What Makes a Great Cold Email Subject Line?

When you open your email, the first thing that you will always notice is the subject line.

For some, crafting a few words onto the beginning of your email is easy.

And it is true though, especially if you are not thinking about, engaging your prospects, converting them, or simply trying not to land on spam. 

So what makes a great cold email subject line? And how can you utilize this for your email advantage?

1. Curiosity

Curiosity may kill the cat, but satisfaction will always bring it back. Sparking the curiosity of your potential prospects is a powerful and an effective motivator. Hence, crafting a subject line that will make your recipient wonder will most likely compel them to open an email. 

You can either use teasers or questions that may capture the attention and interest of your prospect without the risk of being too vague or being too informative.

Examples:

• “Have you seen this case study?”
• “Do you have this issue with your company?”
• “You won’t believe what we’ve discovered”

2. Brevity (Under 50 Characters)

Most professionals will allocate some time of their day reading emails, and most of these emails will contain something that they need in their business, work or even personal life. 

However, it doesn’t mean that they will dedicate their whole day reading those emails. They will usually check the subject lines and confirm if the email will be worth their time. Keeping your subject line to at least 50 characters — or no more than 7 words — is an ideal length that will make your email fully visible and scannable. 

Tip: Try using power words that convey urgency or excitement in as few words as possible.

3. Relevance to the Recipient

 Creating a sales persona can help you focus on the important characteristics, behaviors, and challenges of your ideal customers allowing you to develop personalized sales pitches, predict objections, and close deals effectively.

Using this, you can search for your ideal persona and create a subject line that should speak directly to the recipient’s needs or pain points. This is because when they see something that addresses their business or goals, they’ll feel the need to open it. 

4. Personalization

It can be as simple as mentioning their name, company, or something specific. Since cold email outreach is more likely to be sent out in a bulk email marketers will use an email template to exercise efficiency.

Others will also resort to automation tools, such as Anybiz provides an AI sales agent that is capable of multi-channel outreach LinkedIn, AI cold calls, and of course, email. 

Using its large database of over 400 million prospects Anybiz doesn’t fail to ensure that each of your emails are personalized to the ideal prospect. 

The AI agent can be customized to ensure that your messages feel personalized, increasing your chance to obtain a successful business campaign. 

• Messaging Tab: Select the type of message you want to send. You can personalize email introduction or its follow-up, depending on the prospect’s engagement level.
  
  
  • Note: You can also customize LinkedIn messages
    
    
• Language Tab: You can choose any language you think your prospect is more comfortable with, making your prospects feel like you’ve taken the time to understand their language and culture.
  
  
• Tone of Voice: You can choose from:
  
  
  • Formal 
  • Professional
  • Friendly

Part of this advantage is you can personalize your subject lines to stand out more in a crowded inbox. Mention their name, company, or something specific that you’ve noticed about them to show that this email is not a generic blast.

Example:
“[First Name], I saw your post on LinkedIn—let’s chat about [specific topic].”

5. No Spammy Language

Subject lines with all caps, excessive punctuation, or words like “free” and “urgent” can trigger spam filters. Keep it professional and avoid overused terms that scream “sales pitch.”

Example:
Instead of “FREE Training!!”, go for “How to Boost Your Sales Team’s Performance.”

High-Converting Subject Lines by Use Case

The best cold email subject lines are tailored to the specific context of the outreach. Whether you’re reaching out to a prospect, booking a meeting, or pitching a partnership, you need a subject line that resonates with the recipient. Here are some attention-grabbing subject line for different use cases and help you get an increase in your open rate:

🧊 General Cold Outreach

1. Quick question about [Company Name]
   
   
2. Hey! We saw your post on LinkedIn
   
   
3. Do you have this issue at [Company Name]?
   
   
4. Have you considered this for your [department/strategy]?
   
   
5. [First Name], a quick tip for [Company Name]
   
   
6. Can we talk about [specific problem]?
   
   
7. A better way to handle [problem]
   
   
8. Are you open to [solution] for [problem]?
   
   
9. Why [Company Name] needs [solution] right now
   
   
10. [Company Name] + [Your Product]: A perfect fit?
    
    

💰 Sales Pitches

1. Save 20% on [Problem Solution]
   
   
2. Let’s double your leads this quarter
   
   
3. How we helped [Competitor] grow by 50%
   
   
4. Want to increase your sales by [X]% in 3 months?
   
   
5. A strategy that boosted [Company]’s sales by 30%
   
   
6. [Company Name], ready to scale your [specific department]?
   
   
7. A new solution to grow your [business/department]
   
   
8. Could this [strategy/solution] increase your [metric] by 40%?
   
   
9. Let’s talk about growing your [business area]
   
   
10. I’d love to show you how we’ve helped [Competitor Name]
    
    

🤝Partnership or Collaboration

1. Let’s build something together
   
   
2. Potential partnership idea for [Company Name]
   
   
3. [Company Name], interested in collaborating?
   
