100 Inspiring Email Subject Lines

100 Inspiring
Subject Lines
and B2C Subject Line Trends since 2006

@chadswhite

Chad White
Principal of Marketing Research
Salesforce ExactTarget Marketing Cloud
@chadswhite

The most effective subject lines are
straightforward and predispose openers
to engage with the content of an email.

However, creativity has its place.

You may not have a fantastic deal to tout.
Creative language can differentiate nonpromotional from sales-oriented messages.
You might be newsjacking.
Humor, wit and pop culture references may
fit your brand.

Whatever your reason, creativity in less
than half the length of a tweet can give
your emails the edge—especially when
your subject line is backed up with great
email content.

To get your creative juices flowing, here are
our picks for some of the most inspiring
subject lines since 2006, along with some
notable trends and events through the years
that have affected subject lines.

2006
Pre-dating the launch of the first iPhone, in 2006
subject line writing was geared toward desktop email
clients, which generally displayed the first 60 or so
characters of a subject line.

FTD, 10/10/06

1 Tell your boss what you really think
A great tongue-in-creek double-meaning sets up this
email promoting gifts for National Bosses’ Day.

CLICK TO TWEET: I love subject line #1 from @ExactTarget’s
100 Inspiring Subject Lines: extg.co/100SubjLines What’s your favorite?

RedEnvelope, 10/3/06

2 Vhat vould Dracula vear?
An engaging question, posed in Dracula’s trademark
diction, introduces this email promoting Halloween
costumes.

Sharper Image, 10/13/06

3 Oops! Texas isn’t THAT big! Save
$20 anywhere.
After sending their entire list an offer for $20-off at a new
store in San Antonio, this apology email subject line starts
with the common “oops” or “sorry,” uses a little humor
and extends the offer to every store to smooth things over.

REI, 10/27/06

4 Coming Soon: SNOW! See REI's new
winter gear now.
This subject line borrows the “coming soon” language of
a product or movie announcement to nice effect for this
email promoting winter gear.

Harry & David, 12/5/06

5 We've got the Pears ... who really
wants the partridge or tree?
Promoting Harry & David’s Royal Riviera Pears, this
holiday email uses a subject line that pokes fun at the
“partridge in a pear tree” line in the “Twelve Days of
Christmas” song.

Abercrombie & Fitch, 11/2/06

6 Get it on. Our warmest, softest
fleece... Abercrombie.com
The “get it on” pun is a perfect match with this retailer’s
young, promiscuous brand image.


Avon, 12/7/06

7 FREE Shipping with ANY Order, plus
Holiday SAVINGS on Kisses
The subject line for this email promoting lip gloss starts
off with run-of-the-mill language—then surprises you
with unexpected “Kisses.”

2007
The first iPhone was released on June 29, 2007.
As mobile reading of emails has grown, the
recommended subject line length has shrunk from
50-60 characters in 2007 to 20-40 today.


8 Shop now for Mother's Day or pay
until 2008.
RedEnvelope takes the familiar “pay nothing until…”
language and spins it into a warning about the wrath
of mothers who get bad gifts.

RadioShack, 10/28/07

9 The holidays are just around the
corner. Fortunately, so are we.
At a time when most emails from retailers focused heavily
on driving online sales, this subject line is dedicated to
driving store traffic, which email does just as effectively.

Gap, 10/24/07

10 Can the Shirt off Your Back Change
the World?
Putting a spin on “I’d give you the shirt off my back,” Gap
immediately projects generosity and compassion, setting
the right tone for this (Product) Red t-shirt promotion.

RedEnvelope, 6/4/07

11 Why man discovered fire.
This subject line uses one manly archetype—Neanderthals—
to promote another slightly more modern archetype of
manliness—the grill master—for this email promoting grillrelated Father’s Day gifts.

Crate & Barrel, 10/22/07

12 What holiday tables are
wearing...plus Free Shipping
Using a little personification, Crate & Barrel brings
fashion anxiety to tableware.


