5 email subject line hacks for healthcare marketers

At KNB, we typically generate email open rates 2x to 3x industry averages. We do this by relentlessly staying ahead of trends and applying them for our healthcare clients. What works one quarter may not work the next. As of December 2022, these are the current hacks that are keeping our open rates high in the B2B health tech space. 

1. Personalize it

   This is a perennial favorite, because it works and it works well. Use personalization tokens to use the recipient’s name and even their company name. The more the email appears to be specifically for them, the more likely they will be to open it.

2. Use a numeral or 2

   Grammar geeks, you’ve been taught to spell out numerals under ten. Perhaps that is why they are so eye-catching. At any rate, we can confirm that including numerals within subject lines increases the open rate. 

3. Bookend with emojis

   Many of our clients shy away from emojis because they seem a bit too fanciful or fun for B2B emails. We say, who wants to read a boring email? There’s plenty of emojis to choose from that will be on-brand. For maximum impact, we’ve found that including two of the same emojis, one at the beginning and one at the end of the subject line has the most profound effect on open rates.

4. Ditch Title Case

   Title Case Seems Impersonal and Rigid. However, when you write in sentence case, it’s like you’ve already begun speaking conversationally with the recipient.

5. Question marks are passé

   Do you like watching infomercials? Or do you roll your eyes at openers like this? This is why staying ahead of trends is so important. Questions used to be a tactic to spur engagement, but the method became overused to the point where a question mark often annoys people. They actually reduce open rates.