Cold email subject lines a person would type.
A good cold email subject line is a few lowercase words that say what the email is about, the way a person would type them. It matches the email, names something true about the reader and never pretends to be a reply. Below are six patterns with examples, and the lines to avoid.
Six subject line patterns
Each pattern names what the email is about, in the reader's terms. The examples use invented companies.
| Pattern | Example | When |
|---|---|---|
| What and for whom {{topic}} at {{company}} | fuel cards at nordfeld | Most first emails. |
| Their news your {{event}} | your second ohio warehouse | The reason to write is something that just happened at their company. |
| Where it applies {{topic}} across your {{place}} | fuel across your ohio sites | What you sell depends on where they work. |
| Their own question {{topic}} for the {{event}}? | fuel cards for the new site? | The reader would ask the question themselves. |
| The meeting 20 minutes on {{topic}} | 20 minutes on fuel cards | With the meeting request template. |
| The right person who looks after {{topic}}? | who looks after fuel cards? | With the right-person template. |
{{topic}} at {{company}} your {{event}} {{topic}} across your {{place}} {{topic}} for the {{event}}? 20 minutes on {{topic}} who looks after {{topic}}?
Should cold email subject lines be lowercase?
Yes. Dylan writes every subject line in lowercase, the way a person types it. Short acronyms such as AI or CRM are fine. Title Case, capital letters for emphasis and exclamation marks read like a campaign, and the cold email grader marks them.
Can you use Re: or Fwd: in a cold email subject line?
Not on a first email. A fake "Re:" pretends to continue a conversation that never happened, and the FTC's CAN-SPAM guide says subject lines must not deceive. A follow-up sent as a real reply in the thread of your first email is different: that Re: is true.
How long should a cold email subject line be?
A few words. We publish no ideal length: we have no data of our own on subject lines, and a length rule matters less than a subject that matches the email. If the subject would make sense on any email to anyone, it is too vague.
What to write, and what not to
| Write this | Not this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| fuel across your ohio sites | Lowercase, the way a person types it. Title Case reads like a campaign. | |
| fuel cards at nordfeld | There was no call. A fake Re: pretends to continue a conversation. | |
| your second ohio warehouse | The subject has to match the email. Bait wins an open and loses the reader. | |
| 20 minutes on fuel cards | Plain words. A subject that sells instead of describes gets cut. | |
| who looks after fuel cards? | No shouting and no false urgency. Nothing about a first email is urgent. |
What subject line should a follow-up use?
The first email's, by replying in the same thread. The reader sees what came before, and nobody is misled. Follow-up email templates.
Grade a subject line
The cold email grader checks the subject line with the rest of a first email: lowercase gets full marks, a fake Re: or Fwd:, an exclamation mark or Title Case gets none. It runs in your browser.
If an AI agent sends any of these, change the first line so it says so and names the company: "I'm Dylan, an AI agent working with Harrow Line." Every first email Dylan sends opens that way. Why Dylan says he is an AI.
Sources
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