Cold Email Subject Lines: The Link Building Edition

First impressions matter whether you are going on a date, an interview, or just emailing potential customers and clients. And for link building outreach, consider subject lines as your dress or fine suit. 

But standing out from the inbox clutter is not a piece of cake. Anyhow, surrendering and giving up is far from a smart solution. 

Instead, you must find effective tactics to make your messages noticeable in crowded inboxes and make them stand out among the competition. 

In this matter, you need to create compelling subject lines for cold emails to accomplish your link building email outreach goals. Don’t take just our words and pay attention to the statistics which show that 64% of recipients decide to open or delete emails based on subject lines. 

For today, read our article to uncover how to write solid and effective cold email subject lines that make potential link building partners to open emails.

Definition and key characteristics of cold emails

So, what are cold emails anyway?

Cold emails are messages businesses send to potential customers or clients with whom they don’t have a prior connection but try to establish communication. 

These emails aim to start business relationships by grabbing the email lead’s attention and highlighting the benefits of products and services that companies suggest.

It will be a smart idea to discuss cold emails compared to warm ones. Basically, you send warm emails to leads with an existing connection and previous interactions, so these messages have higher chances of conversion. 

On the other hand, as you already know, cold emails are the first point of contact with email recipients, thus, it’s a little harder to break the ice and convert them into customers. 

Overall, both these types of email are trying to engage customers. But you need to keep in mind that warm emails focus on retaining customers, while cold emails focus on relationship building and lead generation. 

Typically cold emails are brief and concise and strict to the point. These emails also include CTAs, encouraging recipients to take the next step. 

Remember that subject lines are the significant factor to capture recipients’ attention and make cold email outreach successful. Therefore, all types of cold emails should have compelling cold email subject lines.

But how to decide which subject line you should use? For this, we have made a small list of the main types of cold emails.

Cold emails: the key types

Now let’s dive into the different types of cold emails that are typically categorized based on their goals. 

Introductory cold emails

The introductory cold email introduces business offerings to the email leads, aiming to convert them into clients and customers. These messages spread awareness about your offerings and create long-lasting communication.

Sales emails

Sales emails help promote a product or service directly to potential customers. Moreover, they try to help generate leads and push the users through the ecommerce sales funnel by emphasizing the offer’s benefits and sharing information about features and pricing.

Networking email

These emails help to establish professional connections and build relationships with experts and companies in your industry. It can also help to get mentorship or discover collaboration opportunities.

Event invitation email

These emails invite recipients to participate in an event, such as a webinar, conference, or product launch. They provide event details, share what it can give, and encourage recipients to register. To create these emails more efficiently and visually appealing, consider using an invitation maker, which offers various types and customization options to enhance your event invitations.

Additionally, you can incorporate a social wall element to showcase the Live Twitter Feed your event. This can be achieved by including snippets of attendee testimonials from previous events or displaying a live feed of social media posts with your event hashtag.

Follow-up cold emails

After sending the first cold email, typically, you need to send a follow-up email to remind the recipients about your first message.  

Partnership proposal email

Partnership proposal emails aim to suggest a collaboration or partnership with օther or business. If you’re reaching out to high stake potential partners, you can use professional templates for partnership proposal that you can attach or link to from your email. This will make your message more compelling.

But wait? Aren’t we supposed to discuss how cold emails can help with building links? Let’s get to it!

The magic of cold emails in link building 

Now let’s discuss why cold emails serve as an effective strategy for reaching new link building prospects and establishing strong connections with them.

Here are some important aspects of the role of cold emails in link building:

✓ Outreach to relevant websites

With effective link building outreach, you can contact and target websites that will be interested in link building collaboration.  

✓ Guest posting opportunities

Cold emails also provide an excellent opportunity to suggest guest post collaborations to other websites. Make sure to highlight that your offer is a win-win situation in your emails, as you provide them with quality content while gaining valuable backlinks in return.

Time to delve into the benefits of utilizing cold email subject lines to further elevate your link building efforts.

