30 insanely clickable email subject lines for B2B sales

If you treat the subject lines of your sales emails as an afterthought, it’s really time you didn’t.

Crafting a subject line that captivates and compels is a fine art; a blend of psychology, creativity, and strategic thinking to antipicate your prospect’s thoughts, needs, and instinctive emotional reactions.

And if it sounds like a lot of effort for the sake of a few words, remember: a well-designed subject line can be the difference between an email that sparks a profitable relationship and one that languishes in the depths of an inbox. 

In this blog, we’ll cover all the variables that factor into strong subject lines, best practices on copywriting, as well as some tried-and-tested examples that capture prospects’ attention immediately.

The importance of strong email subject lines

Your sales email subject line is one of the first things your prospect sees when you land in their inbox, so you have to make that first impression count. Whether your email gets opened or ignored can be majorly influenced by the impact of your subject line - especially when you’re reaching out to prospects who don’t know who you are.

The best B2B subject lines are those that arouse curiosity without sounding spammy. There’s a fine line between hooking your prospect’s interest and relying on inauthentic, click-bait copy - so make sure you know the difference.

Another thing to bear in mind is that your email subject lines can influence whether or not your emails land in spam.

Because of this, it’s a good idea to avoid using too many keywords that are commonly associated with spam or scam senders - things like #1, 100% free, risk-free, no hidden fees, etc.

Best practices for writing B2B email subject lines

Finding which subject lines work best for your target audience takes time to figure out, but here are some general best practices:

• Leverage personalization: Go beyond using the recipient’s name! You can use dynamic fields (like {{first_name}}) to personalize based on their role, industry, recent accomplishments, or interactions with your content. This shows the recipient that you understand their specific needs and interests.
• Prioritize clarity and relevance: While creativity can make your email stand out, clarity ensures that the message isn’t lost. The subject line should accurately reflect the email content and be immediately relevant to the recipient.
• Create urgency, but avoid hype: Crafting a sense of urgency can prompt immediate action, but avoid overhyping or making false promises. Use time-sensitive language cautiously to maintain credibility and avoid sounding spammy.
• A/B testing: Test different styles of subject lines (e.g., questions, statements, challenges) to see what resonates best with your audience. Remember that what works in one campaign might not work in all others, so never stop testing!
• Keep it short and sweet: With more people checking their emails on the go via mobile, shorter subject lines tend to be better in terms of visibility and clarity.
• Avoid spam triggers: Stay clear of overly salesy language, overuse of capitals, and exclamation marks. All of these can trigger spam filters, damaging your deliverability or just alienating prospects.

Optimizing B2B subject lines for maximum engagement

The goal of your cold email isn’t just to get opened - it’s to get a reply.

In the same way, you should try to choose subject lines that people want to engage with and read more about. If you consider that your prospect could be receiving scores of cold emails a day, it’s your job to stand out in their inbox.

Here are some tips to optimize your subject lines to encourage engagement:

1. Use action-oriented language: Encourage action by starting with verbs. This can make your subject line more engaging and clear, and also speaks directly to the reader.
2. Utilize numbers and lists: Numbers stand out in a text-heavy inbox and can set clear expectations about the email content (e.g., "5 Strategies to Improve...").
3. Pose questions: Questions can pique curiosity and encourage the recipient to open the email for answers or to share their own opinions.
4. Highlight and immediate value proposition: Make it clear what benefit the recipient will gain from opening the email - i.e. it’s not just a sales pitch!
5. Leverage your personal tone: Informal cold emails are becoming more popular, but the important thing is that your tone of voice sounds natural and conversational.

30 Catchy B2B email subject line examples

Cold email subject lines

1. Tease your prospect’s curiosity about a subject relevant to them.

"Question on your [specific goal or interest]"

2. Demonstrate that you've done your homework and understand their current needs.

"[Solution/benefit] for [prospect's company]"

3. Use humor to highlight an issue you know is important to your target audience in a light-hearted way.

"How’s your [pain point]?"

4. Introduce a value-driven, reciprocal relationship from the get-go.

"I've got [benefit] ready for you"

5. Leverage a shared connection to establish trust immediately.

"[Referral name] thought we should connect"

6. Even if you don’t have a direct referral, you can still reference a common link to create familiarity.

"Crossed paths with you via [referral name]"

7. Stoke your prospect’s interest by referencing a competitor’s success and how they can keep up.

"FYI: [Prospect’s competitor] just [achieved x]"

8. Emphasize your authority in the industry and your understanding of your target persona.

"Something a lot of [job title]s are asking right now"

9. Whether it’s a job move, promotion, or company-wide achievement, show you’ve done your homework by mentioning a recent or relevant achievement.

