1b people use the Internet, and over 80% of them send emails. 

And despite the rapid rise of programmatic advertising, the old-school email is still a stalwart in the minds of many advertisers. In fact, 37% of brands are increasing their email budget this year as the “old-school” tactic continues to pay dividends. 

There lies the challenge. Your average customer and prospect receive 120 messages a day. As a result, many of your emails go unseen, while those that do see the light of day often lack the engagement you need to hit your goals. 

The solution? Power your email marketing strategy with data. 

Here’s why—and how—data can help you send better emails and hit your goals faster.

1. Data Helps You Personalize Your Messaging 

Log into Netflix, and you’re greeted with suggestions based on your watch history. Surf Amazon, and you’re followed by a handful of products related to what you’ve bought in the past. 

That level of personalization is the norm because it works and because 91% of consumers say they’re more likely to shop with brands that provide relevant offers and recommendations. 

That craving for personalization is now fully ingrained in the B2B world, with 75% of B2B buyers preferring personalized recommendations from trusted vendors. If they don’t feel like a brand, advertiser, or seller is taking measures to understand them, they’ll find ones that will (and buy from them). 

This expectation carries over to your email marketing strategy. 

Gone are the days of people opening emails with subject lines like “Discover Innovative Advertising Solutions for Your Business” and body copy that speaks to the masses. 

There’s too much noise and competition for those tactics to work. The right data can help you navigate both of those hurdles. 

Say you’re selling B2B media and want to reach out to prospects via email about a special on your ad inventory. With the right data into your prospect’s advertising strategy, competitors, market share, spend distribution, and more, you can craft a subject line and email that not only resonates but demands a click. 

For example, if you were selling to a DraftKings competitor in the gambling industry, you could send email highlighting the company’s reliance on TV ads in March and April. 

Example subject line: DraftKings is Spending Big on TV. Are You? 

The rest of the email could then dive into additional insights into DraftKings’ strategy, how the competitor could get the advertising upper hand, and a personalized CTA that converts 202% better than default or standard ones. 

2. Data Improves Your Productivity

If you’ve been in sales for any time, you know how demanding the profession is and, more importantly, how little time you spend actually selling. The average seller spends only about 36% of their time selling, with the rest spent on administrative tasks, prospecting, and research. You know, non-selling activities. 

Let’s look at one of these tasks: Prospecting. 

In some way, shape, or form, you’re looking to answer a handful of questions: 

• Does the prospect have a need or pain point my solution can address? 
• Does the prospect fall within our total addressable marketing (TAM)?  
• What’s the prospect’s long-term potential? 
• Are they open to exploring a variety of ad types?
• Is this person the decision maker, or is someone else singing the dotted line? 

You need to answer these questions—and more—before you can send a relevant email. The alternative is sending the email blindly to prospects who don’t meet your ideal customer profile (ICP), which wastes even more time and money. 

The right data, however, can give you access to these answers, eliminate the guesswork from prospecting, and ensure you’re being as productive as possible.

3. Data Improves Your Lead Scoring System

Data doesn’t just help you send better emails; data can inform your future strategy by serving as the foundation of your lead-scoring system. 

Remember those questions?

• Does the prospect have a need or pain point I can address? 
• Does the prospect fall within our total addressable marketing (TAM)?  
• What’s the prospect’s long-term potential? 
• Are they open to exploring a variety of ad types?
• Is this person the decision maker, or is someone else singing the dotted line?

A yes or no to these questions equates to a number. The higher the number, the more valuable the prospect and, therefore, the sooner you should reach out. That’s another efficiency and productivity play you can’t ignore. 

On top of that, by sending better emails, you’ll naturally get a better understanding of a prospect’s point in their buying journey. Think about it: If you send a highly personalized email to a prospect that gets opened but ultimately ignored, you could conclude with some degree of certainty that they’re not currently in the market for what you’re selling. As a result, you can spend your time selling to other prospects who may be closer to the finish line. 

How MediaRadar Can Help You Send Better Emails

All of the timely data and cross-format insights you need to send click-worthy emails are at your fingertips inside MediaRadar, an award-winning advertising intelligence platform used by those who sell media and those who buy or plan advertising buys.

For example, you can see:

• Distribution of ad spend 
• Event sponsors and exhibitors
• Overall campaign strategy 
• Ad spend by product line
• Competitive analysis 

Take this data, craft an email that’ll stand out, follow up with some solid voicemails, and your goals will always be within reach. 

For more insights, sign up for MediaRadar’s blog here.