What's More Important Than A Great Subject Line?

When it comes to getting subscribers to open your email, your subject line isn't the most important variable.

August 09, 2021

In last week’s newsletter, The 9 Types of Subject Lines, I wrote about the different ways you can leverage your subject line to improve your (soon-to-be-obsolete) open rates.

However, there’s something far more important than you subject line when it comes to a subscriber’s willingness to open your emails.

“Everyone is looking for a trick or a gimmick to drive opens and stand out in your inbox…What matters is who sent the email.”

Remember that.

Print it out and pin it to your monitor.

Tattoo it on yours—no, don’t do that.

But understand how important that sentence is.

The email sender’s name is far more important than the catchy subject line you wrote.

Here’s why.

“I automatically delete most big brand emails and I don’t care about the subject line. I open every email from James Clear…”

The 3-2-1 Thursday newsletter by James Clear is read by over 1,000,000 people every week and he’s consistently grown that number for years.

Why?

Because people trust James.

They trust that he’s genuine, smart, and most of all, helpful. They trust that when they open up that email from him every Thursday, there’s going to be 3 short ideas from James, 2 quotes from others, and 1 question for you to ponder.

On a much, much, MUCH smaller scale, I am trying to do the same thing.

My hope is that people want to read my emails because I share helpful insights into how you can create high-converting emails that grow your business.

Reputation builds outside of the inbox

Using James as an example again, his list grew to over 1,000,000 subscribers not just because he writes valuable emails, but because his Twitter and Instagram are 100% on-brand, as is his best-selling book Atomic Habits.

Every time you see James’ content online, you’re learning valuable information.

Therefore, when you see James’ email in your inbox, you’re already primed to open his email knowing that whatever is inside will be valuable.

Whether you’re writing blogs, posting to Instagram, or crafting Tweets, know that people are paying attention. They follow you for a reason and are looking for an excuse to learn more about whatever it is that you do.

If you make it your mission to provide your followers with value on all your platforms, what you write as your subject line will begin to matter less as your emails get read more.

Have a great week, friends.

Cheers,Andrew | @apdonovan1990