Your clients and candidates have been receiving hundreds of emails on a weekly or fortnightly basis from various recruiters all over the world.

Look at your inbox right now…how many unread emails do you have? 200? 500?

More?

With so many emails that never get opened or make their way into their trash, as a recruiter, you need to realise that there is something significant going wrong.

Marketers all over the world have been testing different email subject lines to optimise their email marketing strategies.

With boatloads of information for clients & candidates as soon as they open their mail, it might get too overwhelming for them and there are high chances that unless you’ve crafted an amazing subject line, it will go unnoticed.

A recruiter’s email subject line is their very first and last impression. This is true for a significantly larger number of clients and candidates.

You can even consider your email subject line to be of greater importance than your email body. After all, a well-crafted body will render useless unless and until it sees the light of the day!

Here are 5 tips for recruiters on crafting rocking email subject lines

Emails form an integral part of a recruiter’s day-to-day life.

Read on to find out some of the tried and tested tips on writing that perfect email subject line that will be bound to get noticed.

1. Minimalism is the way to go

A study conducted by MailChimp on email subject lines showcases that short, descriptive, non-cheesy subject lines have a higher click-through rate than a shabby line.

Recruiters need to be clear and straight-forward with what they want to deliver to their clients/candidates.

Time and again, marketing experts have mentioned that creativity must take a back-seat when writing an important business mail.

Imagination & innovation can be a great approach when it comes to sending notification emails where your clients and candidates are already familiar with your work and recruitment agency.

However, in case of a crucial mail to a client, this is an absolute no-no.

2. Include a sense of urgency & curiosity

If your subject line doesn’t provide a sense of urgency or builds a level of curiosity in your clients/candidates, then this is something you might wish practising.

Using urgency in your mail will not only help your target audience click or act but also pique their natural interest.

Make sure that you don’t overcrowd the subject line with phrases like Act Now!, Open Now! and so on.

At the end of the day, you don’t want your recruitment agency to be titled as the company that cried wolf.

Using sentences like- You’ll benefit from opening this email can result in a higher open rate since users would want to know more about it.

3. Avoid SPAM trigger words & no-reply sender name

With the number of spam mails people receive on an everyday basis, people hate opening emails unless and until they are from a familiar source or person.

Any email you send will have to pass through the spam filters before it’s opened.

One such filter is built into the email service, with the likes of Gmail and Outlook scanning all incoming emails for shady signs.

The other takes the form of the candidate/client’s eyes – if they sense that a message is a little spammy, or won’t offer them any real value, they’ll have no hesitation in deleting it or keeping it unread. Or even worse, reporting the mail as SPAM!

Avoid spammy words like make money, earn $, confirm, join and so on.

Also, stay away from using too many exclamation marks and usage of CAPS. Apart from this, also the usage of noreply@companyname.com makes it look less personal and people will hesitate twice before adding your mail to their address book.

4. Do tell them what’s inside via your subject line

One thing which every recruiter must avoid at all cost is writing an email subject line which delivers a false promise.

Make sure your email subject line offers a valid commitment and do not try to get your emails opened by making false promises.

This in turn, will not only irk your prospective clients and candidates but also result in a lower click-through rate.

Also, if you’re offering a free handbook to your candidates or offering them tips to land great jobs, ensure that you use subject lines such as- Your free handbook is inside!

This will help the recipients know what to expect when they open your mail.

5. Use concise language & make your clients/candidates feel special

Make your clients and candidates feel exclusive. When people feel like they’re included, it gives them a sense of belonging that could build loyalty and compel them to convert better on the emails that you’re sending out.

Ensure that when you’re crafting that email subject line, you’re using proper concise language and paraphrasing it right. In addition, you can also use a free free paraphrasing tool to paraphrase your email subject line accordingly.

Here are some examples of magical subject lines to make your clients/candidates feel special:

  • An exclusive offer just for you
  • This is a private invite
  • Our gift to you

And so on.

At the end of the day, as a recruiter, if you have quality content and brilliant services to provide to your clients and candidates, make sure you incorporate the above and create the best email subject lines.