An email subject line is one of the most important parts of the email newsletter. According to a research by Superoffice, 33% of email recipients open an email based on the subject line. Here are a few tried and tested ways to improve your email subject lines and get the open rates up when preparing spring email campaigns.
A question in the subject line is the easiest way to spark interest.
Even when we know the answer to the question, our brains still want to confirm we’re right. By putting a question in the subject line, you make it so that the only way for your subscribers to confirm the answer is to open the email. The subject line should set expectations and then the email copy itself should fulfill them.
The best questions to provoke curiosity are ones in between the clickbait type and the vague/generic one. Here are some of the good examples from real marketing newsletters:
”Curiosity killed the cat”, but it can help your marketing emails get opened.
The mechanic behind curiosity email subject lines is that they play with our innate desire for knowledge that makes subscribers want to open your email to learn more.
The trick is to leave out just enough information to create a sense of intrigue and pique people’s curiosity.
Emojis add an emotional nuance to otherwise flat text, can be used to replace words in a sentence and give a twist to otherwise boring phrase. They have become an integral part of all forms of digital communication, including email marketing newsletters.
Emojis can also stand out in your subscribers’ crowded inboxes.
Relevance is about things that matter to people right now.
What is relevant to your subscribers in spring? Spring cleaning, the start of the gardening season, celebrations, and sales that come with Easter, Women’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Mother’s Day, and so on. For each of these, there are products that can satisfy your customers’ current needs.
Here is some research backing this up:
Exclamation points, periods, and question marks are all part of a healthy email marketing strategy. Punctuation can help you better transmit the meaning, but at the same time, it needs to be used sparingly and only where it makes sense.
Exclamation mark. Use it to show that a particular sale or announcement is special, and when you want to tell your reader: “The deal inside is so good, we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss it”.
Dunkin’ in the example below used the exclamation mark to underline the “twice the cards” offer, and it did a good job at transmitting how good of a deal that is.
Question mark. Use it only when your subject line is a genuine question, and avoid using two or more in a row.
Another way to use question marks is like in this example from Fatty 15 — as a part of a subject line followed by a strong “Yes, please!”
Full stop. A period does affect the open rates, but to achieve the best results, you shouldn’t use it often.
Mailchimp research suggests it’s best to use no more than 3 punctuation marks per subject line — too many punctuation marks could make it look like spam, especially if you are using multiple special symbols like $, %, or & in the same subject line.
Email subject lines with numbers have higher than average open and reply rates, based on Yesware analysis:
Personalization could mean using the recipient’s name or referencing something else about them: the category of products they ordered before (i.e., books in a detective genre or office-style clothing out of other offered styles), or them owning an Apple laptop, or referencing specific newsletter categories they are subscribed to.
It is important because the studies suggest that the presence or absence of personalization influences people’s decisions — 72% of customers only engage with emails tailored to their interests.
Here are 200+ examples of the best spring email subject lines for Easter, Women’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, and other holidays and events, along with tips that make them work.
Sometimes it seems like holidays closely follow each other, and when one sale ends, another sale starts. But that’s not entirely true, and you need to promote your products even without special occasions. Here’s an example of a general subject line for a spring marketing campaign:
From: Great Jones
Subject line: Your spring cheat sheet
Spring promotion is most often tied to a particular event, which means its subject line references that event. But you can also run a seasonal sale and tie it to the spring itself (i.e., a clothes shop might hold a spring sale to unload last year’s collection). Gather your creative marketing energy, and try an original way to promote your products with a catchy sale subject line.
From: Tattly
Subject line: Get Ready for Spring with 30% Off
Every year on the 8th of March we celebrate women’s achievements and a growing awareness of gender equality. Women’s Day is an awesome opportunity for marketers and businesses to show that they care about more than just selling the product.
Consider these Women’s Day-specific tips to write email subject lines for your campaigns:
From: Saucey
Subject line: it’s International Women’s Day 💙
St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated annually on March 17th, which is believed to be the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. Originating from Ireland, it is now celebrated all over the world, especially throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia.
It is a perfect opportunity to launch a St. Patrick’s Day email marketing campaign — people love holidays and celebrations, and it’s an opportunity to tap into that affection.
