How to Get Your Subscribers to Open Your Newsletter Emails

There’s nothing more frustrating than writing the best email of your life only for no one to open it. 

When you’re creating a newsletter strategy, launch strategy, or evergreen email sequence, there’s so much pressure on what you’re saying within the email to get the sale, the conversion, or the click.

But while what’s in your email’s copy is important, it doesn’t matter much if it never gets read. And to get more opens on your newsletters, you have to get their attention—and you need good subject lines to do that!!

Why Your Subscribers Aren’t Opening Your Emails

Before we talk about how to get your subscribers to open your emails, let’s cover why they’re not right now. There are a few common culprits:

• Deliverability. Your emails may be landing in the promo tab or spam folder, so your subscribers genuinely never even see them (meaning updating your subject lines won’t be the fix you’re looking for).
• You’ve burned them before. AKA a past subject line overpromised (or click-baited) and the email underdelivered—and they remember it. It wasn’t enough to unsub, but it was enough to stop clicking. 
• Your subject lines aren’t doing your emails justice. Or your preview text—which is wildly underused IMO.

To clarify: I’m not an email deliverability expert, if you’re having deliverability issues, I highly recommend talking to Mrs. Vondy over at the Email Club!

How to Get Your Subscribers to Open Your Newsletter Emails

Writing a good subject line isn’t about being clever for the sake of it. It’s about using what you know about your audience, how their brain works, and the reason why an email gets opened vs. ignored (*ahem* sales psychology).

The goal is to get your subscriber to think “I need to open this” and “oh, they’re talking to me.” And there are the subject lines to help you do exactly that:

#1. Say the thing everyone’s thinking, but are too nervous to say out loud

Name the shared frustration, fear, or “hot take.” It catches a subscribers attention and creates connection—they’re left thinking, “oh wow, same.” But don’t do a hot take and not deliver on the WHY behind it. You’ll get the attention, but for the wrong reasons and in the easiest way to lose subscribers.

A good example of using this strategy:

The subject line: “everyone can tell your content is written with AI”

Paired with a preview text: “but no one is talking about that”

#2. Challenge a common belief, strategy, or approach 

People are wired to pay attention when something challenges what they already think they know. It creates cognitive dissonance, a moment when their brains hold two conflicting thoughts (or beliefs) at the same time and the brain scrambles to resolve the tension—getting you the click!

A good example:

The subject line: “You’re being TOO consistent on social media”

The preview text: “try this instead”

#3. Pose an interesting (or slightly spicy) question

A good question opens a loop your subscriber’s brain wants to close. It creates information tension (a need to know the answer). The only way to resolve it? Open your email! Bonus points if you encourage your audience to reply with their thoughts. Replies = engagement signals that help your deliverability.

A good example:

The subject line: “Are you accidentally repelling your best clients?”

The preview text: “it might be your website copy”

#4. Drop a fact or stat that sounds almost too crazy to be true

This is called “pattern interruption.” When something genuinely surprises you, your brain flags it as important and you lean into it. A surprising stat or fact works because it disrupts auto-scroll in through a full inbox and makes your subscriber think “wait, what?” Just make sure the stat is real!

A good example of using pattern interruption:

The subject line: “47% of buyers decide before talking to you”

The preview text: “Here’s what that means for your website”

#5. Share a story they can’t help but get pulled into 

Shocking, heartfelt, hilarious—it doesn’t matter which, as long as it’s real and relatable. Humans are wired for narrative. When a subject line starts a story, the reader needs to know how it ends. The key is leaving just enough open that they have to click to get the rest. 

Think of your subject line as the first line of a story and your preview text as the cliffhanger.

The subject line: “I almost shut my business down on Tuesday”

The preview text: “here’s what changed my mind”

Before You Scrap Your List Over Low Open Rates, Try This Instead

I know a low open rate can feel personal, but it’s not. If someone is still on your list, they haven’t given up on you, they just haven’t been given a reason to click lately (and good news: that’s fixable!). 

Start with your subject lines and preview text and keep showing up with emails that actually deliver on what the subject line promises—trust is built one good email at a time 😉

Want even more irresistible subject lines? Download this free list of 50 copy-and-paste ideas!

Or if you want to learn more about how to grab (and keep) your audience’s attention, grab This is How You Sell: The Textbook here.