50 Sales Development Email Subject Lines
No matter how long you’ve been doing B2B sales development or how effective your outbound emails have been, it’s always a good idea to revisit your process, messaging, etc.
Subject lines are a very small detail in a large, complex process but can really make or break a campaign. A great call-to-action or case study does nothing for you if the prospect doesn’t open the email…and the subject line plays a key role in enticing the open.
So we’ve put together 50 sales development email subject line ideas to help you brainstorm new ideas. Feel free to borrow/steal as much as you like. We started with a goal of 101 but decided to stop at 50 once we started getting a little repetitive…and started referencing Game of Thrones.
I’ll withhold comment on the actual effectiveness of the subject lines — some of these I’ve received and others we’ve used on behalf of clients. Look for a follow-up post in the coming weeks in which we’ll explore the open rates of the various subject lines we’ve tested in recent months. As a quick preview, we’re seeing outbound email open rates ranging from 30% to 40% and frequently see open rates north of 50% and 60% for our clients at RevBoss.
Without further ado, 50 sales development email subject lines for your consideration:
- Hey…
- Quick question
- Quick question about XYZ @ %%company%%
- Help me with a question?
- (No subject)
- You’re probably already doing this…
- Following up
- Checking in
- Do you have time for a call next week?
- Quick yes/maybe/no?
- Got a minute %%first%%?
- This is not a personalized subject line.
- Re: Scheduling a phone call…
- Help me %%first%% %%last%%, you’re my only hope.
- Have you heard about XYZ?
- Should we have a quick chat?
- Can you connect me to the right person?
- Do you know %%first%% %%last%%?
- This is going to be great — can you join us?
- Are you going to XYZ event?
- Hi %%first% — this is Bob from AcmeCo.
- Hey %%first%%, have you read Bob Smith’s article on the AcmeCo blog?
- Love what you’re doing at %%company%%…
- Hearing great things about %%company%%…
- A friend sent me your way…
- How to get 3X marketing lift
- 7 ways to get a 3X marketing lift
- 7 (obnoxious click-baity word like “shocking”) ways to get a 3X marketing lift.
- Do you know how to get a 3X marketing lift?
- Would it be helpful to get a 3x marketing lift?
- %%City%% rocks! Up for a meeting while I’m in town?
- I’m going to be in %%city%% — can I bring you a coffee?
- Want a better way to _________?
- Have you thought about doing _________?
- Congrats on the recent ______________.
- Really loved the _________ case study.
- Really excited about (recent announcement)
- (New feature) looks pretty compelling
- Great picture of ___________ (non-creepy reference to recent Tweet or similar media.)
- We helped (Your #1 Competitor) do XYZ — maybe we should chat?
- What did you think about the _________ news?
- How will the (recent new story) affect %%company%%?
- Please for the love of the old gods and the new open this email and respond so that I can hit quota for the month and not get fired.
- Got time for a chat Thursday at 10am?
- Quick multiple choice question…
- Should I stay or should I go?
- Where is the love?
- The final countdown…
- This is the last time I’ll email you…
- Sorry to be a pest…
- Gently knocking…
- Your competitors are using this.
- (Name of competitor) is using this.
- A story about Dave… (with an email about a case study)
- This dog food is delicious! (if you can highlight how you’re using your product.)
- 6 months, $500k in new pipeline… (case study headline in the subject)
- Do you know how to get in touch with (Person)?
- (The prospect’s team) won (the big game)!