{"id":1814,"date":"2017-09-19T05:58:56","date_gmt":"2017-09-19T09:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techrhet.com\/3213\/?page_id=1814"},"modified":"2021-04-19T14:21:47","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T18:21:47","slug":"writing-effective-subject-lines","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/techrhet.com\/3213\/notes\/writing-effective-subject-lines\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing Effective Subject Lines"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Contents & Navigation<\/div>\n
why subject lines are important<\/a><\/div>\n
subject lines \u2248 purpose<\/a><\/div>\n
clarity, specificity, conciseness<\/a><\/div>\n
avoid<\/a><\/div>\n
tips +<\/a><\/div>\n
letter subject lines<\/a><\/div>\n
all correspondence \u3009<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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read more on<\/div>\n
Writing Effective Subject Lines<\/div>\n

15 Tips For Writing An Excellent Email Subject Line<\/a>, from Business Insider<\/em><\/p>\n

18 tips for writing an excellent subject line so your email gets read<\/a>, from Business Insider<\/em><\/p>\n

Write a meaningful subject line<\/a>, from Dennis Jerz’s Literacy Weblog <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Don’t Put Your Name in the Subject Line<\/div>\n

Since emails arrive in recipients’ inboxes with the sender’s name, there’s no need to put your name in the email subject line (it’s redundant).<\/p>\n

Since memos include the sender’s name in the “From” area, there’s no need to put your name in the memo subject line.<\/p>\n

Since letters are signed at the bottom, there’s no need to put your name in the letter subject line.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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No “Please Reply” or “Please Respond”<\/div>\n

Don’t write Please Reply<\/em>, Please Respond<\/em>, or Please Read<\/em> in your subject line.<\/p>\n

You should assume the recipient will read your message… as long as you’ve provided a subject line that indicates you’re asking for info, requesting some action, etc.<\/p>\n

Instead of Please Reply<\/em>, consider Info Needed for [whatever]<\/em>. Instead of Please Respond<\/em>, consider Request Total Cost of [whatever]<\/em>, etc.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

While we usually associate subject lines with emails, subject lines are required for memos and are often included in letters1<\/a><\/sup>. While most of the content below refers to email subject lines, almost all of the guidelines apply to memo and letter subject lines, too.<\/p>\n

Subject lines are particularly important because of how audiences use them. Often, an audience member will decide to read, or not read, a document based on its subject line alone. If the subject line doesn’t appeal to the reader, she or he may assume the content of the message doesn’t apply to them (or isn’t important to them).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span>\u2305<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

Why Are Subject Lines Important?<\/h3>\n

Do you open every single email you receive? Probably not. Most of us ignore or immediately delete emails that we aren’t interested in or don’t feel compelled to open.<\/p>\n

When you write emails, you probably want something to happen as a result of your email.<\/p>\n