Is it more important to have a short or long subject line?
The answer to this is not I think simply a yes or no. The answer depends on what the email is setting out to do and who the target audience is. Business emails that are sent out to many recipients can be many different types, all of which serve valid purposes. There is the email update or email newsletter type email, there is the sales or product focused email, there is the news alert or news release type email. So let's have a look at the differences:
The newsletter/email update
The major purpose of this type of email - particularly for B2B and professional services types of businesses - is simply to remind recipients of your existence and your expertise. If you are able to provide your readers, clients and prospects alike, with useful information, you become a trusted source of information and advice, and when they are ready to use your expertise, they know where to find you. The purpose is less to directly sell your services than to reinforce your expertise and enhance your credibility.
With these types of email, the subject line needs to be as long as necessary to convey all the items in the email the reader might be interested in, to encourage them to open and read it. The online business news website Smartcompany does this with their daily news emails - their subject lines are always very long, but informative when you're scanning your inbox.
The answer to this is not I think simply a yes or no. The answer depends on what the email is setting out to do and who the target audience is. Business emails that are sent out to many recipients can be many different types, all of which serve valid purposes. There is the email update or email newsletter type email, there is the sales or product focused email, there is the news alert or news release type email. So let's have a look at the differences:
The newsletter/email update
The major purpose of this type of email - particularly for B2B and professional services types of businesses - is simply to remind recipients of your existence and your expertise. If you are able to provide your readers, clients and prospects alike, with useful information, you become a trusted source of information and advice, and when they are ready to use your expertise, they know where to find you. The purpose is less to directly sell your services than to reinforce your expertise and enhance your credibility.
With these types of email, the subject line needs to be as long as necessary to convey all the items in the email the reader might be interested in, to encourage them to open and read it. The online business news website Smartcompany does this with their daily news emails - their subject lines are always very long, but informative when you're scanning your inbox.