SUBJECT LINE TACTICS THAT WORK RIGHT NOW
1. Reverse Psychology Wins
“Subject lines that actually downplay urgency... are triggering a higher performance.” Lines like:
- “This might not apply to you.”
- “Nothing important here…”
- “Keep scrolling…”
Actually stop the scroll. And they work. Schwedelson’s team tested this and found that subject lines that downplayed urgency or importance actually boosted open rates by over 20%.
2. White Space Creates Pause
"If you have a three word or less subject line and no pre-header, you'll increase your open rates up to 25%."
The short subject line with blank preview text creates a visual pause in the inbox that's impossible to ignore.
3. The Magic of "Way To"
Adding "way to" increases opens 17-19%. “It triggers something and it works incredibly well,” Schwedelson noted.
Try: "Best way to," "Proven way to," "Smart way to," "Fastest way to," in your next subject line tests.
4. Personalization Without Data
“This idea of ‘made for you’. It's the best type of personalization 'cause you don't need any data at all. You just need to frame it that way.”
Try subject lines like:
- “This session was made for your team”
- “Tailored for companies at your stage”
- “Exactly the insights you’ve been hunting”
These performed 15% better on average, without requiring any CRM merge tags or segmentation.
5. Emojis Still Work, Especially the Sad Ones
“Negative emojis outperform positive ones. They stand out a little bit more.” Why? Because everyone’s using 🎉 and 🚀. But very few marketers are using 💔, 😢, or ⚠️. And those emotional cues break the monotony of the inbox.
Try pairing subject lines with:
- 💔 “You’re not protecting your data”
- 😢 “You’re losing leads every day”
- ⚠️ “2 prices go up tonight!”
Emojis like these lifted open rates by 17% on average, Schwedelson said.
