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Marketing Strategy

Email Subject Line Best Practices

Email marketing is an effective way of communicating with your center’s current families and potential clients that made your email list. But, the trickiest, yet most important, part is getting parents to actually open your email. A catchy email subject line will encourage parents to take that first step.

Tips for Writing Email Subject Lines

Communicate urgency.

The best email subject lines urge readers to take action. Your subject should grab attention from the start to encourage parents to open the email. It’s a good idea to include action-oriented verbs in your email subjects if you want parents to register for your daycare’s upcoming event or take advantage of the early bird discount on summer camp.

Keep it short and sweet.

Don’t forget that you’re dealing with busy parents, so you have a limited amount of time to catch their attention. You want to use the least amount of words possible in your email subject line to get your point across. Take out words that don’t matter and include only what is necessary.

Add emojis.

Adding emojis to your email subject lines is a great way to draw attention from parents. In fact, 56% of brands that used emojis in their subject lines had higher open rates. Plus, they’re really cute and fun to look at! To avoid looking spammy, don’t use too many in one subject line and make sure they’re used appropriately.

Be upfront.

It’s important that you are upfront with parents. Don’t waste their time with a misleading email subject line. Otherwise, they won’t want to open your emails again. Tell them exactly what’s inside the email they’re about to open. Use clear and concise language to make your announcement. For example, use “Save 20% on Early Bird Enrollment” or “Check Out November’s Lunch Menu.”

Use clean formatting.

If you don’t want your emails to be ignored, refrain from using all caps or too many punctuation marks. Using all caps or 5 exclamation points in your subject line might rub parents the wrong way. They may think you’re obnoxiously yelling at them or you’re just another disruptive spam account. It’s okay to use a question mark or exclamation point, just not more than one.

Be personal.

Make parents feel special when they receive an email from you in their inbox. Using a phrase like “our gift to you” or “you’re invited” or adding their name at the beginning of the subject line can go a long way. It immediately gives parents a warm feeling of belonging to your family.