When writing a subject, there’s a lot of pressure on “getting it right.” 35% of recipients open an email solely based on its subject line — how crazy is that? There are loads of strategies you could use to create this all-important one-liner, and humor is one of those. Funny email subject lines are a great way to get high opening rates.
In this guide, we’ll take you on a fast-paced yet thorough crash course on writing funny subjects. It’s an essential skill to nail, especially if you’re running your email marketing campaign. You’ll learn all about this part of email writing, why it matters, and get some template ideas (nab away).
Give us less than 10 minutes, and you’ll be a master of your new art!
What Is a Subject Line?
A subject line is the title of the email and the first thing your recipient will see. Because of this, an email subject is the most important part of your email marketing efforts. It has the potential to help you stand out in a crowded inbox, but press pause for a second. Let’s take it back to email marketing for beginners and nail your understanding of what and where it is.
You’ll find it underneath the section where you enter the recipient’s email address. The best length is around 30-50 characters; anything more gets cut off. Therefore, subject lines are short, snappy, and attention-grabbing.
Depending on your desired result and target audience, it could be an actionable verb or dad jokes.
We’ll cover some templates and examples later that you can steal. But, at this stage, you can get a great selection of examples by heading to your inbox.
How are people writing the titles of their emails to you? Which are most effective? Just noticing these subject lines and clocking the good vs bad is a fantastic place to start.
Why Do Subject Lines Matter?
It isn’t just about funny subject lines for emails; you write all of these phrases to drive action. Subject lines are vital because they drive customers to either click or skip an email. And if they skip, that’s a whole email and a decent chunk of your campaign that has gone entirely ignored. Your subject is the magical difference your strategy needs you to concentrate on.
As we mentioned, 35% of recipients decide to open an email based on its subject. That’s a huge proportion of potential customers that have their eyes on just 30-50 characters. As a business owner, you must attract this percentile to succeed. Poorly crafted email subjects are the number one form of marketing mistakes you should definitely avoid.
To summarize, subject lines matter because they decide whether roughly a third of your recipients actually even open your email. It also acts as part of your targeting process.
The more it appeals to a specific target audience, the better your customers will align with your ideal customer profile. Those simple strings of words massively shape the direction of your campaign and whether or not it will prove successful.
3 Funny Christmas Email Subject Lines
When it gets to that time of year, you can bet funny Christmas email subject lines go down a treat. You can keep it classy with “happy holiday” notes or lean into that skint shopping spree with “50% off” messages. Alternatively, there’s the comedy line.
These can be as tongue-in-cheek or slapstick as you want. Just make sure that the punchline and theme are clear. If you haven’t already, this is a good time to re-evaluate your target audience.
1. Jokes About the Naughty and Nice List
This category never gets old: the naughty and nice list. You can use this theme in many different contexts. For example, you could say, “Since you’re on the nice list, here’s 60% off.”
Alternatively, you could play it the other way. You could tell customers who have left items in their basket that you’re putting them on the naughty list.
2. Using Typical Characters
Characters are an effective approach to Christmas emails. A good way to approach this strategy is to use contrasting behaviors with stereotypical characters. For instance, “Even Scrooge renewed his life insurance” or “Even Santa worked out this month.”
You could pair characters with foods that match thematically, like Frosty’s favorite ice cream or Santa’s mince pies.
3. Reference Loved Ones
Referencing loved ones is always reliable, especially if you can guess based on your subscribed demographic. It’s easiest when you know your subscribers, e.g., members of a mum’s group with kids or a pet shop.
You could say, “Because your dog deserves a visit from Santa.” Or, “Our elves won’t pick your children a present themselves.” Pick whatever best suits your target customers and lean on your existing knowledge of them.
3 Top Features of a Good Subject Lines
So, what makes a good subject? It doesn’t have to be a funny subject lines email; what are great all-around qualities? It’s a fantastic question. When sending out a marketing email, you must be positive that it will resonate with the right recipients.
There are three top features that you should uphold when running strong email campaigns. These are the best signs of a line that will hit a few jackpots.
1. It’s Action-Orientated
The best lines are action-oriented. After all, what do you want? You can’t get results without a recipient physically doing something. Your subject should drive potential customers to click “open.”
Luckily, ensuring this is the case is simple. You just need to use snappy sentences, verbs like “click” or “win,” and alluring content.
Of course, all of this is pointless unless you ask the right people for action, which leads us to
2. The Angle Is Tailored
The best subjects are those you tailor. For instance, instead of using a cookie-cutter approach, you go with a niche or specialist approach. The best rule is that the general goes in the trash, and tailored reigns supreme.
And what if you don’t know your target customer base or what would appeal to them? Well, it’s time to return to the drawing board. These are basic pillars of knowledge that you should have established long ago.
If it’s for a comedy-loving or partying crowd, a funny email will likely go far. If you drop a humor-heavy email subject on recipients interested in a personal injury claim, potentially less so. You’ve got to read the room and your target customer.
What are they feeling? What are they thinking? How can you best target them through words, branding, and evoking emotion?
3. It’s the Perfect Length
The worst email subjects are too long to fit onto the recipients’ screens — and not even in an intriguing way. A tip here is always to keep your subjects between 30 and 50 characters. But you can also hedge your bets by putting the hook at the front. The “hook” could be anything from pop culture references to a single word, like “win.”