Urban Outfitters, 11/23/07

13 Step away from the leftovers: Free
Shipping Ends Monday!
A mix between an intervention and the cops busting down
your door and yelling, “Drop the drumstick, scumbag!”
this subject line fits Urban Outfitters’ brand image and
nicely promoted their after-Thanksgiving sale.


14 Express Love
Two words and one nice double-meaning are used in the
subject line for this email, which promotes express
shipping for delivery by Valentine’s Day.

2008
Surging gas prices were making headlines and
brands mentioned them in their subject lines to
convince subscribers to shop online. Video content
was shiny and new and also getting mentions in
subject lines.

TigerDirect, 6/4/08

15 Over 150 Gallons of Savings from
TigerDirect - See How...
With gas prices dominating the news and the public
consciousness, TigerDirect uses gallons of gas as an
alternative currency, as a topical way of expressing the
value of their offers.

Toys “R” Us, 6/27/08

16 Save $10 on Stay-cation Shopping!
Demonstrating that Toys “R” Us was tuned into consumer
sentiment, this subject line was one of the first to use the
neologism “staycation.”

AbeBooks, 5/28/08

17 Birthday. Happy birthday. Celebrating
a New James Bond Release
Riffing on how James Bond introduces himself, this subject
line is a great lead in for the email, which touts the release
of a new Bond novel, Devil May Care, on what would have
been Bond creator Ian Fleming’s 100th birthday.

Norm Thompson, 1/11/08

18 Fan mail for socks? Yes! And that's
not all...
Product reviews were superhot at the time and this subject
line tapped into that interest. This subject line worked so
well Norm Thompson reused the tactic with Jan. 28 subject
line “Our KNIT JEANS get love letters. See what they say...”

Sephora, 12/3/08

19 10 ways to kiss
Promoting their top 10 lip gloss gift sets, this subject line
could easily be a headline for a piece in Cosmopolitan or
Glamour, which speaks well to Sephora’s target audience.


20 You lost. Will 15% off make it better?
Matter of fact, perhaps a little shocking, and definitely
unusual, this email notifies sweepstakes entrants right in
the subject line that they didn’t win, but that there is a
consolation prize. [VIEW EMAIL]

Bluefly, 10/23/08

21 Rock the Coat
Tapping into election interest, this pithy subject line puns
on the familiar “Rock the vote” saying and is backed up
with Bluefly’s Fashion Decision ’08 feature, which asked
customers about the fashion choices of the candidates.

Finish Line, 6/2/08

22 Selling Your Sole Can Be A Good
Thing!
Some people probably did a double-take on this subject
line, which was for an email about getting a discount on
new shoes in exchange for donating your old ones to
charity.


23 She's like a mom to you. Treat her
special this Mother's Day.
RedEnvelope tries to broaden the scope of Mother’s Day
with the subject line for this email, which suggests buying
gifts for coaches, stepmoms, mother-in-laws and nannies.

AbeBooks, 8/8/08

24 Crisis at the Olympics
Sent on day 1 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, this
email was very topical and appeared newsy, although
the email promoted a selection of books about past
Olympic scandals.

2009
Promo codes started appearing in subject
lines, allowing subscribers to get their discount
without even opening the email.

JCPenney, 11/8/09

25 Want Free Shipping? Use Promo
Code 49SANTA At JCP.com!
What’s in it for me? How do I get it? Where do I get it?
Focused on generating conversions rather than opens or
clicks, this subject line answers all those questions—all
without needing to open the email.

L.L. Bean, 2/3/09

26 "Is it really wrong to love a
doormat?"
With Valentine’s Day top of mind, this testimonial subject
line made genius use of the double-meaning of “doormat”
for this email promoting actual doormats.

Neiman Marcus, 8/30/09

27 Piranhas, chihuahuas, and fashion!
Meet Leyendecker
The power of threes meets weird in this subject line, which
does a great job of creating intrigue. What do piranhas
and Chihuahuas have to do with fashion? And who or
what is Leyendecker?

