11 Ways to Screw Up Email Subject Line

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Email is a fundamental tool for every marketer and salesperson around the world.

Using them leads to closing a sale. However, improper use will result in your client not even opening the email, preventing the sale from ever happening.

So, how should you write emails to never worry about sales?

Here is a list of 11 ways to screw up your email subject lines, meaning that how email subject lines should not be written.

1/ Being Vague or Generic

The email title is the first step to getting it opened.

No matter how excellent a copywriter you are, if your subject lines s*ck, you’ll never find confirmation of how good you are.

So, creating generic or vague titles is totally out of the question.

A common mistake among marketers and sellers is that they treat the email subject line as just an add-on at the end of the email.

That’s a mistake. Why?

The email title sets the tone of your message. If you are asking a question in it, but the whole tone of the email is commanding, then the communication will be wrong. The client (or still a prospect) will not like you and won’t make any purchases.

Write email titles at the beginning of the message and adjust the email body to match.

Be straight to the point—your prospects don’t have time for unnecessary platitudes or nouns.

2/ Overusing Exclamation Points!!!

I know writing about this seems trivial, but this mistake also takes place.

‘Buy it here!!!’ ‘Hello Simon!!!!!!’ ‘You will love it!!!’

The use of punctuation is key to being precise in communication and conveying a straightforward message. Of course. But what do the above three examples tell you? Indeed, it might be overkill.

Using an excessive number of exclamation marks seems spammy and unprofessional.

If you’ve tried (although I believe you haven’t!) to win your client in this way, it could have been counterproductive.

If you feel that using more than one exclamation mark in a given situation (!!!) is appropriate, you’re most likely using the wrong word. Use a synonym or completely change the message.

3/ ALL CAPS TITLES

Writing in all caps is equivalent to shouting at someone.

Compare these two examples:

>> Simon, I’ve got something for you

>> SIMON, I’VE GOT SOMETHING FOR YOU

What do you think? Exactly.

The fact is that you create such content only to catch your recipient’s attention.

Sure, you’ll succeed. But in a different way than you imagine.

It will offend your client and make them treat your email as spam, or they might block you.

Avoid it at all costs.

4/ Misspellings and Grammatical Errors

Always, these small mistakes have the biggest impact on decision-making.

The same goes for misspelling and grammatical mistakes.

As an experienced marketer or salesperson, you position yourself in the eyes of the client as a true expert. You send them a serious and expensive offer and schedule an online meeting. However, there are minor typos; incorrect name, wrong domain address, or inappropriate currency. You already know what your client thought.

In the fight for a customer, trust and professionalism are key. They’re hard to build but easy to lose, especially through such errors.

Before you send an email, make sure you have checked it twice. And if that’s not enough, check it one more time.

Especially if you wrote a long and good email to a client you really care about.

5/ Overpromising and Underdelivering in Email Titles

When your client sees an email:

‘Thomas, This is Your 60% Discount’

He might think it sounds cool. Perhaps you’ll intrigue him, and he’ll click.

This method will only work if such an offer is really in the content of the email, preferably just one click away.

If the client has the option to click ‘buy’ and his price relative to your previous agreements is 60% off, then it would make sense.

Otherwise? You’ll lose trust immediately. The client will never buy or click on your message again.

Usually, such messages cause you to lose trust as a marketer or salesperson for two reasons:

1. If you finally agreed to a big discount, your client might think you’ve been ripping him off so far.

2. Low prices and big discounts are unfashionable. Everyone knows that high quality has its price.

Don’t provide clickbait-like information about discounts in email subject lines.

A good example might be:

‘Thomas, the price is yours’. This will remind Thomas of your agreements, and he will most likely make a purchase.

6/ Using Clickbait Phrases

Using Clickbait Phrases: Phrases like “You won a new iPhone!” can be seen as manipulative and may trigger spam filters.

This approach is no longer effective.

Phrases like “You won a new iPhone!” can be seen as manipulative and may trigger spam filters.

Clickbait keywords used to generate substantial revenue through emails or affiliate marketing a few years back, but they’re now largely viewed as spam.

Backlinko outreach study indicates that emails with clickbait in their subject lines tend to have lower open rates compared to those without such tactics.

It’s crucial to steer clear of these terms in your subject lines:

• Buy
• Free
• Easy
• Miracle
• You Won
• Risk-free
• Buy Now
• Guarantee
• Limited Time

Keeping away from these words not only preserves the credibility of your email marketing efforts but also helps in establishing trust with your recipients.

