A lot of advice insists that to be effective, email subject lines must stand out in the inbox. The idea is that "attention-grabbing" subject lines motivate recipients to open emails rather than ignore or delete them.

This advice should be followed with caution, and preferably not at all.

There's an art to writing compelling, "open-me-now" subject lines, and not everyone has it. It's dangerously easy to write "attention-grabbing" subject lines that seem to recipients, if not their creators, like spam. Anything that even hints of spam is more likely to be deleted than opened.

At best your subject line will shout "sales message!" loud and clear. While most people are well aware that this is essentially what all commercial messages are, few respond favourably to a hard sell.

Email users decide to open an email, or not, based on information in the subject line. One of the tactics recommended for creating "open-me-now" subject lines is to give no information at all. Again, the idea is that recipients will feel compelled to open the email, to find out what it's about.

As we know from our own response to this kind of subject line, we're far more likely to hit the delete key. In fact, in a major study by DoubleClick, 95.5% of people cited lack of information in a subject line as a characteristic of spam. They know full well it's a trick.

It's also important to think about the environment that your email will land in. Today, most online email services automatically divert messages from 'strangers' (legitimate or not) into junk mail" folders.

Chances are, this is where your email will end up, shoulder-to-shoulder with spam. In this environment, it's all the more important that your subject line has absolutely nothing in common with spam.

On the other side of the coin, your email will also be in company with legitimate emails from well-known household names. As 'strangers' they end up in the junk mail folder too. This is the group you want your email to be associated with, by creating subject lines that are in keeping with their subject lines.

Take a look in your inbox and you will notice that emails from trusted sources do not have "attention-grabbing" "open-me-now" subject lines. In many respects they are not very noticeable at all. They make an impact in a different and far more effective way - with subject lines that are not only informative but relevant and meaningful to recipients.

With only 55 to 63 characters (including spaces) to play with, every word has real value and meaning. Attention-seeking subject lines waste this valuable space with words that may catch the eye but don't engage hearts and minds.

Remember, email marketing has been around for some time now. Email users have seen it all.

Ultimately, nothing you can write will be as effective as a relevant, meaningful and informative subject line. Large scale tests have consistently confirmed this: that they outperform by far their attention-seeking counterparts.

If you've ever spent hours trying to create a "wow" factor subject line, you'll be pleased to know this. Create an offer that will appeal to your target market, describe it in five to ten words, and that's it. That's your subject line, and the type of subject line that will truly make your campaign a success.

Copyright 2007 Caroline Mackenzie