Gap, 10/19/09

28 Bring This Email to a Gap Store and
Win, Starting 10/19
Now even easier and more common in the age of
smartphones, this subject line asks subscribers to bring
this email to a store to take advantage of the printable
barcoded offer inside.

NikeStore, 8/13/09

29 Actually, It Is Rocket Science
Nike creates intrigue with this nice twist on “It’s not
rocket science” to get subscribers interested in learning
more about their new Lunarglide shoe.

AbeBooks, 1/19/09

30 Join the Barack Obama Book Club
Piggybacking on the Oprah Book Club, AbeBooks creates
an unofficial Obama Book Club that highlights books and
authors Obama mentioned in interviews and promotes it
in this email sent the day before his inauguration.

Sephora, 11/17/09

31 Gift Tip: Separate these sets into
multiple gifts
With the Great Recession underway, this subject line was
super savvy and very much on the same wavelength as
consumers, who were trying to stretch their holiday dollars.

Victoria’s Secret, 12/19/09

32 Fantasy No. 339...
With a nod to erotica fiction, Victoria’s Secret sent several
emails that December using the “Fantasy No. X” format.
Who doesn’t want to know women’s fantasies? Although
fulfilling over 300 fantasies sounds super-daunting.

AbeBooks, 7/10/09

33 Size Does Matter. The Longest
Novels.
Channeling the spam subject lines of old, AbeBooks grabs
your attention with the first three words and then quickly
reveals the true point of the email with the next three.

Staples, 10/9/09

34 Save like it's 1492!
Staples put a fun Columbus Day twist on the
saying, “Party like it’s 1999.”


2010
The growing adoption of iPhones and Gmail ushered
in the rise of preheader text as a “second subject
line,” since those platforms display a preview of the
first HTML text in an email.

GameStop, 3/9/10

35 We know when Tiger is coming back.
Tapping into the endless speculation about when Tiger
Woods would return to playing golf in the wake of his sex
scandal, this newsjacking subject line grabs subscribers’
attention to promote the release of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11.

J&R, 12/17/10

36 Free Shipping DAY? People Puhleeze, We
Have Free Shipping All Holiday Season!
Mocking the rise of Free Shipping Day and the retailers
supporting it, this Manhattan-based retailer stresses their
standing free shipping offer. It was a great branding
moment—with a little NYC sass to boot.

Disney Store, 9/20/10

37 Last Day! Free Shipping Ends at the
Stroke of Midnight!
The allusion to Cinderella turns a mundane message
about an offer expiration into a delightful moment of
brand expression.


38 Get Naked: Tomorrow at Victoria's
Secret.
A nudist event tomorrow at VS stores? Nope. They were
only introducing The Nakeds by Victoria’s Secret line, but
the creative wordplay likely boosted opens and garnered
more…um…exposure for the launch.

Kohl’s, 8/11/10

39 We still have all this money to give
away.
Appealing to subscribers’ self-interest, Kohl’s uses this
subject line to promote that their Kohl’s Cares charity is
giving away $10 million to schools and needs their
customers to vote for deserving schools.

The Company Store, 6/7/10

40 Get Fresh...in bed
The Company Store uses the “…in bed” fortune cookie joke
in their subject line to promote buying fresh bed linens. It
was playful in a way that they weren’t usually, which
made it stand out for them as a brand as well.


41 Spell Your Name & Save Up to 30%
on Tees!
Hey, I know how to spell my name. Gimme that discount!
Well, it turns out that you didn’t even have to know how to
spell your name to get the discount on personalized tees
offered in this email.

Ralph Lauren, 2/2/10

42 Just In: The Official U.S. Olympic
Opening Ceremony Uniform
As the official outfitter of U.S. Olympians, Ralph Lauren
was able to give this subject line a breaking news feel as
they unveiled the official opening ceremony uniforms.

