What we learned about crafting email subject lines while building an AI feature for the same
How difficult can it be to write an email subject line? An amateur would say, “not much”, but an email marketer would tell you otherwise. Creating a good subject line often takes rephrasing the same thing multiple times, counting the characters to ensure that it's crisp, and guzzling down multiple mugs of coffee by the end of the day and yet feeling like you were unproductive.
At Mailmodo, we know this routine pretty well. This is why an AI subject line generator is the first feature in our AI rollout. We also brushed up our subject line skills while testing the feature and wanted to share a few tricks for making the process a little easier with the help of AI.
Here’re some tips -
#1 Start brainstorming quickly: Email marketing can be a lonely job, and as most of us work remotely, there’s hardly a brainstorming partner. So, it's just you typing away on your laptop, putting it on a doc, and waiting for your manager to review it.
But you don’t have to wait for huddles and class to give you some ideas and briefs. With a single click, you can get 5+ ideas to get your brain cells running. Some tips to help you get multiple ideas through advanced options on AI:
Mention any words or phrases you don't want to use in the subject lines.
If there’s a fact, context, or statistic that you want in the subject line, specify it in the prompt.
You can also mention the number of words that you want the AI subject line generator to stick to.
#2 Address each segment differently in the email subject lines: Good email marketers optimize the send time of their emails, and great email marketers also write a unique subject line for each segment. Sending an email blast to people in the 18-24 age group? Try using their pop culture reference. Pitching an article to a journalist? Maybe it's time to use a formal tone in your subject lines.
But we all know our managers. It isn’t so simple. You must write multiple options for each tone and segment, and ensure they’re good. While writing them manually is possible, it is extremely frustrating. This is where AI enters.
With AI, you can generate multiple options for each within seconds. It saves you time and helps you move on to other tasks quickly.
#3 Use it to edit your existing subject lines: Have a subject line that you already like but want a few more variations? Use AI to regurgitate the same thing differently and pick the one you find the best. AI can go beyond paraphrasing - you can also get it to write the same subject line in different tones. Try this prompt -
“ Read this subject line - “(enter a subject line)” - and rewrite it. Keep the word count to 7 and refrain from using negative words.”
We tried all of these tricks on ChatGPT and other AI tools before trying it out on Mailmodo’s AI subject line generator. We also ensured that you could pick 4 different ones and multiple personalization parameters on Mailmodo’s AI so that users can use it easily without opening any other tool. You can sign up and check it out here.
We leave you with a final tip - an AI tool is as good as your prompts. So learn to train it perfectly and watch it become your biggest ally. If you've any thoughts or feedback, do share with us in the comments.