Best Email Subject Lines For Sales: 40+ Examples for 2025
August 14, 2025·11 min read
Donnique Williams
Discover best practices for crafting email subject lines, specific writing tips, and 40+ examples you can use today.
Why sales email subject lines matter
What makes a sales email subject line irresistible?
Most folks you email decide whether to open your email based on its subject line alone.
If sales people spend all their time crafting the perfect email and neglect the subject line, that’s a large margin for error, lost sales, and, ultimately, lost revenue. On the flip side, personalized subject lines can increase open rates by 22%.
Cold email outreach is still a top channel for lead generation and using a sprinkle of exclusivity, fomo, and time-sensitive offers can increase click-through rates and ultimately drive more revenue.
That’s why we’re sharing an updated list of best practices for crafting striking subject lines, seven specific writing tips you can use, an inspiring list of 40+ examples that get emails opened and lead to closed deals, and top AI sales tools that can help sales teams craft the perfect email from start to finish.
From top sellers’ advice on tailoring your subject lines for any sales outreach scenario to phenomenal subject line examples, save this article to return to any time you feel stuck and need to get your creative email juices flowing.
How AI enhances sales email subject lines
In years past, testing out email subject lines was a much more manual process that involved manually pulling data, spreadsheets, and presenting findings to the greater team. Now, in the age of artificial intelligence, most sales intelligence platforms offer this functionality with no extra effort.
Your team also no longer needs to come up with new subject lines off the cuff — AI-powered sales tools can also help you come up with creative ways to grab and keep your prospect’s attention in different ways.
Personalization at scale
As we mentioned, CRM and sales tools like Outreach or Gong now offer sales email generators, including custom subject lines that are more likely to resonate with your target audience. These tools often pull in relevant company and contact data with some tools like Crystal even helping folks understand what ✨ vibe ✨will resonate best.
Data-driven insights for optimization
Are you using all of the data-driven insights found in your sales tools? With new AI features rolling out seemingly every week, it is critical teams keep up with the insights available to them.
Make sure your sharing these insights with your team. Here at Vidyard, we’re all about making it easy to share the best sales video messages with the entire team, including our latest video analytics update.
Predictive analytics for better results
In the age of AI, analytics is more than just knowing what works today. Now, it’s all about being able to optimize one step further with predictive analytics.
Predictive analytics allows teams to go beyond what has happened in the past to understanding what might happen in the future. So if you have a killer email subject line that’s resonating already, next-gen analytics can help you take it to the next level with small tweaks!
7 tips for writing attention-getting sales subject lines (with 50+ email subject line examples)
Now that you know the theory behind the effective subject lines, let’s investigate the practice.
Use this list of 40+ example subject lines to inspire your own. We’ve also compiled tips and practical advice from sales leaders on tailoring your writing for any outreach or sales prospecting scenario.
And here’s an extra tip: if you send a video email message, test adding the word ‘video’ to your subject line to entice that open even further. Doing so will also indicate to your prospect that you’ve sent a video email as opposed to a plain-text email.
For cold outreach: use curious word choices
Anyone who sends cold emails knows it sometimes feels impossible to break through the cluttered inboxes of prospects. With so many emails competing for attention, standing out and getting noticed can be difficult. Most folks are hesitant to open emails from unknown senders, and even those who do may quickly delete them if they don’t seem interesting or valuable.
For cold outreach, you can’t rely on being a trusted name or business, so it takes extra work to engage prospects. The human brain prioritizes the novel — novelty triggers the release of dopamine in the brain as a reward, encouraging us to find out more. By using unusual words prospects are not expecting in a sales email, you may be able to grab a precious moment of their time.
Consider giving these curious sales email subject lines a try.
Picture your sales email as a mysterious package. Imagine that your prospect has never seen or heard of it before. You’re responsible for offering your prospect this package and encouraging them to open it — and your email subject line is the way to do it. If you present the mysterious package with amazing, intriguing content inside, they will likely want to open it up and take a look.
The key here is to withhold just enough information to elicit curiosity, making them want to know more. It becomes a mystery they are compelled to investigate, leading them to click on your email and potentially engage with your company.
Here are some of the best sales email subject lines to leave them hanging (in a good way).
[Name] I have to tell you…
Quick question…
[Name], I saw one of your ads…
Our next steps
[Name], your CEO…
5 things you need to know
“What makes people uncomfortable about this approach is that you skip the pleasantries. But it really works.”
