Never say Thx

May 9, 2009 | 4 Comments

improve your subject lines

Next time you write an email, take an extra two seconds to write a descriptive, clear subject line that explains what the email is about.

Examples of horrible, time wasting subject lines:
- website
- my flight
- meeting
- Pls review
- Status?
- Thx

Here are those same subject lines, improved:
- So many orders…Our website is down!
- Confirmed MSP to LGA this Friday – arrive 10:20pm
- Friday meeting with Ms. Alba – Les Halles or Bridge Cafe?
- Please review this Gladwell article and reply by EOD
- Status update on Rodriguez steroid story? (due 3pm today)
- Thanks for speaking at our conference – rave reviews

If you do email marketing, check out this study by MailChimp.

We all receive far too much email. When people check their emails on a mobile device, they may only see the start of a subject line, not the whole thing. So you need clear and concise subject lines that describe the content.

If you respect the recipient (and if you don’t, you’re a spammer), take the extra two seconds to write a quality subject line that will help the receiver identify and understand the email.

Thx.

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  • http://leader4hire.net Justin McCullough

    Email lives and dies by the subject line.

    I'd also add that if you can make your email short(er), you should. And… Just because you are replying to a person who wrote the email on a blackberry or iPhone doesn't mean you should respond with choppy broken sentences. The intent is to communicate… clearly.

    Nice post Clay.

    Regards,
    Justin

  • http://www.ubervu.com/conversations/dailysense.com/2009/05/09/never-say-thx/ uberVU – social comments

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by clayhebert: @adamostrow cc:, bcc: and subject lines. I can’t believe how many people use horrible subject lines. http://bit.ly/4yTiBa...

  • http://twitter.com/clayhebert @clayhebert

    Excellent points, Justin. Generally the shorter an email the better. Clear, concise communication is the key. You're spot on. Thanks for the comment.

  • Andrew Schneider

    Nice! The subject is everything! Here's an article (old, but good) that I send all my teams when I am starting a new project:http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/4438.html