Billions of emails are sent daily and it probably seems like you received more emails this year than any other year. Personal inboxes are filled with discount offers and holiday specials at this time of year. But how can marketers work to get more of their emails opened, read, and interacted with? There is always a risk of customers and clients clicking the dreaded “unsubscribe” button, but on the bright side, with each email sent out, you’ve an opportunity to learn, grow, and connect with your customers.

These days, with instant gratification and social media usage rising, attention spans are continuously getting smaller and smaller. How can marketers capture and then retain their audience’s attention when writing emails? One answer is in the subject line and the pre-header.

The subject line is the first chance you get to grab your audience’s attention. Being unique and standing out helps get emails opened. With that being said, there are specific key words that can be incorporated to encourage higher open rates.

According to Worldata, trending words for the 2020 holiday season include:

• 2021
• Curb Side
• Free Shipping
• Deserve
• Budget
• Open
• You/Your
• Just For
• Free
• Pipeline
• New
• Growth
• Forecast
• Future
• Jobs/Career

When thinking about the wild year that was 2020, most of these trending words seem logical. For instance, the majority of us are looking forward to a fresh start in 2021, and brands that can strategically use that to their advantage can drive more engagement from their emails.

Like all marketing tactics, there is a delicate balance that will create the engagement and response you are looking for. These trending words are helpful in the subject line, but that’s just the beginning. You must also work to retain the customer’s interest with intriguing pre-headers and quality content in the email itself.