Eddie Bauer, 2/8/10

43 90 Years in Seattle - We Know Rain!
Eddie Bauer leverages the rainy reputation of their
hometown in this subject line to promote rain
coats, umbrellas and other wet weather gear.

Uncommon Goods, 2/7/10

44 "Print. Cut. Lock the door."
The instructions in this subject line are like a minimystery. All is made clear when you open the Valentine’s
Day message and find a printable “Do Not Disturb”
doorknob sign. [VIEW EMAIL]

GameStop, 2/9/10

45 Aliens, Predators & Humans play
lethal Rock, Paper, Scissors
Triples, symmetry and humor—what more could you ask
for in a subject line promoting the Aliens vs. Predator
video game?


46 Alice is Here! Open Me!
While subject lines often implore subscribers to “open” or
look for “details inside,” this one promoting the Alice in
Wonderland collection freshens the request by punning off
the “Eat Me” cake and “Drink Me” bottle from the story.

Frederick’s of Hollywood, 5/5/10

47 What sexy essential did we introduce?
Find out with free shipping..
This subject line engages subscribers with a bit of brandbuilding trivia, spurring them to open the email to find
out the answer.

(A: They introduced the thong in 1981.)

Barnes & Noble, 6/3/10

48 Book your summer getaway here.
Save 10% on first class reading.
Figurative language bookended by two double-meanings
makes for a nice subject line that taps into subscribers’
travel plans and travel-reading needs—or just their
flights of imagination.

Toys “R” Us, 5/17/10

49 Grad Gifts for Scholars of ANY Age!
View our favorites
High school and college graduation gifts are common, but
in this subject line and email, Toys “R” Us tries to extend
this tradition to honoring the graduation of younger kids
to the next grade.

2011
Some thought subject lines would decrease in
importance because of the late 2010 debut of
Facebook Messages, which doesn’t support subject
lines. However, the “not email” platform flopped.

LinkedIn, 1/13/11

50 Chad, 118 of your connections
changed jobs in 2010.
A sign that personalization was moving beyond firstname, this subject line contained two personal data points
and was a great lead into the email, which featured
pictures of 20 connections with new jobs. [VIEW EMAIL]

FetchDog, 8/9/11

51 Add more fun to your walks with Suki
Had this subject line said, “with your dog,” it wouldn’t
have been nearly as personal and compelling. FetchDog
asks subscribers for the names of their dogs, and puts
them to good use in this personalized subject line.


52 XOUO
Inserting their brand’s initials into the common
expression of affection “XOXO” for this Valentine’s Day
email’s subject line is a testament to the power of brevity.

Bed Bath & Beyond, 10/10/11

53 Shop here. Get your face licked.
This subject line sounds a little gross or kinky (depending
on your disposition), but Bed Bath & Beyond turns that
into an aha moment when you open the email and
discover it promotes pet products.

Lands’ End, 6/8/11

54 Starfish: you named it. You bought
every last pair. We made more.
The subject line for this email—which tells the story
behind Lands’ End’s Starfish Pants, which got its name
from customer requests—makes you feel like you missed
out not only on a product but a conversation.

Frederick’s of Hollywood, 5/4/11

55 What bra sold 10,000 after being
seen on the Today Show yesterday?
Using consumer action and media attention for social
validation amps up the intrigue of this subject line.


Brookstone, 10/25/11

56 Forget about daylight savings
While others were reminding subscribers to set their clocks
back, Brookstone stood out by giving the exact opposite
advice in this subject line for an email promoting clocks
that set themselves and auto-adjust to Daylight Savings.

Foot Locker, 6/8/11

57 Dads: This Email is Not For
You, Please Forward It To Your
Family.
The forwarding request in this subject line is a clever
device to get dads to open the email in order to see if it’s
worthy of being forwarded. Plus, saying it’s “not for you”
just makes you want to open it more.

