27 Cold Email Subject Line Examples for Sales

Uzair Rasheed

Publishedat06 November 2022

A cold email is simply an email that is sent out to people with no prior contact. In other words, your first interaction with a stranger.

Cold emails aren't only used for B2B sales and lead generation. There are several other applications for cold email like applying for a job, getting a quote from a business, or just another email seeking information.

However, the most challenging of them all is the Cold email sent out for sales purposes. That can often turn out to be very disappointing and frustrating with an average response rate as low as 1%.

One of the most important factors that decide the success or failure of your cold email campaign is your cold email subject line.

Why is the Subject Line so Important?

It wouldn't be wrong to say that the subject line is the most powerful aspect of your cold emails.

It's the first impression your email will have on the recipient that decides whether your cold email will get opened or not.

Your email content isn't going to do any good if your cold email doesn't even get opened. That's exactly why one must put enough thought into creating a catchy subject line along with the email content.

The average cold email open rate is 20-25%, which in my honest opinion is very low. Don't use boring subject lines mostly used by salespeople with no cold emailing experience. Instead, be creative and try to write a subject line that grabs attention.

In this blog, we are going to give you a complete guide on how to create a great subject line that gets your cold emails opened along with examples just so you can have a better understanding of each section.

What it takes to craft a good subject line

Crafting a good subject line isn't that simple and most email marketers struggle with this.

Avoid writing generic copy-paste cold emails with boring subject lines. Your cold email subject lines should be able to stand out and make your emails look unique.

Your cold email response rate will be directly proportional to the number of recipients that open your cold email and read it

A little thought and creativity while writing a sales email subject line can completely change the outcome of your cold email.

If your subject line can grab your prospects' attention, pique their curiosity, or hit their pain point. Then there is a good chance that your cold email will get opened.

In this blog post, we are going to give you a complete guide on how you can create a sales email subject line that gets your cold emails opened along with examples.

Build a connection with Personalization

You can build a connection immediately and grab your prospect's attention through personalization in your cold email campaigns.

Adding your prospect's first name, location, or company can leave your prospects curious and unsettled. Hence, they would be most likely compelled to open your cold emails.

Personalized cold email subject lines can increase your open rate by 26%. Here are some good examples of personalized subject lines.

1. Are you still working at {{company name}}?

2. Quick question for {{first name}}

3. Let's grab a coffee in {{location}}

Make them curious

According to a Science Focus Study, humans are naturally inquisitive and thirsty for new information.

If you leave your prospect curious with the help of a few words as a subject line and they know that the rest of the information is just a click away, then they would definitely open your cold emails.

Now writing subject lines that induce curiosity needs some creativity and research of course. Finding the right words and information that will make your target audience curious is your job indeed.

All you need to do is find something that resonates with your target audience and their interests and leave the information incomplete.

Here are some curiosity subject lines for email marketers as an example.

1. How David closed 5x more clients in 7 days

2. Did you know this, {{first name}}?

3. One thing that will kill your response rates

Hit their pain points

I have always urged you to do good research on your target audience before writing your emails.

A pain point is simply a problem that your prospects face in their daily life and this problem can drive them to find a new product or solution for it.

Every single prospect has some pain points no matter what service or platform they are using. Finding a big pain point of your target audience and writing it in your subject line can ensure a good cold email open rate.

Here are some great examples of pain point subject lines.

1. Say Goodbye to the Spam folders

2. No need to hire a VA anymore

3. Get your blog posts ranked on the first page

Give Them Free Value

When you don't have any rapport or past interaction with your prospects. One great way to get the cold audience to read your cold emails and bring them into your funnel is to offer free value.

That way you can warm them up, make them familiar with your products, and get them to explore your website.

Here are some examples of cold email subject lines that offer free value.

1. Claim your free credits with {{company name}}

2. Get a free E-book on how to close more deals

3. Your first session with {{your company name}} is on us

Create Urgency and FOMO

Inducing fear of missing out and creating urgency is one great tactic to get your cold emails opened.

Humans get very anxious when they feel that they are missing out on something good. You probably already know how hard is to resist that feeling.