Just make sure that you’re writing in a snappy way. Subjects should be attention-grabbing and intensely clipped. Needless to say, people tend to ignore any writing that isn’t immediately visible, so always double-check the character count.
3 Funny Abandoned Cart Email Subject Lines
An excellent way to regain someone’s interest is with a joke. That’s exactly how we’d suggest you tackle an abandoned cart situation. Funny abandoned cart email subject lines are an ideal, albeit lighthearted, jab.
1. Theorize Why
Everyone loves a conspiracy theory, and theorizing why is a fantastic way to get a laugh and revisit. There’s a rise in companies being as blunt as saying, “We can only assume you’ve died.” But, of course, how blunt you’d like to be is entirely up to you and your customer base.
If you want a gentler approach, make it relevant to your business. For a pet retail store, you could say, “Wow, this is a long dog walk,” or “Has your dog unplugged your laptop again?”.
2. Act Like It’s an Accident
A strong “Oops! You’ve left items in your cart” is sometimes enough. You can make it as funny as you want or just lean into your business theme. For example, you could use something like “Come back to the table” if someone was making a dinner reservation.
3. Use an Expiry Date
If you really want to increase the sense of urgency, include an expiration date. For extra effect, you can add a funny countdown or character. A bit of humor is ideal for lightening a stricter message.
How To Write a Subject Line
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with this step of creating an email for marketing purposes. After all, your entire campaign rests on the assumption that someone will open a message. Luckily, there are a few easy ways you can streamline the process. And one of those is by breaking it into stages.
Let’s get practical. In this section, we’ll teach you the three simple steps to writing a professional subject. It doesn’t need to be difficult, and this way, email marketing will be a breeze.
1. Revisit Your Customer Profiles
Your first step should always be to revisit your customer profiles. This is vital for reminding yourself of your target audience, which will dictate your tone and overall approach. Ideally, you’ll have customer profiles ready-made. But if not, just scan over any collected customer data or insights.
Remind yourself of who your customers are and what they care about.
2. Summarize the Hook of Your Email
With your targets fresh in your mind, it’s time to move onto the hook. This is “the bite” of your email and really turns heads. If it doesn’t sound impressive to you, kick it. It could be the fact you’re offering an exclusive deal. Or you’re having a 50% off sale or are restocking your most popular item.
It’s worth spending as much time as necessary on this stage. You should also physically write down the hook (either as bullet points or a paragraph). Doing this lets you see how it appears written and run it past friends, staff, and family. It’s a good way to trial-run it.
Once you’ve nailed your hook, write it down in 30-50 characters. Then walk away — it’s important to edit with fresh eyes, even if you just grab a coffee.
3. Final Edit
This is your final hurdle and involves a thorough line edit (yes, even for just a single line). Double-check that your “wow words” are at the front. All stats, verbs, and shocking terminology fall under this blanket. These are the words that really make recipients jump to open your email and become readers.
Obviously, check all the grammar. At this stage, you should also clearly be able to tell your strategy. Is it a sense of urgency? Or a sense of humor? And, if so, is there humorous content to match?
It’s important to always follow through on promises, even if a promise is just dad jokes. There should be consistency in your email’s voice, and this should resonate with your wider branding, too.
If You Get Really Stuck Writing Funny Email Subject Lines
If you really hit a wall writing funny email subject lines, don’t worry; it’s easy to find help. You can either have a quick Google online to find free templates and examples. Or you could invest in email marketing automation software, which provides hints and ideas at a low monthly subscription rate. These are great choices for anyone still wanting to run an email marketing campaign themselves but needing direction.
You could even hire an email marketer if you have a larger budget. Freelance marketers typically charge between $25 and $100 an hour. You could either outsource all or part of your marketing campaign; it’s your choice. It’s worth the investment if you’ve got yourself in a twist and aren’t finding the hours an effective trade-off.
The best advice we can give you is always to track your results. It’s normal for things to feel stagnant initially, especially when you’re just learning the ropes. But if you track your results through an analysis platform or specialist email marketing software, you’ll improve in no time. It’s all about active learning.
Beambox: Why WiFi Might Get Stronger Results
Did you know that WiFi guarantees quick results if you run an in-person business? How many people ask to join your WiFi a day? It’s very likely the secret weapon you’re failing to harness. And it perfectly complements an email marketing campaign.
The way forward is through a captive portal system. A captive portal is a web page pop-up that guests trigger when they click to join your WiFi. Instead of letting them join immediately, it puts conditions on your WiFi access. To proceed, they must fill out a form of your creation. In this case, it lets you request valuable contact details, like emails.
When you sync a captive portal with great software, it automatically collects all of these and stores them in a database. The best part is that this quickly builds an organic email list of people who already know and care about your business. It’s a surefire way to set your opening rates up for success.
At Beambox, our all-in-one WiFi marketing software provides exactly this. We give business owners the power to control their WiFi as a tool to gain email marketing contacts. With our subscription packages, you get access to a customizable portal system that asks for the information you want.
Start your Beambox free trial today. You’ll be drafting funny email subject lines to double the number of recipients in no time!