5 key benefits of cold email subject lines to supercharge your link building

After defining cold email subject lines’ characteristics, let’s discuss why you should invest effort and time into them. The main reason is it plays a crucial role in determining whether potential link building partners will open your message or ignore it. The  numbers speak for themselves, as statistics also prove that 69% of email recipients report an email as spam based on the subject line. On the contrary, a well-crafted subject line can capture the recipient’s attention and generate curiosity in building collaboration and making them open your message.  

Here are some benefits of effective cold email subject lines:

✔ Higher open rates

First and foremost, subject lines can increase the open rate of cold emails. The reason is when recipients open their inbox and come across a  link building outreach email with a captivating and strong subject line; they will most likely click on that email.

✔ Improved response rates

Great cold email subject lines that clearly communicate the value of potential link building collaboration can increase the chances of getting positive responses. 

✔ Enhanced personalization

The next advantage of compelling cold email subject lines is the opportunity of personalizing your link building email outreach. You can mention the prospective link building partner’s name, website or blog information, or any other relevant details showing that you have invested time researching and tailoring the email to their specific interests. 

Remember to emphasize how the link building collaboration will benefit them specifically.

Catchy cold email subject lines that are personalized and relevant to the recipient are more likely to be opened, leading to better cold email deliverability as email providers recognize and promote such practices.

✔ Differentiation from spam or generic email

Creating the best cold email subject lines for link building outreach will help your messages stand out from generic ones. But you need to avoid spammy language and focus on highlighting the value of link building collaboration. 

Keep the balance between using attention-grabbing language and still remaining authentic and not making fake promises.

✔ Clear Communication

Catchy cold email subject lines that effectively convey the message of the email will guarantee the success of link building email outreach. It sets expectations for the potential link-building partners, allowing them to assess the relevance and importance of the email content quickly.   

Well, it would be hard to underestimate the role of cold email subject lines  in improving your link building efforts. But the real question is how to create successful subject lines for link building.

Best practices for link building email subject lines

The significance of cold email subject lines in any cold email outreach strategy is pretty clear. Poorly crafted subject lines can lead to failure by causing recipients to ignore or delete the email before even opening it. While managing to create the best subject lines for cold email, you can guarantee the success of your cold email outreach. 

Pretty amazing, right?

Now let’s discuss how to create subject lines for link building outreach that can bring great results.

Personalize your cold subject line

Personalizing your cold email subject lines for link building outreach can significantly capture the potential link builder’s attention and improve open rates. By personalizing your emails, you will show genuine interest in collaborating with the recipients, making them consider your proposal. Basically, email personalization helps establish valuable link-building partnerships.

So let’s discuss tactics on to make your cold email subject line more personal for link building collaboration:

✓ Include the recipients’ names

Including the prospective link building partners’ names in the subject line may be a small but important step to grab their attention.

✓ Mention their company or industry

Show that you have done your research by mentioning the recipient’s company or website in the subject lines․ This way you can demonstrate that your message is tailored specifically to them.

✓ Address a specific pain point or challenge

In your link building outreach email, address a pain point or challenge the recipients face that your offer can help solve. Emphasize how this collaboration will ultimately strengthen·their backlink profile and boost visibility.

✓ Personalize based on your lead’s interests or preferences

Collect information about your link building partner’s interests or preferences as much as possible and keep them in mind when creating subject lines. This way, you create a sense of relevance and increase the chances of engagement.  

Showcase value in your cold email subject lines

The subject lines of your link building outreach email should give a reason for recipients to open it. And it can be done by adding value or some benefit that they get by opening the message and accepting your link building partnership offer.

So, make sure to clearly state the specific benefits or value that the recipients can expect from opening your email. Ensure it suggests solutions to certain pain points that they have. If possible, personalize the value proposition based on your collected information about the link-building partners’ needs and interests.

Lastly, stay away from using spammy tactics, as they can harm the trust of potential ling building collaboration.