J. Jill, 8/31/11

58 Additional 30% off sale + free shipping. Our
power may still be out, but our sale is ON!
Sent in the wake of Hurricane Irene, this subject line
expresses resilience. It doesn’t make light of the storm and
isn’t exploitive, but rather conveys that they’re in the same
boat as everyone else and carrying on as best they can.

HP, 7/18/11

59 Check your next email on this: the
HP Tablet!
This subject line engages recipients by referring to what
they’re doing at the moment—reading their email—and
getting them to imagine doing it on a tablet.

Lowe’s, 12/14/11

60 Build Your Own North Pole. Save up
to 50% on Tools
This subject line is both festive and aspirational, challenging
DIYers to dream big—like Santa’s workshop big.


Williams-Sonoma, 6/6/11

61 Top 5 Gifts Selected by the Dads of
Williams-Sonoma
Part of the then-emerging trend of brands abandoning
corporate-speak and putting a face on their
marketing, this subject line let subscribers know these
Father Day gifts were picked by dads at WilliamsSonoma. TO TWEET: I love subject line #61 from @ExactTarget’s
CLICK


62 Christmas delivery with express shipping
- on Dasher, on Dancer, on Procrastinator
Lands’ End makes Santa’s sleigh super-express by
hooking up a 10th reindeer, Procrastinator. It’s seasonal
while also making it clear who they’re addressing.

Target, 1/30/11

63 Baby Sale: Sweet wittle pwices.
Target uses some baby talk in this subject
line, betting in part that the unusual spellings will
catch subscribers’ eyes.

J.Crew, 4/2/11

64 perfect for party hopping (plus, free
shipping)
Although they don’t mention Easter by name, the “hopping”
pun in this subject line was cute and served well to promote
kids’ clothing for “springtime special occasions.”


65 Yours, All Ways...
With just three short words, this is a wonderfully
suggestive subject line promoting multi-way bras.


Bed Bath & Beyond, 5/10/11

66 Hold your breath until you see this.
The language they use to build intrigue in this subject line
connects directly and delightfully to the product being
promoted in the email: air purifiers.

Dell, 9/23/11

67 You know it's time to upgrade to a
new PC when...
With Dell channeling a little Jeff Foxworthy, this subject
line sets you up to expect some comical reasons why you
need a new PC, which the email delivers with a faux
infographic. [VIEW EMAIL]

Helzberg Diamonds, 8/17/11

68 This free bracelet has your name
on it.
The subject line leaves you wondering if they’re making a
literal or figurative statement, which drives you to open the
email—and discover it’s a literal one thanks to first-name
personalized images of charm bracelets. [VIEW EMAIL]

2012
Special characters like hearts and stars started
appearing in subject lines early in the year.
Overall, roughly 1% of retailers’ promotional emails
included a special character in their subject line
during 2012. That tripled in 2013.

Avaaz.org, 12/10/12

69 They want to ██████ the Internet
To support their rallying cry against internet
censorship, this populist movement uses a series of special
characters to create a black box like the subject line has
been redacted.

Neiman Marcus, 11/12/12

70

shoes for a well-rounded
wardrobe

The special character in the subject line is mimicked in the
email creative, creating a strong connection between the
subject line and email’s body copy. The “well-rounded”
pun on the special character is a bonus. [VIEW EMAIL]

eBags, 11/18/12

71 The best gifts are opened again and
again and again.
This subject line is seasonal, intriguing and wonderfully
inspired by eBags’ products.


Lowe’s, 11/23/12

72 Just Woke Up? Already Out? Swing
By -- Stores Open at 5 a.m.
Sent as the sun was coming up, this subject line
acknowledged that subscribers might be reading this
email on a mobile device while they were out waiting
for a store to open or driving to a store.