When it comes to using internal camouflage in sales email subject lines, less is often more. Internal camouflage is all about creating email subject lines that mimic company communications.
If executed proficiently, utilizing internal camouflage can be a very effective way to catch a prospect’s attention and entice them to open your email. However, if not executed properly, your attempt to appear to be working for the prospect’s company may leave them feeling misled and frustrated.
It’s important to note that even when done effectively, trust is still a crucial component of any effective sales strategy. Instead of relying solely on internal camouflage, make sure to focus on building a genuine connection with your prospect by providing value and addressing their specific needs or pain points. Establishing that level of trust and building a relationship will increase the likelihood of success in the long run.
Using video alongside internal camouflage is a great way to not just get the open, but get a response. Don’t just take our word for it: Pavilion saw a 2x response rate and 8x ROI on their investment in personalized video messages.
Test some of these internal camouflage sales email subject lines.
Reply rates
Template refresh
Last week’s results
Sales templates
The results are in
“The thing that I don’t want to happen is for your subject line to scream to the reader, “Hey, you’re about to get pitched!” So what do you do? Use Internal camouflage. It looks like it could be internal and won’t ring alarm bells in your reader’s mind.”
Will AllredLavenderCo-Founder & COO
For follow-up emails and networking: make them the expert
Prospects love to feel smart.
That’s where framing your subject line as a bid for knowledge sharing comes in. Not only does this approach pique interest, but it also sets a positive tone for the conversation to come. This type of sales email subject line is great for both follow-ups and introductions, whether you’re reconnecting with cold leads or introducing yourself to potential new customers
By positioning yourself as someone who values and prioritizes knowledge, you’re showing your prospects that you’re interested in making sales and building positive, lasting relationships.
Make your prospect feel like the expert with these subject lines.
Tech question / [Company] sales process
Looking for your advice on [subject]
Wanna get coffee and continue chatting about [subject]?
I need your advice on something
[Name], I loved your blog post on [website name]
[Name], question about your book
[Name], wild idea?
For promotional emails: subvert their expectations
We all know that feeling of dread when we open our inbox and see dozens of the same tired promo emails. Now, more than ever, it’s important to stand out from the crowd with attention-grabbing subject lines.
One effective way to do this is by subverting expectations. A cleverly placed ellipsis, a unique choice of words, or a witty phrase can be just the thing to make your email stand out from the rest. So why not try something new and see if it makes a difference in your readers’ engagement levels?
Be irresistible with one of these sales email subject lines.
I love everything in this email!
What if we told you____
And they said it couldn’t be done
I don’t usually do this…
They told us it was impossible
Do not open this email
I think [product] would be perfect for you
“What will challenge this person’s narratives? What will make them think my email is different enough from the countless others they receive?”
Dale DupreeThe Sales RebellionFounder and CSO
For leads that have gone cold: surprise them
Cold leads can be the hardest to revive. They’ve shown interest in the past, but for one reason or another, they’ve gone silent. But don’t give up on them just yet.
The element of surprise works wonders when reaching out to the prospects that ghosted.
So, pull out all the stops with the most striking, compelling words you can conjure up for your subject lines. Show them why they’re missing out on your product or service and why they should reconnect with you. Think curious word choices, emojis, and cliff hangers while making sure you’re not engaging in clickbait!
Warm them up and give one of these subject lines a try.
Should I stay or should I go?
Where is the love?
Is this my last chance?
Feeling blue?
If you change your mind about partnering with us (exclusive offer)
3 ideas for you
I never want to assume
[Name], you in?
“I don’t do it to instill panic. It’s a great motivation to open the email, which is the barrier we have with email subject lines.”
Jen AllenLavenderChief Evangelist
For decisionmakers: use video to stand out in the inbox
While this article is about email subject lines, we all know that response rates rely on what’s inside. While a great subject line can get the click, you have to follow up with a top-notch body that focuses on their problems and your potential solutions.
Still blocked on the best sales email subject line?
We’ve given you many catchy subject lines to inspire your next email. But if you’re still blocked and want to get unstuck, why not let AI tools give you that little extra boost?
Marketers are leveraging AI tools to brainstorm options for lead-generating email subject lines, but sales can also utilize these powerful tools.
From AI video script generators to prospect research, sales use cases for AI tools are ever-expanding—and email subject lines are the perfect way to dip your toes. Given the email subject line best practices we covered above, play with different prompts in tools like ChatGPT and see what email subject lines come back. