With the number of emails we all get, what makes us open some while skipping past others? And, more importantly, how can we put our own emails in that first category?
High-performance email tactics was the topic of a well-attended master class presented by Jay Schwedelson at Thryv’s recent Grow 2025 Conference, where the founder of GURU Media Hub and SubjectLine.com, CEO of Outcome Media, and ten-time honoree of Crain’s Top 100 Industry Leaders shared insights drawn from real, aggregated campaign data.
Schwedelson offers the following tips for subject lines — emphasizing that success comes from rotating tactics rather than relying on a single trick.
- Fully capitalizing one word mid-subject line can boost open rates by 15%, as in “You WON’T Believe These Numbers.” It breaks visual monotony and catches the scanning eye during inbox scrolls, and it does not cause spam/junk penalties.
- Use the “>” or “<” (“Greater Than / Less Than”) format to frame the brand’s core philosophy or offer, as in “Simplicity > Chaos” or “Hydration > Hustle.” This mimics meme logic — fast cognition, emotional agreement and curiosity.
- Start with numbers or brackets. Subject lines starting with numbers (e.g., “7 Mistakes Every Founder Makes”) perform best, with authoritative and predictable value. Brackets (e.g., “[Free Guide] How to Automate Your Workflow”) create focus and increase opens by about 15%.
- Employ the ellipsis hack. Adding three dots at the end triggers curiosity (“wait, what comes next?”). It increases the open rate significantly, playing on the psychological need for closure.
- Watch the clock. Since 80% of marketers send campaigns on the hour, flooding inboxes at the same time, messages sent at randomized minutes (e.g., 8:04, 11:17) rise above the noise — resulting in a 15% increase in open rates.
