I’ve got a New (Fiscal) Year resolution: to construct email subject lines that help people decide to read them or how to file them.
- If a response is required, I’ll start the subject with Response Needed:
- If my subject line is in danger of making people think they don’t need to read further, I will use the phrase –keep reading at the end or consider crafting a second email instead (example: No meeting today – keep reading) to indicate that there’ll be no meeting, but I’d still like committee members to do something.
- If I’m sending a report or notes from a meeting, I’ll say so in the subject line, preferably in the first word of it
- Rather than just a noun in the subject line, I’ll put something more revealing, containing a verb; in general, I’ll try to give the reader the idea that reading the subject is not enough, that there is unknown information that the reader will feel compelled to click no. Ex.: Bring a t-shirt for silkscreening at MOBIUS or New Rules for t-shirts at MOBIUS instead of just t-shirts at MOBIUS
Anyone else have subject line advice to share?
Submitted by Rachel Brekhus