Moreover, avoiding these kinds of words decreases the likelihood of your website being permanently labeled as spam, which can adversely affect your domain’s search engine rankings.

7/ Writing Too Long Email Subject Lines

This is how lengthy titles can be cut off in the inbox view and lose their impact.

A few years back, the ideal length for an email subject line was thought to be between 6 and 10 words.

But that’s no longer the option.

Now, the trend is towards more concise email titles.

Presently, the optimal length for an email tile line is between 1 and 8 words.

Ideally, aim for a 3- or 5-word subject line.

It’s important to note, though, that this is not a one-size-fits-all rule.

Too-long email titles have never been effective. They’re cut off in the middle and give the impression that you’re trying to sell something at any cost. But that’s not what you’re aiming for, right?

And as you know, long email titles don’t display well, particularly on mobile devices and even on desktops.

41 characters—that’s the number that looks best in email subject lines, in every industry.

This length ensures that the title displays correctly across various devices.

8/ Failing to Personalize

We all cherish receiving personalized messages. They convey a sense of being valued and cared for.

In sales, personalization is highly valued. A prospect who notices that you’ve personalized your approach is more inclined to engage with you than with another salesperson who hasn’t tailored their message. This is a well-established and significant fact.

Consider these five most common personalization elements:

• First Name
• Last Name
• Job Title
• Company Name
• Company’s Annual Revenue

Incorporating these aspects into your email subject line can make you appear knowledgeable and attentive.

However, it’s important to exercise subtlety. Personalization should be handled with tact and discretion.

For example:

• Onboarding, [Job Title]
• [First Name], Can We Talk?
• Boosting [Company Name]’s Performance This Year

Regardless of your email’s content, always aim to personalize the subject line.

And how to do it perfectly?

Here is an example from RankMath on how personalization should look:

9/ Ignoring Target Audience Relevance

A common and non-obvious problem for the ineffectiveness of emails is an inappropriate target audience (ideal customer profile ICP).

Your emails may not be effective because you are sending them to people who are not interested.

Sure, you might say, “every customer claims they’re not interested.” However, if you’re sending a fishing newsletter to students or offers from a children’s store to seniors, then you know where the problem lies.

Creating the right audience and then segmenting it is crucial. All your hard work can be in vain if this small element is not well-thought-out.

Choose the right customer, and then observe an increase in the open rate.

10/ Using Jargon or Technical Terms

The main rule is: Be understandable in your message.

Jargon repels your customers.

Just because you want to acquire them doesn’t mean the customer has to speak your language; instead, you must speak theirs.

Even better — the customer doesn’t need to understand your technical terms.

The first minute of conversation (or even less) will give you an understanding of whom you’re talking to.

Sometimes a client indeed requires technical terminology; great. However, in most cases, you need to opt for simplicity.

The simpler, the better. If you can explain the most complex concepts in simple language, the customer will feel like they are talking to an expert and will be more likely to buy.

Only novices and dummies talk in a complicated way about difficult matters.

11/ Mimicking Spam Characteristics

This involves creating behaviors that, at first glance, seem suspicious.

These are titles that mimic common spam email patterns (such as urgent calls to action or offering too-good-to-be-true deals), which lead to emails being marked as spam or simply ignored by recipients.

Nowadays, there’s a lot of talk about hacker behaviors (and rightly so). Therefore, you must understand that current clients are very vigilant.

Be clear.

Be straight to the point.

Ask clearly what you want to get.

However, avoid any behaviors that might ‘quickly’ lead you to a sale. It’ll be detrimental.

So, here you’ve got a full list of 11 ways to screw up email subject lines.

What are your methods for writing winning email titles?

Let us know in the comments!

And don’t forget to add me on LinkedIn & X (Twitter).

P.S. If you enjoyed my content, feel free to fuel my account with a cup of coffee. Every initiative is welcome! 😉

Thanks for contributing!
Simon

Author Profile

Simon Gorlak

Simon Gorlak is a Digital Marketing Expert with over 8 years of experience. He specializes in 3 areas: SEO, Copywriting, and Email Marketing. Simon's blog gathers knowledge that helps Marketers & C-level to increase profits from their online businesses. Also, his content helps to reach the most difficult customers, make others' content to be read & purchased. Besides digital marketing, Simon speaks 4 languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Polish & works as a Head of Business at an Indian Start-up.

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