Lost in the Noise- How to Get People to Open and Read Your Email

By Dr. Barrett Mosbacker

March 29, 2014

It is hard to get people’s attention. Inboxes overflow with emails. Social media feeds compete for attention. Voice messages wait impatiently for a return call. Schedules are packed.

In all of that noise, your emails can get lost or ignored. Here are a few simple things you can do to increase the odds of your emails being opened.

Writing coach and journalist Adam Auriemma, in a piece for The Wall Street Journal, observed that in the competitive world of corporate email, where attention spans are measured in fractions of a second, a well-crafted subject line can make all the difference.¹

Dan Moskovitz, a rabbi based in Vancouver, used simple flattery to get the attention of Amazon chief Jeff Bezos with the subject line “Thank You! You’re Awesome.” Though the note was unsolicited and of relatively small concern to Bezos — some praise for a little-heralded Kindle feature — Rabbi Moskowitz received a personal reply.

Second-person subject lines often do the trick, especially for busy and high-profile recipients, and they need not be complicated.

“I always find the content line YOU makes people open up fast,” says Tina Brown, the former magazine editor and founder of the Women in the World Summit. “Nothing is more fascinating to people than themselves.”

The screen on a mobile device is small, and your recipient is likely in transit or otherwise occupied. Your email is probably receiving only a quick glance.

To get attention, make the subject line short and to the point. Your objective is to reduce screen scroll — the habit of glancing through email the way one scans a social media feed. Emails that seem relevant and catch the eye will get opened.

MailChimp has conducted extensive research on what it takes to get emails opened and read. Their conclusion is straightforward:

So what’s our advice for email subject lines? This is going to sound “stupid simple” to a lot of people, but here goes: Your subject line should (drum roll please): Describe the subject of your email. Yep, that’s it.

Always set your subscribers’ expectations during the opt-in process about what kinds of emails they’ll be receiving. Don’t confuse newsletters with promotions. If your email is a newsletter, put the name and issue of the newsletter in your subject line. Because that’s what’s inside. If your email is a special promotion, tell them what’s inside. Either way, just don’t write your subject lines like advertisements.

When it comes to email, the best subject lines tell what’s inside, and the worst subject lines sell what’s inside.

The principle is simple. Compare these examples: