The Awesome Power of a Subject Line
Don’t send someone an email with a subject line that you wouldn’t read yourself!
This article was originally published on LinkedIn in September of 2021. I’m reposting it here as part of moving my writing to my own platform…
Have you ever gotten an email message, looked at the subject line and asked one of the oldest and most human of all questions… “WTF is this?” Uhhhhh only about 1 zillion times a day!!!! In this edition of The Awesome Power of Junk and Stuff let’s talk/rant about email subject lines.
Depending on who you ask, email has been around in some form for about 40 or 50 years... so why do I still get messages with a subject line that reads “Following Up” and that’s it… No additional context… just two words. I’m supposed to magically glean your intent, your need, your goal from two words that together are at best a vague imperative statement?
Decades of email but we still do whacky stuff...
We’ve had decades to “figure it out” but after 40 or 50 years of email there’s really only three things we know for sure…
It is a pain in the butt.
We all get way too much of it.
We can’t really function without it.
Yeah, messaging platforms like Slack and Teams have cut down on a lot of email but those are very tiny fingers in a very large dyke, and even with those alternatives, we’re stuck with email for the foreseeable future. So let’s take a look at some techniques for making the world a better place one email at a time.
OK Rob, how are you going to do that?
Well, snarky voice in my head, I’m going to start with the most important part of an email, the subject line.
Your first impression…
Estimates on how long it takes us to form a first impression range from a few milliseconds to as long as 30 seconds… I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely on the short side of that range and that’s true whether or not I’m at a party, in a business meeting or, checking my inbox. When you meet someone, that first impression forms the basis for all of your interactions from that point forward. True, sometimes first impressions are wrong, and they can be clouded with biases, but for better or worse, we all form first impressions quickly. So, given that very universal human trait, shouldn’t you want your email to make a solid first impression?
Short answer = HEYLLLLLL YAY YAH!!!!
In my role as a Content Manager, I’m a weird combination of academic planning and instructional design combined with sales and recruiting. I spend a lot of energy reaching out to potential instructors, and their very first contact with me is via email 99 percent of the time. Because of that I spend a lot of energy making sure that a potential instructor’s first impression of me is at least one, but hopefully all of these things… Professional, efficient, reliable. I want that person to know that this is a legitimate opportunity, that I’m their partner on this journey, and that they can count on me to get S**t done for them.
Which of these two email messages would you open first?
"Opportunity"
"LinkedIn Learning Course Creation Opportunity"
The first message could be literally anything but is most likely spam. We all get tons of these kinds of messages every day, and there’s no way I want my message to get lost among all of that spammy crap.
The second message? That looks promising! I’ve heard of this LinkedIn thing, I’m a person who loves to share their knowledge and I think I would like to learn more about this opportunity to create content with an amazing publisher like that.
One brain… Two buckets… Many questions...
When we look at our inbox, email falls into two big buckets… Stuff from people we know already and stuff from people we don’t know. Because of that our inboxes are designed to show us the sender as the first read and the subject line as the second read. As we scan the list, our brain is instantly categorizing the messages into those buckets so that we can figure out what to do with them.
Bucket 1 - Someone we know?
If yes, our brain asks these kinds of questions…
How important is the sender?
How urgent is the message?
Is this something I can deal with now or is it more challenging?
Is it relevant for a specific project?
Bucket 2 - Someone we don’t know?
If yes, our brain asks these kinds of questions…
Is the message legitimate?
Is this someone I need or want to know?
Why am I getting this?
Do I need to respond?
Based on that barrage of questions we quickly form a gut opinion and react in 1 of 6 ways…
Ignore it
Delete/Archive
Label it as Junk
Read it, don’t respond, then delete/archive
Read it, don’t respond, create action item, then delete/archive
Read it, and respond, then archive
This complex response begins the moment someone looks at your message and the decision happens almost instantly. That’s why your subject is so critical even when you know the person but especially when you don’t. With that in mind, let’s start with the people you don’t know bucket to see some of the subject lines that didn’t get a positive response...
"Hope we can help" - Uhhhh help with what? Recovering lost files on a hard drive? Chronic back pain? Halitosis? Tell me what you want to help me with!!!
"Time for a quick call?"- Who the H are you? And why would I want to talk with you? Nobody has time for random conversations! Arrrrghhhhhh!!!
"Phone call on Friday at 1:30pm - Rob?" - How do you know my name and how did you know I’m free Friday at 1:30??? Get out of my head! Where’s my tinfoil hat!!
Whoa settle down there Rob… what about messages from people you know?
I mostly give a subject line pass to people that I know or that I work with inside Linkedin, because I have an established relationship with them. But, I still get irritated when their subject lines don’t give me a way to triage or prioritize their message. Ok, Instructors and coworkers who shall remain nameless, you know who you are…
“Question” - What the H is the question about? The meaning of the Universe? The secret to my mothers okra gumbo recipe? (it’s love, and okra BTW)
A much better subject line…
“Question about Software Version for XXXX Essential Training Course”
“Meeting Today” - Not only did you not tell me anything, but now I have to open up my calendar to try and remember when I’m meeting with you, but it’s after lunch and I panic thinking I missed our meeting... but wait, I see our meeting is not until 4pm… whew!!! See how much stress that caused my fragile little brain?
A much better subject line…
“Reschedule Q1 Course Roadmap Review?”
“TOC” - Uhhh I’m kinda dense but I do know that TOC means “Table of Contents”, but what freaking course is it for!? We talked about 6 ideas on our last call!!!
A much better subject line…
“TOC for your review: XXXXX Essential Training”
OK, ok, I think you get the point. Even when you know someone the subject line makes a huge difference in how that person reacts to your message, and ultimately how they’ll react to YOU in your business relationship. So the next time you’re composing a message ask yourself these questions…
What’s the most important thing they need to know about my message?
Do I need them to respond?
Is the need urgent?
With as few words as possible, pack as much info into your subject line and I think you’ll have a much better response rate for your messages…
What are your LEAST favorite email subject lines? Let me know in the comments!