These tips could help you write great St. Patrick’s Day email subject lines:
From: Harry’s
Subject line: #SAVETHESTOUT
1st of April is a celebration of Fools’ Day — in other words, an opportunity to make a creative marketing campaign. Some companies make brilliant use of it — like this prank about YouTube being shut down — so much so that people still remember it almost a decade later.
April Fools’ Day pranks and jokes shouldn’t be malicious or offensive, so there is a thin line to walk if you decide to actually play a trick instead of just playing off the words. Remember that your primary goal is to promote products and don’t cross the line.
Quartz in the example below brilliantly hooked the readers with the subject line, then went on to explain what they mean by it and that it was a joke.
From: Quartz
Subject line: April Fools’ is canceled
There is no need to force yourself to make a joke or come up with a smart prank. There are multiple types of marketing campaigns you could run. Here are some of April Fool’s email ideas for your inspiration.
Easter is a very lucrative holiday for many companies from a business standpoint. Although it is not as widely celebrated as Christmas or Mother’s Day, it is ahead of Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day, and Halloween in terms of sales. An average of $192.01 per person was expected to be spent on Easter-related items in 2023.
If we put the religious part of it aside, Easter is a holiday centered around giving gifts and family gatherings. Also, customers are used to having an Easter sale no matter the products.
Consider taking advantage of these points when you’ll be crafting email subject lines for Easter email marketing:
From: Fairytale Brownies
Subject line: Crack into these savings. 🐣 15% off Easter & Happy Spring gifts.
Preheader: Fairytale Brownies Shipping Included, No Minimum > Morsels in Easter Eggs S
The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970, and by 1990, it was an event honored by more than 140 countries around the globe. Every year on April 22nd, more than a billion people come together to raise awareness about environmental issues and to protect the planet from pollution, deforestation, and the like.
Earth Day is a great opportunity for marketers to speak about their company’s contribution to the fight against climate change, and to show that their overall values and mission reflect their customers’ environmental concerns. The email could also speak about specific steps the company took — as Supergoop did in the example below.
From: Supergoop
Subject line: A message for Earth Day
Preheader: Our progress towards circular sustainability
Cinco De Mayo, or “5th of May” origin is a celebration of the victory of the Mexican army over France in the Battle of Puebla in 1862 during the Franco-Mexican conflict. It turned into a day of Mexican culture and heritage over time and is nowadays accompanied by email campaigns, special vouchers, and celebratory greetings.
The emails and their subject lines bring in the Mexican origin of the holiday. They can also be playful or promote certain products or special deals.
From: Bonefish Grill
Subject line: Let’s Taco ’bout Cinco de Mayo
Preheader: CELEBRATE Cinco de Mayo at Bonefish Grill all weekend!
International Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May and is a chance for people to show appreciation for the mothers in our lives. It is a major retail holiday when brands compete for consumers’ attention, with Mother’s Day email marketing taking a big part in it.
The email subject lines in Mother’s Day campaigns appeal to sentiments that people have towards their mothers.
From: Nuts
Subject line: The 🔑To Mother’s Day Is…
Preheader: Bake Your Way To Mom’s Heart Shop Now
Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the US that is meant to honor and mourn the US military personnel who have died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May, and sales on this day give businesses quite a boost.
Common features of many Memorial Day email subject lines are expressing gratitude or playing off the military theme. Because the weather is getting better at the end of May, grills and other outdoor party equipment become relevant, both offline and in email subject lines.
From: Joy Organics
Subject line: Memorial Day – 20% Off!
Spring email subject lines don’t have to be too clever or creative. Consider trying out these techniques when crafting subject lines for your next campaign:
Spring has plenty of opportunities to tie your marketing campaign to — spring cleaning, Easter, Women’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, April Fools’, Mother’s Day, and more. With the right approach, your spring email subject lines can help you connect with your subscribers and drive more engagement and sales for your business.
Wondering how you can create and send all of these spring emails on time? Use automation to schedule your campaigns and send different offers to different customers. Try Selzy for free to test many effective automation workflows like welcome series, reminders and countdowns, and more. Plus, Selzy has 20 integrations to make your process even more smooth!
This article was originally published in April 2023 and was updated in February 2024 to make it more relevant and comprehensive.