Barnes & Noble, 1/29/12

73 Pop Quiz! What City is Home to the
Most Angry Bird Players on NOOK?
Tapping into people’s city-pride and desire to be
right, this subject line engages with trivia that’s mined
from the behavior of users of Barnes & Noble’s
tablet, NOOK. [VIEW EMAIL]

Lowe’s, 6/1/12

74 Meet Tom -- He Learned the Hard Way
Like an email of introduction, this subject line engages
subscribers on a more personal level using Tom, a man
who isn’t using the MyLowes program to help him
remember which products he used to get his lush lawn.

Lane Bryant, 9/28/12

75 Help Fight Breast Cancer & Show
The Girls You Care
The tongue-in-check “girls” pun in the subject line for this
Breast Cancer Awareness Month email softened a serious
issue with a little humor.

ThinkGeek, 6/21/12

76 ThinkGeek hides $100 in your 525
Geek Points update
As an extra incentive to get loyalty program members to
open this update email, this subject line refers to the
single-use promo code worth $100 off an order that
ThinkGeek hid in the email. [VIEW EMAIL]

Wayfair, 6/11/12

77 Reward the one who never judges
you. Top dog & cat supplies
With this email arriving not coincidentally between
Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, the subject line uses the
setup and punch line delivery of a good one-liner.


78 Dear Lands' End: A Valentine from
Arlene D.
This subject line makes it clear this message is actually one
that someone sent Lands’ End and they’re now sharing
with subscribers. It begs the questions: What made it
worth forwarding? And who is Arlene D.? [VIEW EMAIL]

Dell, 9/11/12

79 Inspiron 15 - $499.99 for the first
1000 customers with this coupon.
While limited-time offers are common, this subject line
incites competitiveness as well as urgency with a limitedquantity offer.

Warby Parker, 12/27/12

80 Time to use your flex spending
account!
Acting like the helpful year-end “use it or lose it” reminder
you should get from your FSA manager but don’t, this
subject line makes you grateful to Warby Parker and
receptive to their suggestions. [VIEW EMAIL]

2013
Hashtags in subject lines went mainstream. Their
inclusion often drives social conversation at the
expense of decreasing email opens slightly.

Feeding America, 12/3/13

81 How will you give back?
#GivingTuesday
As much about starting a conversation as about driving
action, this subject line poses a question and then
supplies a hashtag for subscribers to use when replying
via social media.

Jeep, 9/5/13

82

||||||| Your Jeep newsletter is here.

Using special characters, Jeep creates a very good
representation of their logo, adding great branding to
this subject line.

Vizify, 10/3/13

83 Your bio's been updated. View what's
new.
This subject line starts off using common update
confirmation language, but this email is a notification that
Vizify has automatically updated your bio. Of
course, subscribers will want to know what’s new. [VIEW
EMAIL] TO TWEET: I love subject line #83 from @ExactTarget’s
CLICK

JCPenney, 1/2013

84 Glad You’re Here--Just Open to
Confirm
Something short of the standard double opt-in that
requires a click in the subscription confirmation
email, this one only requires that you open it, as its subject
line makes clear.

ThinkGeek, 1/23/13

85 ThinkGeek's roses are
#FF0000, violets are #0000FF...
Geeking up the staid “roses are red, violets are blue”
rhyme, ThinkGeek used the eye-catching (and possibly
head-scratching) hexadecimal color codes for the two
hues in this subject line.

Kiva, 10/10/13

86 $62.14
Using money and minimalism to create intrigue, the
micro-loan company included the balance for the
recipient’s account in the subject line. [VIEW EMAIL]

Moosejaw, 12/6/13

87 You have $37.90 in Moosejaw
Rewards Points Waiting to be Spent
You’re more likely to shop where you already have money
on the table, and this rewards notification email’s subject
line gives subscribers a compelling reason to wrap up
Cyber Week by making another purchase. [VIEW EMAIL]

NFLshop, 9/29/13

88 Your Patriots Are 4-0! Plus, Free
Shipping on All Patriots Gear
Knowing that team pride helps drive sales, this subject
line leads with the current record for my favorite team—
which I indicated during signup—and then follows with
a promotion.