“Congratulations on [achievement], [name]!”

10. If you know your prospect is looking into an alternative solution to yours (check out Amplemarket Buying Intent Signals), you can leverage their buying intent to talk about how your solution would be a better fit for them.

“Some things to know about [competitor solution]”

Follow-up email subject lines

11. Offer immediate value with some no-strings-attached content. It could be some industry insights, articles, guides, or other resources.

"Think you’ll find this useful, [name]"

12. Show you’re open to feedback after meeting with a prospect and encourage them to think of what they have to gain from working with you.

“What do you want to get out of our next meeting?”

13. Whether or not you’ve directly engaged with your prospect at this stage, you can reference earlier content you’ve shared or trials they’ve utilized to get the conversation started again.

“How did you get on with [resource/trial/product]?”

14. If you’ve had a call, it’s great to follow-up with confirmation of what you’ve learned from your prospect and suggestions for next steps. This keeps you on the same page and proves you’re listening to them!

“5 points from our call”

15. Sound spontaneous to enhance the idea that you’re treating your prospect as an individual and are actively thinking about ways to help them.

“One more thing for you, [name]”

Nurturing email subject lines

16. Provide instant, digestible value about relevant industry topics to remind your prospect of your authority.

“5 things to know about [industry trend]”

17. Share an interesting case study that underlines the worth of your solution whilst offering free education for your prospect.

“How [company] achieved [success metric] with [solution]”

18. Emphasize how quickly and easily your prospects can tackle a pressing issue using your solution.

“Solve [pain point] by the end of Q1”

19. Drop exclusive teasers or product updates to make prospects feel included in your community and inspire them to take further action.

“[Feature] coming soon with [solution]!”

20. Leverage the language of loss aversion to remind prospects what they’re missing out on as long as they don’t have your solution.

“Stop [failing at x/missing out on y]”

21. If you know your prospect is heading to a specific event, try hooking their attention with relevant insights, data, or other tips to boost their sense of affinity with you.

“3 things to look out for at [event]”

Booking a meeting email subject lines

22. Try being blunt!

“Wednesday call at 2pm your time”

23. Make it clear what you’re asking for and make it easy for prospects to respond to you.

“10 minutes to chat?”

24. Industry events provide great opportunities to meet with prospects, but even if your prospect isn’t attending, it’s a good excuse to start a conversation.

“Will I see you at [event], [name]?”

25. Explain what you have to offer and leave it up to the prospect whether or not they accept. 5 minutes isn’t too demanding!

“Give me 5 minutes to explain [benefit]?”

26. If you’ve met with a prospect before, you can reignite their interest by mentioning new product features, updates, or services you think they’ll be excited to see.

“I’ve got some more things to show you, [name!]”

No response email subject lines

27. Be clear that this is your final outreach - and they’re last chance to respond.

“I won’t bother you again, [name]”

28. Ask for confirmation of another contact at your prospect’s company.

“Is [colleague name] a more relevant contact?”

29. If a prospect previously showed interest in your solution, remind them of what they could be missing out on.

“Have you changed your mind about [benefits]?”

30. Sign off your outreach sequence with some high-value, engaging content. Even if your prospect doesn’t respond immediately, they might keep you in mind for the future.

“One last thing, [name]”

Creating attention-grabbing sales email subject lines

Optimizing your sales email subject lines is an ongoing process, and you should always be open to experimentation! You can use your replies, prospect feedback, and open rates to figure out what does or doesn’t work in individual campaigns, but never assume you’ve found the winning formula. 

Remember, the goal is not just to get the email opened, but to establish a connection that leads to meaningful business relationships. Your subject lines can make or break your cold email’s success, so give them the time and attention they deserve!

Email copywriting doesn’t have to be a slog! With Amplemarket’s AI Copywriter, you can create hyper-personalized and relevant cold emails in seconds. Each message is tailored to your prospect according to their LinkedIn activity and professional interests, so you can capture their attention with unique and thoughtful hooks.

Sign up for a demo today!