I’ve lost count of the marketing campaigns I’ve seen where all the communications have been meticulously planned, written and designed, only to hear a last-minute shout of “hey, what do you want the subject line to be on this one?”

But subject lines shouldn’t be an afterthought. In my experience they’re actually more important than the body copy. After all, your email could contain the most enticing offer in history, written by the best copywriter on the planet, but this will count for precisely nothing unless the recipient clicks on it.

Without a good subject line, your email simply won’t get read. It’s your chance to make a great first impression and really grab the reader’s attention.

In the world of internal comms, it’s easy to think that because you’re their employer, people will automatically read what you send them. But given the number of emails people deal with each day, this is far from a given. It’s still really important to stand out in a crowded inbox.

At RewardPointZero we believe the details matter. Getting the small details right is what adds up to a successful campaign. Below we share half a dozen quick tips for getting the subject line right.

Be concise

It’s usually a good idea to avoid unnecessary words. But there are specific reasons for being especially careful with subject lines.

Today around half of emails will get read on a mobile phone. With most email apps, there’s a cut-off of around 47 characters. So anything which comes after this won’t be visible.

There’s of plenty of research to suggest short is sweet. The subject lines with the best click-to-open rate are those with just seven words, so we suggest adopting that as a rough target.

Be explicit

You’re sharing something of value here. Tell the reader straight away in the subject line. That way they’ll understand what they’re going to get after opening your email.

Use action words

Subject lines are a bit like calls to action – the language needs to inspire people to click. To transform bland into attention-grabbing, use a lively verb at the beginning.

Personalise it

If you can, using the recipient’s name in the subject line can be a winner. If not, any specific information you have about them is good too.

If you can’t fully personalise, could you segment your list, for example by age or location. A millennial and a baby boomer are likely to have their interest piqued by different aspects of your offer.

Test and learn

Once you’ve narrowed your list of potential subject lines to a handful, don’t be afraid to test them on a small portion of your recipients before rolling out the winner to the remainder.

Remember to store your results somewhere too, otherwise it might be more ‘test and forget’ than ‘test and learn’.

If you’re looking to give your reward communications a little more oomph, we’d love to hear from you. We’re great at getting the little details spot on, and have tonnes of experience in what works and what doesn’t.