Keep it short and concise

One of the most important steps for capturing the recipient’s attention when sending link building outreach emails is making subject lines as short and clear as possible.

It wouldn’t be a discovery to mention that people’s inboxes are bombarded with messages and you have little time to time to convey your messages. So, use 5-7 words making it easier for link building partners to scan quickly.

In the next step, ensure your subject line clearly communicates the purpose of the link-building outreach message. Be specific about what you are proposing, whether it’s a guest post contribution, link exchange, or any other collaboration.

Keep in mind that subject lines will get cut off if they’re too long, especially on mobiles. Thus, stay away from vague or confusing phrases. Instead, use straightforward language that clearly conveys what’s in your email’s content.

Segment email lists for targeted subject lines

Email segmentation is key for the success of any type of email campaign. This is true when you try to craft the best cold email subject lines for your link building campaign. So start the email segmentation by job title, past interaction, interests, or any other criteria that are relevant to your link building outreach goals.

In case you want to send a proposal email for link-exchange collaboration, segment your list based on website metrics such as domain authority, organic traffic, or backlink profile. Moreover, you can segment your list based on the decision-making roles of the recipients within their organizations.

In the next step, write great cold email subject lines for each segment that address potential link acquisition partners’ needs or interests. This is an effective tactic that can increase the possibility of getting positive responses.

Generate curiosity and ask questions

Generating curiosity and asking questions in your cold email subject can be an important psychological trigger that will increase the open rate of your link building outreach emails.

In this stage, while it’s important to clearly convey your message, you don’t give away all the information in the subject line. Instead, you make a potential link building partner open the email to learn more.

You can achieve this by generating curiosity and posing a question or incomplete statement that makes the recipients open and discover more details about link building proposals.

Ensure that the body of your email delivers on the curiosity generated by the subject line. Keep the balance between making your cold email subject lines intriguing and not giving false promises, as it can impact your credibility and harm the potential for establishing valuable connections with link building prospects.

Create spam-proof email subject lines

You want that link building outreach email to deliver into the email recipients’ inboxes, right? So you need to prevent your emails from being marked as spam. Let’s discuss how to do it:

✓ Avoid spam trigger words and phrases

Avoid using common spam words and phrases in subject lines, as they are red flags for spam filters. Instead, focus on clear and concise language and avoid overly promotional words.

✓ Test your subject lines with spam filters

Before you send cold emails for link building, try out different subject lines using spam filter testing tools or services. This way, you can see how spam filters might view your emails and learn about any possible problems. By identifying potential issues, you can increase the email deliverability and reach your link-building goals.

✓ Stay away from capitalization

To seem professional to potential link-building partners and avoid landing in an email spam folder, make sure to follow correct capitalization rules. Avoid using all capital letters or excessive capitalization in your cold email subject lines.

By following these steps, you increase the chances of reaching the link building partners inboxes successfully.

Test cold email subject lines of link building outreach

You always need a clear picture of how your link building outreach emails work. So you need to conduct A/B testing for the subject line to measure their performance. You can analyze engagement metrics to identify the most effective subject lines that resonate best with your target audience. 

By measuring key metrics and refining subject lines based on results, you can  maximize deliverability and recipient engagement and improve outreach campaign performance.

Why and when to send cold email follow-ups

Ok, let’s admit, first impressions matter, but one message is not enough to showcase how valuable your offer can be for link building partners. So you need to send a follow-up link building outreach email because it can increase the chances of receiving a response. Follow-up serves as a reminder and encourages engagement.

Sometimes, recipients may have unanswered questions or concerns that prevent them from responding. A follow-up email provides an opportunity to clarify any misunderstandings and showcase the value of your offerings in detail. 

These messages show your genuine interest in collaborating, which can help foster a connection and potentially lead to a link placement or any kind of link building partnership. You can highlight the advantages of your SaaS link building approach and emphasize the benefits of link building collaboration. 