If your cold email subject line implies that your offer is only available for a limited time or your product is running out, then there is a good chance that your target audience will open your emails to learn more.

Some examples of Urgency and FOMO Subject lines are written below.

1. BLACK FRIDAY sale ends tonight

2. Hurry up, only 5 slots left

3. Never going to be on Sale again

Use Numbers to get them opened

Statistics and numbers are proven and tested techniques to grab attention. Numbers stand out in your prospect's inbox and make your cold email look prominent.

Besides, they are one great way to set the expectations of your prospects. If your prospects see a number or percentage that they can achieve or avail with your product, they are more likely to open your cold email.

Subject lines with numbers can have a 45% higher open rate than the average cold email open rate. Here are some examples of catchy subject lines with numbers.

1. 6 figures have never been that easy before

2. 83% of digital marketers don't know this.

3. Increase your CTR by 26.96%

Add a Social Proof

Adding social proof in your email subject lines is one great way to get your cold emails opened. If you have worked with some well-known names, then you should put that name as social proof in your email subject line.

95% of customers check reviews before they make up their minds to try something new. Social proof in subject lines will not only boost your open rates but will also help you close the deals by making your email more effective and credible.

Some examples of subject lines that include testimonials are written below.

1. Here is what {{ Well-known company }} had to say about us

2. {{ Well-known company }} closed 3x more deals with {{ your company }}

3. 2x your workflow efficiency just like {{ Well-known company }}

Add Some Humor

If you look at your email inbox, you will hardly find any subject lines that make you laugh or smile. It's rare to find some B2B cold emails with a funny subject line.

Adding humor is one great way to make your cold emails look unique in your prospect's inbox. If you do it right and make your prospect laugh, then you have already left a great impression before your cold email gets opened.

Writing funny subject lines isn't easy though. You must know your audience and choose your jokes carefully.

I don't have a great sense of humor. Still here are some subject line examples that you might find funny.

1. Hungover from last night? Anyone?

2. Knock Knock

3. Is Spiderman Real?

Evoke their biggest desires

Sometimes playing with greed and desires can help you craft a great subject line. If you understand your target audience well enough then you would know their desires and expectations.

Leading your prospects with something they wish for would most likely get your cold email read. To write a subject line that evokes your prospect's desires, you must do good research and find out exactly what they need.

Here are some great subject line examples that work.

1. Rank {{ company name }} first on google

2. Say goodbye to your 9 to 5

3. From Zero to Inbox Hero

Test your Subject Lines

To find out what works best for your niche, it's always good to do A/B testing with the subject lines you have in your mind.

Subject lines that work well for one group of people wouldn't necessarily work for others too. That's why you should test different subject lines to find out which approach is best for your business.

A/B testing is sending the same email content with different subject lines to see what works. That way you can review your subject lines and see which performs better when considering your cold emails' open rate, bounce rate, and response rate.

Monitor your Cold Email Open rates

To make your cold email campaigns successful, you must know how they are performing. Therefore, you must use a cold emailing tool like Nureply that allows you to see statistics like cold email open rate, response rate, and spam rate.

So you know what's going wrong exactly and needs your attention.

Let's say your cold email open rate is too low, then you know you need to work on your subject lines and make them more compelling.

On the other hand, if your open rate is good enough but your response rate is too low, then you need to work on your email content.

Pro Tip

One easy way to boost your cold email open rate is to use two of the above techniques to craft one subject line.

For instance, you can use curiosity and personalization in one subject line to get a cold email open rate above 70% easily.

Or you can use personalization and pain points to write down a subject line that becomes irresistible for your prospects.

All these techniques are proven and tested for subject lines. However, there is no hard and fast rule to use them as it is. You can be creative around them and make subject lines of your own of course.

Conclusion

Subject lines matter a lot in your cold email campaigns. Spending ample time writing a good subject line is always the advised practice.

Remember your sales emails aren't going to make any difference if they aren't getting opened, therefore you must nail your subject lines.

In this blog post, I have tried to share the tactics that worked for me and lots of others email marketers around. I hope that these strategies will be enough for you to inspire your own sales email subject lines.

If you'd like more information on the ways of writing cold emails you can check out our blog. For access Nureply's amazing features, you can sign up here today.