An email subject line is your first (and often only) chance to grab audience eyeballs and convince them that yours is a message worth reading.
Many copywriters use subject line analyzers to gauge the relative success of a draft before hitting send and making tweaks based on the score it received.
We have clients who live and die by subject line analyzer scores, which means we’ve put a great many tools to the test. Here’s what we found, using the same subject line tester: Unlock the secrets to smarter proofreading.
Advanced Marketing Institute
The Advanced Marketing Institute’s Headline Analyzer is a popular tool for evaluating the emotional marketing value (EMV) of subject lines. It calculates the score based on the emotional impact of the words used. But what resonates with one person might not mean a whole lot to another.
Our subject line scored a whopping 100% on the EMV scale, determining that it appeals to people’s intellectual and spiritual spheres. Ummmm, OK?
Easy Peasy AI
Easy Peasy AI’s Headline Analyzer takes a different approach by providing a comprehensive analysis of subject lines based on word count, emotional impact, use of numbers and more. The tool also provides suggestions for improving the effectiveness of subject lines and offers alternatives.
The results? Our copy was deemed “too long” and lacked the use of numbers, which can boost engagement. And while it created a mystery of intrigue, it was decidedly generic. In other words, this rating was a far cry from the 100% score we received from AMI.
CoSchedule
CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer evaluates the overall quality and SEO-friendliness of subject lines, considering word choice, length and keyword usage. While this can be beneficial for optimizing subject lines for search engines, it’s important to remember that SEO should not be the sole focus when crafting subject lines. Overly optimizing for SEO may result in subject lines that feel robotic or unengaging.
So how’d we do? We scored a 35 (out of a possible 100). The subject line was both generic and neutral, written on 12th grade reading level. But it was clear and concise, and we got some great tips on how to improve it to land a higher score.
Capitalize My Title
Capitalize My Title’s Headline Analyzer focuses on the technical aspects of subject lines, such as sentiment, SEO and readability aspects, and scores based on these elements. While this can be helpful for grammatical correctness and visual appeal, technical correctness does not = open me.
Here, our subject line earned a meh score of 62/100. Like the other tools, we were successful in creating a subject line that evoked an emotional connection. But the readability score implied that the email itself is likely to appeal to a wider audience and will require less brain power to understand. (Wait, what?)
Our take: Take “scoring” with a grain of salt
Can subject line analyzers provide insights for improving the effectiveness of subject lines? Sure.
But we still take issue with their value. Advanced Marketing Institute was the sole tool that took into account anything about our intended audience. Even then, it was pretty generic in describing whom the subject line “might” appeal to.
This is where AI can arguably do a much better job — if you write a great prompt that describes the intended audience, what they know about your company, and other intel to inform the process.
When we find (or invent) that kind of subject line analyzer, we’ll let you know. In the meantime, don’t let arbitrary scores overrule common sense.