Tricks of the Trade: Crafting Compelling Subject Lines

by Alex Guerin
Published September 29, 2020

Which PR or marketing professional hasn’t experienced this scenario? 

There’s an amazing piece of news. Your team goes through all the lengths to develop messaging around the content, even creating a press release. And then writes up a great pitch based off of that messaging while researching the perfect journalists who cover this exact type of news. But then the pitch is sent out and it doesn’t get a response -- or even opened. After lots of finger pointing, a simple question is asked. Why? 

If you’ve truly researched the right reporters and crafted a relevant, concise and engaging pitch, the most likely reason your email hasn’t received a reply is because it had a less than engaging subject line. 

Crafting compelling and eye catching subject lines is an essential weapon in your media relations arsenal.  The reporters we reach out to on a daily basis receive hundreds of emails a day from PR people.  To rise above the noise of the crowded inbox takes a subject line they simply cannot overlook. 

At Carve, we pride ourselves on formulating thumb-stopping subject lines leading to email opens which lead to opportunities which lead to coverage.   Without giving away too much of our secret sauce, here are some of the strategies we use for pitches that will get responses and won’t end up in the trash bin:

Keep it Concise

For compelling subject lines, highlight what makes this content newsworthy. Don’t just reiterate the headline of the press release, quickly bring up the most important point that the journalist will be interested in. 

A recent report by Retention Science found that subject lines with 6 to 10 words deliver the highest open rate, making 8 words an ideal number for a subject line. You have to consider that a lot of journalists look at emails on their phones, so if the subject line is too long journalists will simply ignore it if only half the message is there. 

Include the Journalist’s Name

Journalists are human beings, so when crafting a subject line try to add their name to it. Reporters will be much more inclined to open an email that includes a “Hi David” and then adding the pitch. Adding this component helps an email stand out in a sea of Cision generated robot pitches. 

Personalize it

Do your research on the journalist and not just about their beat. Learn about what they like to do outside of work. Check their social media channels and see what their hobbies and interests are and use it to make the pitch more relatable and personable. If you have a common interest even better. For example, recognizing a fellow dog owner, relating the pitch to dogs, you are more likely than not to get a response. In doing so, you are also making the pitch more conversational. We have found journalists will be more inclined to respond instead of a pitch that gets right down to the news aspect.  

Propose it as a Question

Craft the compelling subject line as a question. This tactic has helped immensely in outreach because it causes the journalist to think about the story angle right away. It’s also human nature to respond to questions, so using a question in the subject line will get a conversation started.

Don’t let all the hard work be for nothing over a matter of 6-10 words. Following these top tips to create compelling subject lines, our team at Carve not only gets responses, but helps build journalist relationships and secure top-tier coverage across our entire client roster.