Five Secrets Behind Email Subject Lines that Get Opened

For many hotel marketers, the most challenging part about creating an email is coming up with a compelling subject line that gets opened. But it doesn’t have to be hard if you just consider the five tips below.

1. Hint at discovery

Humans are naturally curious creatures. As such, subject lines that hint at discovery are often great attention-grabbers. Try to frame your subject lines in ways that show there is something to be discovered, such as “Here’s the only reason you need to visit Maui this summer.”

However, be careful not to hint at something that doesn’t get followed up on within the body of the email itself. If you over-promise and under-deliver, then you will taint your credibility and your recipients are less likely to engage with your next email.

2. Create urgency

A study conducted by the Email Institute found that establishing a sense of urgency and exclusivity can generate a 22% higher email open rate. When people feel a sense of urgency, decisions are more likely to be made and faster. A great example is “The clock is ticking on our biggest sale of the year!”

However, creating a sense of urgency is only effective when it’s backed by relevance and value. People don’t want to feel like they’ve missed out on a great offer, but if your promotion has more blackout dates and restrictions than available dates, once again, your credibility is on the line.

3. Use numbers

Including quantifiers in your subject lines is a great way to draw the eye of recipients to your emails. Subject lines with numbers e.g. “5 reasons to visit us this fall” see on average a 45% higher open rate. Numbers are also a great way to create urgency. Try combining the two tactics to craft a subject line that gets noticed. Example: “Hurry! Only 5 days left to book for 30% off!”

4. Personalize and localize

Including a guest’s first name or the city in which they live makes your email feel more intimate and helps to strengthen your connection with that guest. A personalized subject line improves email open rates by 22%.

5. Ask a question

Asking a question has also been proven to increase open rates. This works to spark curiosity among the recipient as well as stand out in a crowded inbox.

Again, make sure your email delivers on whatever is being promised within the subject line. If your subject line is “How about a little R&R this summer?” for example, then your email content should allude to that theme somehow.

Get the full guide on crafting an email

Crafting compelling subject lines is just one way to improve your email marketing performance. To learn more about how to improve your email performance, download our Email Marketing Strategy Guide now. Here’s a preview from the guide:

Use CURVE Methodology:

A simple method to increase the effectiveness of your subject lines is the CURVE methodology. As a best practice, include a minimum of two CURVE tactics in every subject line when possible.

Curiosity: Build curiosity to entice the user.

Urgency: Make it evident the offer is time-sensitive and guests should open now.

Relevance: Personalize and make it relevant to the user.

Value: Provide value and purpose to the messaging.

Emotion: Aim to connect with the guest on an emotional level.

Things to Avoid: Now that you know what to include in a great subject line, we also want to ensure that you know what to avoid. When building subject lines, stay clear of messages in all caps, overuse of exclamation points, or using “Re:” and “Fwd:”. You should also be aware of subject line length, so your messages don’t appear cut off at an awkward place.

There’s more where that came from. Download our Email Marketing Strategy Guide to see the rest.