b2b cold email subject lines

B2B Cold Email Subject Lines: Do’s and Don’ts

Writing cold emails and getting any kind of response is incredibly difficult, and it’s often a frustrating process. You don’t have a prior relationship with your email recipients you can rely on to give you hope for a response, and because you’ve not interacted with them before, your email may likely be lost in their spam or junk folders, never to be seen.

So how then can you write cold emails that actually get opened and incite a response from your B2B recipients? Well, you do it by using strong B2B cold email subject lines that hook your reader’s curiosity and make them want to know more.

Cold email subject lines are no joke–they’re incredibly difficult to get right, so to help you out, we’ve put together a list of five key tips you should consider to make sure you get the maximum click and response rates from your audiences.

Don’t Be Specific

When you list out specifics in your B2B cold email subject lines, you destroy some of the mystery that prompts readers to open your emails. And if readers aren’t opening your emails, you can be sure they’re not responding either, meaning that any effort you put into the rest of the message is worthless to that recipient.

When you keep your subject lines broad and more vague, you invite readers in by playing to their curiosity. Give them generic but relevant hints about what your email is about to increase your click and response rates.

b2b cold email subject lines

Do Personalize Your Subject Lines

One of the most significant advantages businesses reap by using human cold email writers instead of automated services is the ability to have personalized copy. This doesn’t just mean copy that is created with your business’s specific needs in mind, but rather copy that is made personal to your readers.

Human writers have the ability to gauge an audience and determine what angles they can use to appeal to their ideal customers instead of sticking to more general subjects that may apply to a wider range of people but don’t bring in the business you need. 

Don’t Be Click-Baity

When you’re drafting a catchy, vague subject line and avoiding specificity, make sure that you’re not also alienating your audience by coming across as click-baity. This can happen if you’re not setting your readers’ expectations properly with your subject line. In fact, they may feel cheated or disappointed by your email’s contents and avoid your emails in the future.

Instead, use your subject line to set your tone and increase curiosity while remaining relevant to the body of your email.

Do Write Subject Lines You’d Want to Open

This should be a rather obvious piece of advice, but make sure you’re writing B2B cold email subject lines that you would actually want to open.

b2b cold email subject lines

Whenever you type a new B2B cold email subject line, take a second to consider it separate from anything you know about the email’s contents. Do you like the subject line? Would it inspire you to click through and read the full email message? Does it make you want to reply to the sender?

If you answer no to any of these questions, take the time to consider alternative options that may be more appealing to your readers. After all, they’re going to be far less invested in your copy than you are, and if you’re not even attracted to your own email subject lines, what reason do they have to care about your emails?

Don’t Be Selfish

Your prospective readers and customers probably don’t care about your company. No matter how often you throw your branding and company name in your emails, that’s not going to change. In fact, when you start an email relationship with your customers by putting your brand name or featured products in your subject lines, you lose one of your best marketing advantages before your email is even opened.

b2b cold email subject lines

One of the best ways businesses like yours engage others is by making them the hero of your marketing story. This is done when businesses are able to mention problems their customers face and then empathetically tell the customer how they can solve the problem themselves. 

By keeping your customer the main character in your advertising, you’re able to play to their desire to be their own heroes, and you become something of a guide to help navigate them through their problem-solving – typically through the use of your business’s products or services.

In B2B cold email subject lines, this means that you need to establish that you’re not the hero of this story and your customer is. Don’t mention your brand or products in the subject line as this tells your customers from the beginning that the message will be about you and your desire to push products, increase click rates, or whatever else you’re trying to accomplish.

Note that this same strategy should also apply to any other form of copy you write for your customers including white papers, blog articles, ebooks, webinars, and more.

Key Takeaways

There are many factors you need to consider when you’re drafting B2B cold email subject lines if you want it to be successful at drawing readers in. Make sure you keep the lines vague and to the point, don’t bog readers down with specificity that ruins their curiosity. Personalize content however you can to appeal to your niche audience rather than casting an unrealistically wide net over the internet.

Further, you need to make sure you can do this without coming across as click-baity. Clickbait may inspire readers to click your email the first time, but if you can’t meet their expectations in your content, they won’t trust you moving forward. 

Finally, write cold email subject lines that you want to read yourself and don’t be selfish with your content. Don’t make your advertising story about you–instead, make your customers your hero and guide them through how your product or service can help them help themselves. 

For more tips and tricks on writing the best B2B cold email subject lines, don’t wait–contact WriterArmy today!

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