4+ Subject Line Best Practices (Backed by Science)

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Subject lines are more essential for cold emails, simply because of the impersonal nature of sending emails to strangers. You also need to consider that the people you are targeting are not on your email list. This means that when you are targeting US citizens, the CAN-SPAM Act is especially important.

If you didn't know, the CAN-SPAM Act is a law that governs the rules regarding commercial email, specifically bulk emailing . When it comes to email subject lines, the law specifically states the following:

Do not use a misleading subject line. The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message.


While the CAN-SPAM Act applies to both afghanistan cell phone number list warm and cold emailing, it’s probably more important for cold emailing. Most email marketing tools for warm emailing have safeguards in place to alert you of these types of errors, while cold emailing platforms typically don’t. This is something to seriously consider when sending sales or marketing emails to targeted strangers.

In other words: It is important to have a list of valid email addresses. The goal of a subject line is to entice the recipient/reader to open the email. This goal is even more important when sending cold emails.

Below are 4+ different best practice strategies you can use to improve your cold email subject lines . Each of them will include real, visual examples that will help you understand how to implement them effectively.

NOTE: You won’t be able to use all of these at once. Some of them are appropriate for certain emails and contexts, while others are not. Think of all of the strategies described below as tools in your toolbox.