B2B email marketing success comes down to one thing: your email subject lines. They're your first shot at making an impression on your email recipients – and your only chance to stand out in a crowded inbox.
If you’re stuck with low open rates, you’re not alone. The average B2B email open rate is only 15%,1 so there’s a lot riding on how well your email subject lines perform. Unfortunately, crafting catchy B2B subject lines isn’t always easy, and what works for B2C marketers might not attract your audience’s attention. Read on for our top six tips on writing B2B email subject lines that boost open rates.
Tip #1: Keep Email Subject Lines Concise
Long email subject lines literally get cut off, especially on mobile devices. And since 41% of email views come from mobile users,2 focus on keeping your subject lines short and to the point. On average, inboxes viewed on desktops display about 60 characters, while mobile devices only show around 30 to 40 characters. Think about where your prospects are reading their emails, and find the subject line sweet spot.
Examples:
- 4 tips for a smooth VoIP rollout
- Moving to the cloud? We can help
- Better cyber security today
Tip #2: Create Urgency
Time sensitivity is a big factor in how people prioritize their inboxes, so creating urgency (when appropriate) is a tried-and-true tactic to boost open rates. Limited-time offers and incentives are a great way to capture your prospects’ attention and nudge them further down the funnel. But be careful not to annoy your prospects with constant urgent requests by overusing this strategy.
Examples:
- Don’t panic about your 2023 tech budget (yet)
- One last chance to get expert IT help
- Take a sneak peek at our new video (today only!)
Tip #3: Pique Curiosity With Creative Subject Lines
Some of the best B2B subject lines are teasers. Create a little mystery by hinting at your topic without giving away too much about what’s inside. By dropping breadcrumbs, you can pique your prospects’ natural curiosity to the point where they want to open the email to get the full details. But while you want to keep the subject line enigmatic, it shouldn’t be too obscure (or spammy!).
Examples:
- You’re the first to know
- Question for you…
- Cyber scared or cyber secure?
Tip #4: Make Sure Your B2B Subject Lines Are Relevant
One of the surest ways to earn unsubscribes is to make false promises in your subject lines. While your email subject line has to entice prospects to open, it still needs to be relevant to the rest of the email. Don't promise more than you'll deliver in the body of your email since your audience will learn not to trust your subject lines – and, by extension, your business.
Examples:
- Idea to make your IT management 100x easier
- Cloud services *are* in your budget – here’s why
- Upgrade your tech (without shutting down your biz)
Tip #5: Add Value
Keep your prospects’ pain points in mind when writing B2B subject lines. Chances are, your offering can help your telecom, IT, and tech customers reach their goals faster or free up their time to focus on business growth. Consider how you'll improve your prospects' lives and center your message around offering value rather than being self-promotional.
Examples:
- Ditch your data management headaches 🤕
- We’ve got answers to your hybrid workforce questions
- Stop losing money (and sleep) on cyber attacks
Tip #6: Personalize Your Email Subject Lines
People want to know they aren’t just a number to your business. Using personalization tokens in your subject lines (when possible) is a great way to show that you’re interested in the person behind the potential sale. In fact, research shows that emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened,3 so make sure you’re gathering accurate contact data.
Examples:
- {name}, did you see this?
- You’re missing out, {name}
- {name}, wave goodbye 👋 to network outages
If you’re still struggling to write that perfect email subject line, Mojenta can help. We’ve managed email marketing campaigns for B2B tech, IT, telecom, and cloud companies for over a decade, and we’d love to help you thrive too. Reach out to us today to get started with effective email marketing that drives growth.
Sources:
- https://dma.org.uk/article/email-benchmarking-report-2018
- https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/email-marketing-stats
- https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/email-marketing-new-rules/
