Heading into the Holidays, Standing Out is More Important Than Ever

Did you know that roughly 47% of recipients open messages based solely on the impression that a subject line gives? If your email isn’t optimized for various Email Service Providers (ESPs), you’re going to lose the battle for your customers’ attention before it even begins.

Especially around the holidays, email rates from companies across industries increase, which makes standing out all the more important.

Here are some helpful tips to make sure your subject lines are landing.

Tip 1: Don’t Ignore the Character Limit

Every marketer thinks their product, their message, or their email is the most important thing in someone’s inbox because it is the most important thing to them.

Don’t forget: your customers are not marketers, and your customers simply don’t care about your brand or your product in the same way that you do. Your emails are no different. You only have a few seconds to grab their attention, and if your subject line is cut off in their inbox, you’re already at a disadvantage.

While different ESPs have a variety of character limits for subject lines and preheader text, a good rule of thumb is never to exceed 50 characters in your subject line and 57 characters in your preheader text. Although, on mobile devices, your character limit is even shorter (typically 33 characters.) All things considered, the shorter, the better, which means you’ll need some impeccable copywriters on your team to make the magic happen.

Tip 2: Use Action Verbs

In emails, people primarily think of the “action” piece in the call to action (CTA): Register Now, Learn More, Listen to Our Podcast, and the list goes on. But don’t save your action verbs for the CTA!

Did your high school English teacher ever say, “Don’t show, tell,” but you forgot this mantra as soon as you passed your class?

Now’s the time to start remembering and applying this message in every subject line you write.

Which of these is more powerful?

“Discover new strategies to boost your marketing ROI,” or “2025 Marketing Trends Report.”

“Download our free guide to smarter segmentation,” or “Updates from our segmentation research.”

“Join us for tomorrow’s webinar on AI in healthcare,” or “Webinar tomorrow on AI in healthcare.”

Small changes make a big impact. Everyone has main character energy, and people want to envision themselves in every situation. How can they picture themselves using your product, joining your webinar, or taking any sort of action if you don’t lead them in that direction with your copy?

Tip 3: Personalization is Key, but Don’t Overdo It!

It’s fairly well-known among marketers that personalized email campaigns have higher engagement rates than generic ones. This personalization can and should carry over to your subject lines.

However, if you use personalization every time you send an email, it won’t have the same impact because people will get used to seeing their name attached to your emails. Striking a good balance between personalization and generic subject lines is key.

Also, if you’re personalizing your subject line but sending a message that doesn’t apply to the person where they are in the customer journey, it may end up having the opposite effect and making the customer upset.

For example, if a customer recently purchased something, and you’re hitting them immediately with a personalized email with additional products of interest but no additional incentive or discount, you may lose them fast.

As with everything in marketing, segmentation and timing in combination with intricacies like subject lines all work together for a good experience.

Tip 4: Avoid Spam Filter Triggers, Even if They are Trendy!

If you want to keep landing in the inbox, avoid words that may trigger spam filters.

Although tempting because some of these words can create a sense of urgency or curiosity (which is great for subject lines) you’re running a marathon not a sprint when it comes to email marketing.

Some of these words include:

• Free
• Investment
• Near You
• Full refund
• Avoid
• Chance
• Never
• Stop
• Success
• And more

While not guaranteed to impact your deliverability, it’s better not to risk it.

Once Was Lost but Now Inbound

If your emails have been getting lost or passed over in people’s inboxes, your subject line is a good place to start your investigation as to why.

Don’t forget: A/B testing is your friend, and your audience is unique. There is no catch-all advice that will magically help your emails perform better.

It’s a process, and it takes time and testing to learn what works! Ready to take your emails to the next level and reach LGBTQ+ and other audiences? Reach out to our team at Chipper to learn more.