As a marketer I’ve read hundreds of blog posts dedicated to the “best” email subject lines. It seems not all of the same rules apply for personalised video emails.
We crunched the data on over 1 million video emails sent with Bonjoro, and the results are pretty surprising, but also super useful if you want to get sky-high engagement on your video emails!
Let's take a look at the results.
Ps. If you're struggling to get replies to your email follow-ups, check out our guide on following up with video emails instead.
Top 10 video email subject lines by open rate
Crafting subject lines is an art form. It’s different than writing blog posts or the body of the email itself.
You want to be eye-catching, but you don’t want to send clickbait.
We’ve found that our highest subject lines are relatively simple. They’re short, sweet, friendly, and most importantly, give recipients a sense of what’s inside (spoiler alert: it’s a video).
Here are our top performers and their amazing open rates:
1. I made you a video today! (Woot)
Open Rate: 92.9%
2. [Sender Name] just sent you a video message…
Open Rate: 86.8%
3. Quick personal video I just recorded for you
Open Rate: 86%
4. Just sent you a quick personal video to check out
Open Rate: 84.1%
5. Thanks for joining [product/course name]
Open Rate: 84%
6. Here’s a quick message from [product/course owner]
Open Rate: 82.9%
7. Video message from [Sender Name]
Open Rate: 82.6%
8. A personally recorded video [just for you] from [Sender Name]
Open Rate: 81.5%
9. [Name] from [product/course name] sent you a welcome message!
Open Rate: 80.2%
10. [Sender Name] is sending you a personal video message
Open Rate: 80.2%
Note. We only considered email subject lines with over 250 video email sent. Anything below this, and the open rates could be considered less statistically relevant.
What makes a great video email subject line?
The data clearly show that this is not about perfecting the art of “clickbaiting, “telling not showing”, or getting the right character length (though some of those rules do apply indirectly).
No, getting great results with video emails is about something much simpler; it’s about guaranteeing that the recipient knows your message is just for them, and them only.
Think about it, if you were sent a message with a video waiting just for you, would you delete that message, and ignore what might be waiting for you?
There is also another factor at play in most of these subject lines, and it’s the law of reciprocity. If someone has taken time to craft a message for you, and you alone, you almost feel obliged to check it.
The law of reciprocity comes into play right away, as soon as your message hits the recipient’s inbox. In fact, crucially, it carries right through to getting a reply from your customer or prospect.
This is at complete odds with automated emails, where the concept of reciprocity almost guarantees that the recipient will feel under no obligation to engage with you and may therefore ignore your message or develop negative perceptions of your brand values.
Think about it. If you haven’t taken the time, why should they?
3 simple tips to get your video emails opened
To sum up, here’s 3 things you should try to get your videos opened (and watched):
1. Include the word “video” in your subject line
It seems so obvious right? But we see so many people forget to do this. Of course, it might not be suitable for every video funnel you create, but try a split test and the subject line including "video" will usually turn out the big winner.
2. Include the word “personal” in your subject line
Again, this seems like it's almost too obvious. But when someone is scanning their inbox, trigger words like this work a charm, and the data shows this beautifully.
3. Add context that helps the recipient know that the thing inside is just for them.
Another simple one - make sure that your subject line fits the context of the message. If it's a welcome message, state it. If it's from you personally, include your name. If it's about your specific course they just signed up for, include the course name, so it catches their eye.
This should carry over into your video itself. In fact, one of Bonjoro's best features is the ability to pull custom attributes (fields) into the Bonjoro app right from your CRM, so you have your customer data visible when recording your video emails. Smart huh!?
If you hit all three of those points you cannot really go wrong. And hey, the easiest thing you can do is just steal one of the lines above.
Get a Free 14 day trial of Bonjoro, and sky-rocket your own email open-rates
If you've been inspired by the sky-high open rates in our data, why not try personal video yourself?
Who knows how much extra revenue you'll unlock with a few well crafted video emails!
Get a free 14 day trial of Bonjoro right here, and copy our video funnel templates if you're looking for inspiration on when and how to use video to grow your business!
