Best subject line for cold emails?
April 06, 2021
by a searcher from Clemson University in Charlotte, NC, USA
Curious what people have found to be the most successful subject lines for cold emails. I have tried the following, ranked in order of effectiveness. Note, I am doing a regionally-focused search.
- Charlotte Local Interested in X
- Alex Gajewski Intro (Charlotte Connection)
- Hempstead Partners Intro (Charlotte Connection)
There wasn't much difference in effectiveness between Alex Gajewski Intro and Hempstead Partners Intro, but the former was slightly better. What have your most effective subject lines been for open rates?
from Washington and Lee University in Miami Beach, FL, USA
I always try and understand the mindset of the person I am emailing.
I am currently involved in a few businesses and constantly get emails from people looking to buy the business. The subject matter is not as important as you might think. I also wouldn't focus too much on open rates. For me, I only respond to strategics and the most creative inquiries.
For example, one cold emailer bought some of our products and took pictures of themselves using them. We weren't interested in selling the business, but we responded. If we look to sell in the future, I can easily find the email and give them a chance.
In my current outreach I am using cold email in combination with physical outreach and connection on other social networks. Make sure your avatars are consistent across platforms. Start doing things to stand out. Connect on LinkedIn. Then when your email comes in there is some familiarity with your name and image.
To directly answer the question, my best performing subject lines are:
- random question
- no subject
My main metric is conversations. So I optimize for them.
from Curtin University of Technology in San Francisco, CA, USA
I consistently use the following 'battle tested' cold email subject lines to maximize both email deliverability and to achieve a 60%-80% open rate:
Subject line Example1: [name]? (all lowercase)
e.g. Subject line: alex?
Subject line Example2: via [strongest and most trusted social connection] (all lowercase)
e.g. Subject line: via john
Note: john could be the 'first name' of their trusted advisor/CPA/lawyer/business partner/podcast host or podcast show they have appeared on etc.
Best of luck!
P.s. if you would love to have a little extra help with optimizing your cold emails. Feel free to send me a direct message and I'd be happy to bounce around ideas and/or jump on a quick call. Happy to help.