Consumers are changing how they interact with media—what does that mean for advertisers, and how are they responding? MediaRadar is here to help you navigate ad sales with the latest tips and data. 

The subject line of your sales email is often what determines if your email gets opened or not. 

That’s why it matters that you put effort into making your subject lines gold.

We’ve been working with sales reps in the advertising industry for over 15 years—and here are some of the most effective subject lines we’ve seen and why prospects are more likely to open them.

But before we jump into five subject lines that will get your emails opened, here are some general guiding principles to follow.

What makes an effective email subject line?

Get to the point.

Subject lines are short—they leave you room for only 41 characters on an Apple iPhone (portrait view) or 70 characters in Gmail. According to Litmus, in 2021 41.6% of emails were opened on mobile devices. That being said, you need to make it easy for your prospects to see that your email could potentially be valuable to them. 

Make it unique, while relevant

A good subject line should capture your prospect’s interest in a non-gimmicky way. Make sure your subject is connected to the purpose of the email’s body content, gets at the pain points or goals of the prospect, or shows that you understand who they are in some way. 

You could:

• Share new and relevant research related to their industry, with data in the subject line
• Leverage preexisting relationships to stir up a personal connection
• Ask an interesting or personal question related to their business or competitors

Include the call-to-action (CTA) in the subject line

Do you want something specific from the recipient? Will it take just a moment of their time? Let them know right away.

As productivity and management focused Youtube creator Jeff Su explains to Harvard Business Review:  

“Most of us are familiar with a generic “action required” in subject lines, right? My recommendation is just to take it a step further and include exactly what you need the recipient to do and the estimated time it takes for them to do it.

For example, instead of writing “Action required, feedback for project X,” write “Five minutes — survey feedback for project X,” instead.”

When sending a cold sales email, you can tell the prospect how much time they can expect to devote to the CTA. If it’s five or ten minutes of their time, they might be more open to taking action.

Make your value clear

Have you helped similar clients achieve outstanding results recently? Have you noticed that your competitor’s clients are coming to you for a particular reason? Use these insights to woo over your prospects. 

You need as much information on your prospects as possible in order to know what will be uniquely valuable to them. MediaRadar lets you see into any advertiser’s spending profile, their contacts, relationships and more. Leverage this to perfect your pitch.

Write in a personal way

Include personal names of the recipient and, when appropriate, your name. People are more likely to open emails that are coming directly from other people. Even if the email is automated, it can feel personal. 

Top 5 Subject Lines to Get Your Sales Email Opened

1. “Introduction: [Your Personal Name]” or “Introduction: [Your Company] <> [Prospect’s Company]

This works because it’s personal. Sales professionals constantly need to be networking to do their jobs effectively. Introductions are typically something valuable they can use to achieve their goals in their current role or to build their own personal brand.

2. “Quick question about [prospect’s company]”

This type of “quick question” email subject line can be modified to fit your goals of the email. 

Other forms of this subject line could look like:

• “Quick request” 
• “Quick question about your [time period] goals”
• “Hi [prospect’s name], quick question”

Take time to experiment with different ways of framing the questions to your leads. When email subject lines are concise and direct, they feel more personal and like they are going to cost the prospect less energy for opening them. 

Remember that prospects often receive hundreds of emails a day. And on average for every 100 emails received, they only open two, according to research from GetResponse’s Email Marketing Benchmarks Report (2020).

It has to look like you took the time to research the prospect individually and that they are not part of a batch list (even if you are using automation.) A specific question related to the company can help overcome this. 

3. Congratulations, [Name] on your new role at [Company]

When individuals are promoted or start a new position at a different company, they are often jumping into a planning and decision-making period. This is the ideal time to reach out to them. 

With MediaRadar, you can receive alerts when there is a new decision maker at one of your accounts. 

You’ll also see when your accounts have new representation, key players have received a promotion or even when an agency contact has been added for a brand you care about. This is the perfect time to introduce yourself or nurture a lead.

When prospects are new to a position, consider asking them quick questions about their goals or biggest challenges—but choose only one question and make it easy for them to respond. 

4. “Hi, [name]. 10 mins this week?”

This subject is quick and to the point. The prospect will immediately know what the purpose of the email is—and it’s not a big ask. 

Prospects are asked for 30 minute or hour-long calls all the time. Working in a busy advertising environment, they might not have the space to block off for a sales demo or meeting. But 10 minutes? That’s not too big of an ask.

5. “Connect?”

This is as simple, to the point and as human as possible. It also has a very direct CTA that most professionals are willing to explore. They will want to know who you are and why you want to connect. 

Having a great subject line is just part of the process of building a great relationship with your leads. Don’t be surprised if you have to do significant research on your leads and prospects to build a solid email campaign. 

Learn how MediaRadar has helped media companies strategize more effectively by reading our case studies.

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