Craft Irresistible Subject Lines for Your Winery’s Email Campaigns

The Email Mavens have written hundreds of thousands of email subject lines, and a lot of them have been about selling wine. Here’s what we’ve learned: a winery email subject line works when it earns the open without burning trust. Nine to 60 characters, one clear idea, and something specific enough that it could only have come from your winery. The three tactics below are how we get there on client sends. We also subscribe to a LOT of winery email lists, and we see the same formulas over and over across the industry. You may notice some of that subject line fatigue in your own inbox, especially around specific holidays. We joke that we should invent a Halloween subject line drinking game. Every time somebody sends “no tricks, just treats,” take a shot. The subject line is one of the biggest factors in whether your email gets opened, along with content relevance, send timing, and the sender ID (who it looks like the email came from). But it’s often the last thing we think about. Sometimes we even type “placeholder subject line” or “test” just to get into the content. No longer.

Tactic #1: Write 30 subject lines

This one we learned from Marie Forleo, and it’s one of our favorite copywriting hacks. You won’t want to do it. We don’t always do it here. But when we do, our subject line game improves 30-fold or more. (winks) Writing 30 does three things:

• Gets the garbage out of your system early
• Helps you spot the winning combinations
• Sets you up with plenty of material for testing

Bonus: it makes writing the rest of the email faster, because you’ve already found the angle. On length: keep it between nine and 60 characters. Long enough to say something specific, short enough to survive a phone’s preview pane. Use curiosity, personalization, and humor inside that range. Try it yourself. Commit to writing 30 subject lines for every email you send next quarter, then compare your open rates to the quarter before.

Tactic #2: A/B test your subject lines

Any email platform worth its salt has built-in A/B testing, and we’re partial to the “A/B test with a champion” option so most of your list ends up receiving the winning line. When you test, don’t just pick two favorites out of a hat. Use the scientific method:

1. Start with a hypothesis
2. Design the test to prove it, and only test one thing at a time
3. Analyze the results
4. Decide what to do with what you learned

Hot tip: Tactic #1 makes this easier, because 30 subject lines gives you plenty of material to test. If you want the fuller version of our testing process, we walk through it in A/B test your way to more online sales.

Tactic #3: Use personalization when you can

Do you have reliable first-name data on your customers? Use it. But first names are the weakest version of personalization. The stronger moves:

• Name the wines they’ve bought before, or varietals they’ve shown interest in
• Call out their loyalty tier or club level
• Use their location to make the wine feel local, for instance “Now shipping to Tacoma: our 2023 Rosé”

Hello, relevance. There’s a lot more where this came from in how to use personalization in your winery’s emails.

Summin’ it up

Now that you’re armed with this intel, use it. Commit to making next quarter your highest-opened emails ever:

• Write 30 subject lines for every email
• A/B test every time, using the scientific method
• Use the customer data you already have

And if you want to see a subject line that earns the open by not looking like marketing at all, read the 176-word email that outsold every flashy send in a client’s 12-day holiday campaign.

FAQs about winery email subject lines

How long should a winery email subject line be?

Aim for nine to 60 characters. Long enough to say something specific, short enough to survive a phone’s preview pane.

Should wineries use emoji in subject lines?

Sparingly, and never as the whole idea. One emoji can add warmth or urgency. A row of them reads as spam to filters and to humans.

Does personalization in subject lines actually work?

It does when the data is reliable. A first name is the weakest version. The wine someone bought, their club tier, or their city is far stronger.

How many subject lines should I write for one email?

Thirty. You’ll hate it, and your fourth-best line will still beat the first one you would have shipped.

What’s the best way to A/B test subject lines?

Start with a hypothesis, change one variable, and use your platform’s champion-based test so the winning line goes to most of your list.

Want Us to Look at Your Subject Lines?

Inside Mavens On Demand, you can bring your actual sends to us and we’ll dig in together. Thirty subject lines, one winner, real data.

Join Mavens On Demand