Carnival Cruise Lines, 1/2013

89 Chad, your vacation fun starts at
$249 (email 1 of 5)
The first email in this 5-email welcome series sets the
expectation right in the subject line to be on the lookout
for four more introductory emails.

Vera Bradley, 7/1/13

90 Summer checklist:

Sarong

Beach Towel...
Tapping into people’s love of checklists, this subject line
lists the first couple of items in one and uses checkmark
special characters to strengthen the effect.

Delta Air Lines, 4/1/13

91

Register.
Spend $50 dining.
Earn 150 miles.

In addition to creating a simple 1-2-3 list, the special
character numbers in this subject line function like
bullet points, allowing the subscriber to more quickly
skim the text.

Vera Bradley, 8/14/13

92 Q. Best accessory? a) lanyards b)
IDs c) wristlets ...
To set the right back-to-school tone, this subject line uses a
multiple-choice question to engage subscribers, taking the
tried-and-true question-based subject line one step further.

Moosejaw, 1/7/13

93 It worked for Obama...
Topical since it was sent shortly before President Obama’s
inauguration, this subject line leaves you wondering what
worked? The email, which mimics the Obama campaign’s
emails, answers the question. [VIEW EMAIL]

ModCloth, 8/29/13

94 FLOTUS-worthy frocks.
In addition to capitalizing on Michelle Obama’s
popularity, this subject line uses the FLOTUS abbreviation
for First Lady of the United States, keeping the text short
while also sparking the curiosity of those unfamiliar with
the CLICK TO TWEET: I love subject line #94 from @ExactTarget’s
term.

Etsy, 3/16/13

95 ROYGBIV
Using the mystery and insiderness of a nonword
acronym, this subject line refers to the color spectrum of
rainbows—Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and
Violet—with the email promoting products in each color.

JCPenney, 11/13/13

96 Pinterest faves for your home for 2050% off!
More aspirational and positive than the post-purchase
reality of a product review, Pinterest provides a great
way to source consumer-selected “favorites,” as JCPenney
does here.

Gap, 4/29/13

97 1 dress, 4 ways to wear it
This subject line promises context for the dress it
promotes. Even if subscribers aren’t interested in the
dress, they may be interested in a new styling tip.

ThinkGeek, 7/31/13

98 We solemnly swear we are up to no
good...
Using a quote from the Harry Potter books, this subject
line connects with fans of the series for this email that
celebrates J.K. Rowling’s birthday.

Wine.com, 12/4/13

99 And our #1 wine is… The Wine.com
100 is here!
More evidence that retailers are finding success with a
content marketing approach, this subject line feels like it’s
promoting a top 100 wines magazine article.

Moosejaw, 11/13/13

100 We lied last time. THESE are the best

Moosejaw jackets ever.
Sounding like a confession, this subject line starts by
admitting they lied—which certainly piques people’s
interest. It then pivots to a product promotion.

We hope these examples have inspired you
to look for your own creative subject line
opportunities.
Remember that…

Content filtering now plays a minor role in
deliverability at major ISPs, so don’t be
afraid to use:
•
•
•
•

punctuation and special characters
all caps
formerly taboo words like “free”
really long or short subject lines

We encourage you to run subject line tests
routinely to discover which approaches
and wordings your subscribers respond to.
And don’t forget that the best subject line is
the one that generates the highest
conversion rate or most sales, not the one
that generates the highest open rate.

Good luck!
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METHODOLOGY:

Subject lines were selected based on their
innovativeness, uniqueness and excellence
as an example of an important trend. The
performance of the subject lines was not a
factor in their selection.

SOURCES:

All subject lines were collected as a part of
ExactTarget Marketing Cloud research into
subject line trends using both personal and
anonymous email accounts.
For more information, visit
exacttarget.com

100 Inspiring Email Subject Lines

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100 Inspiring Email Subject Lines