   
4. Collaboration opportunity for [Company Name]
   
   
5. Building partnerships in [industry]
   
   
6. Let’s work together to improve [specific process]
   
   
7. How can we collaborate to solve [problem]?
   
   
8. [Your Company] + [Their Company]: Let’s partner up
   
   
9. Can we partner on [project/solution]?
   
   
10. How our partnership could drive results for you
    

Freelancers/Consultants

1. Need help with [Pain Point]?
   
   
2. Spotted something you could fix
   
   
3. Here’s how I can help with [Specific Task]
   
   
4. A solution for [problem] that you’re facing
   
   
5. Want to streamline your [process/task]?
   
   
6. I have a few suggestions for improving your [area]
   
   
7. [First Name], let me help you with [problem]
   
   
8. Let’s solve [problem] together
   
   
9. [Company Name] could really benefit from this solution
   
   
10. I noticed an opportunity at [Company Name]
    

Test-Based

1. This subject line got 78% open rate
   
   
2. A/B test winner: try this line
   
   
3. How we helped [Company Name] with [problem]
   
   
4. tested subject line, now it’s your turn
   
   
5. Why this strategy works for [industry]
   
   
6. This simple tweak improved our open rate by 40%
   
   
7. Our clients love this, and I think you will too
   

Cold Email Subject Line Formulas

Using tried-and-tested formulas can help you craft compelling subject lines in no time. Here are a few formulas to follow:

• “[First Name], quick idea for [goal]”
  Perfect for personalizing while offering value up front.
  
  
• “You + Me = Better [results]?”
  This formula uses curiosity and a bit of intrigue to get them to open.
  
  
• “How [famous company] solved [pain point]”
  Social proof can be a powerful motivator, especially when you mention a well-known brand.
  
  
• “How to [solve problem] in [X days]”
  Offers a time-bound solution that sounds irresistible.
  
  
• “A simple way to [desired result]”
  This keeps it simple, showing them a quick path to the benefit.
  

Subject Lines to Avoid

Not all subject lines are created equal. Some can hurt your chances of getting your email opened, or even send it straight to spam. Avoid these common mistakes:

1. “RE:” when there’s no reply chain
   Misleading subject lines often make prospects feel like they’re being tricked into opening.
   
   
2. ALL CAPS
   Writing in all caps comes off as too aggressive and is often flagged as spam.
   
   
3. Too vague or generic
   Phrases like “Let’s connect” or “Important information” don’t give enough detail about what’s inside.
   
   
4. Overused lines (e.g., “Can I steal a minute?”)
   These are tired and can make you sound insincere. Be original to stand out.
   
   

Cold Email Performance Checklist

Before you hit send on your cold email, use this checklist to make sure everything is in tip-top shape:

• Subject Line Preview Tool (Mobile & Desktop):
  Ensure that your subject line is visible and not cut off, especially on mobile devices.
  
  
• Emoji Test (Yes or No for Your Audience):
  Some audiences respond well to emojis, others don’t. Test to see what works best.
  
  
• Spam Word Scan:
  Check your subject line for potential spam trigger words that could prevent your email from reaching the inbox.
  
  

How Anybiz can Help

Cold emailing doesn’t have to be a guessing game. With the right strategies, tools, and subject lines, you can increase your chances of getting noticed and getting a response.

Anybiz is the ideal AI sales agent that not only can support you by finding the right prospect, but can ensure that each of your potential customers can engage with your product. 

It has one of the biggest personal lists that can help you acquire the right leads at the right moment. You can outreach up to 8,000 monthly leads using its multichannel marketing and engagement system of email, LinkedIn and AI cold calls; each can be leveraged depending on the engagement triggers. Here’s how:

• For Email
  
  

Email will be the preliminary contact during the outreach process. Since it institutes a more timely and non-forceful approach. 

• Email is one of the channels that will allow your potential prospects to think about, and when they respond that means you got what they need, which gives you the opportunity to improve your lead generation.
  
  
• After ensuring that the initial contact is successful the AI agent will send an automated follow-up email. The contents may vary based on how the AI agent classified your potential prospect on its engagement level — interested, having buying intent or already requesting for a price.
  
  
  • One of the key differences between  Anybiz and other AI tools is that Anybiz ensures that you present your business with utmost professionalism with the customized landing page. The AI agent will generate the designs automatically giving you the proper edge to showcase your unique selling proposition.
    
    
  • By classifying their behavior, engagement level and characteristics the AI agent will then segment your prospect allowing a targeted communication providing you a better, faster and more effective way of closing deals faster.
    
    
• For LinkedIn

Our system also involves integration with LinkedIn, a social media network renowned for its platform that brings various professionals from a different field of expertise. Once integrated with LinkedIn, the AI agent can send a connection request, submit follow-up messages, and monitor other activities — such as views and message responses — to better cater your strategies.

• AI Cold Calls

The higher the engagement the higher its potential to close a sale, and one of the channels within the AI sales agent’s capabilities is its AI cold calls enabling phone call scheduling from your sales team as part of its outreach strategies. 

Enjoy Anybiz at 0.99 USD, or book a demonstration meeting today.