Subject Line Mistakes to Avoid in Your Emails

(Last Updated On: February 4, 2023)

Subject line 5 times more important

subject lineSo, you have an amazing idea to present to the world by email. Avoid making subect line mistakes.

Advertising legend David Ogilvy once gave an interesting statistic. He said that the number of people who read your subject line is five times greater than the number who read the body. According to the email experts at AWeber, these are 5 subject line mistakes to avoid.

1. Using all caps or too much punctuation

HOW TO CREATE AN ANIMATED GIF!!!!!!! People will ignore it or delete it. All caps will come across as though you are yelling.

Avoid too much punctuation. Special characters can even trigger spam filters.

Using one only of the following is good: period, exclamation point and question mark. They can actually lead to increased open rates.

Click here to learn more.

2. Avoid spam filters

subject lineSpam filters may recognize certain symbols or words in subject lines. Even if your message is legitimate, you can still be filtered.

Avoid $$$, 100% free, cash off, cheap, weight loss and serious cash. Go to this HubSpot post: The Ultimate List of Email SPAM Trigger Words.

3. Too long

subject lineWith so many of us getting so many emails, we scan the subject lines. If it does not look worth our while, we delete it.

You have only a second or two to attract their attention. Have it a maximum of 50 characters long.

At the same time, it must express a complete thought and add value to the reader. Avoid one-word subject lines. They probably could not express a complete thought.

subject lineConsider this subject line. Why is it a good one?

  • Less than 50 words
  • Sense of mystery in the word “secrets”
  • Punctuation (exclamation mark) at the end
  • None of the spam words above
  • It expresses one complete thought

4. Writing misleading content

Suppose you get an email with this subject line: 5 secrets for making amazing animated GIFs! When you open it, the main thing you see is message trying to sell you some software.

The sender should know this: When sending emails to people in your list, one of the main things to do is build trust. Then, it will be much easier to sell the people something at a later date.

This subject line did the opposite.

5. Including spelling & grammatical errors

Spelling & grammar  errors look unprofessional. They can cause people to lose trust in you. So, before sending, check email for spelling, grammar & syntax errors.

Email marketing & the subject line

When email marketing, please remember the second paragraph in this blog post: Your subject line is 5 times as important as the content of your email. Without a compelling subject line, your email likely will not get read.

In the next little while, look at this list of 5 mistakes before writing your subject lines.




Peter Enns has been developing websites since 1996. He is a social media blogger and author of the free YouTube video-creation tutorial called 7 Day YouTube.

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VideoGuy Enns

Author: VideoGuy

I've been a professional educator for years. Right now I'm creating short tutorials about many facets of video creation.

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