When it comes to finding the right timing for link building outreach follow up, usually, it’s strategic to wait around 3-5 business days before sending the message. This way, prospects quickly get reminded about the offer from the previous email. Moreover, in this case, you can use follow-ups to continue telling the story or offering additional benefits.

Well, we talked about cold email subject lines and their importance. We also gave actionable tips on how to create compelling subject lines for effective link building outreach. 

But now it’s time to discuss in real terms and on real examples of cold email subject lines for effective link building outreach.

Examples of cold email subject lines in link building

Now let’s discuss real examples for your email outreach campaigns that we use at SayNine to find new link building partners.

“[Name], It’s your customized SaaS link exchange offer”

This first subject line clearly conveys the message and shares what’s waiting to the email recipients in the message. By including the word “SaaS”, the sender indicates that they work in specific niches and offer link exchange opportunities from reputable sources. 

On the other hand by emphasizing the word “customized”, the message indicates that the link exchange offer is relevant to the email recipient’s needs.

“[Name], Ordered SaaS backlinks?

This subject line is short and punchy but still manages to convey the main message. By making it in the form of a question, the sender makes the subject line more engaging. Most definitely, the email recipients will be intrigued to open and read the message.

“[Name], SaaS backlink exchange cooperation offer”

This one is quite a concise subject line that is free of additional fluff. This subject line manages to generate interest in what’s inside, so email recipients will be interested in the offer.

“[Name], want SaaS backlinks from a real-life cartoon character?”

This subject shows the personality of the sender and presents what they are offering to email recipients. It’s a great step to make your email shine through other generic emails.

“[Name], how about SaaS backlinks”?

This subject line is also short and includes a question that can capture an email lead’s attention. It completely communicates the message but also gives a sense that not everything is done, making email recipients open the email.

“[Name], Your link from a SaaS website is almost live!” 😎

It is quite a “confident” subject line that guarantees quick results. In case the sender manages to give the email copy what subject lines it promises, so there are higher chances of converting new leads.

“[Name], Beep-Beep, SaaS Backlinks!” 🚛

This one is quite funny, yet it manages to convey a core message. Also this way the sender showcases its personality and helps the message to stand out in the crowded inbox.

“[Name], Your link is almost live!”😎

With this subject line the sender is sure that they can deliver quick results. It indicates that email recipients can get link backlinks in no time when starting a link-exchange collaboration.

“[Name], SaaS backlinks are waiting for you!”😎

It’s a simple, and friendly subject line that again communicates the core message. This subject line shows that email recipients should take a few steps to get backlinks. By mentioning the expression “SaaS backlinks” the sender promised to improve their email lead’s backlink profile thanks to reputable SaaS websites.

“[Name], Ready for some cool backlink exchanges?”

This subject line is in a friendly tone as well. It manages to drive action and creates interest in backlink exchange opportunities.

“[Name], Rank Higher with [keyword]”🚀

This subject line indicates the benefits the potential partners can get by deciding to collaborate and increase  their websites rankings. What is interesting is that the sender took time to research and find the perfect keyword that will help to reach that goal.

[Name], we can help you rank with “[keyword]“

This subject line suggests that senders can expect great results when agreeing to collaborate․ Similar to the previous one, this one is also personalized. It contains a specific keyword that the sender researched and offers potential partners to achieve higher rankings with it.

[Name], trying to rank with “[keyword]“? 

This subject line is also in the form of a question and suggests a high ranking with a specific keyword.

To sum up

You don’t want to be unprepared for the important interview or date. And “meeting” with email leads shouldn’t be an exception. So why not invest time and effort in creating effective cold email subject lines that can be the core of your link building outreach success?

The answer is definitely positive, as compelling subject lines can improve both open and response rates. But in order to create those kinds of subject lines, you need to personalize them and emphasize your value. Not to mention the importance of being short and concise yet managing to generate curiosity when crafting subject lines. 

By following these and other suggestions that we gave in the article, you can create subject lines that will be core to the successful link building email outreach.

FAQ about cold email subject lines in link building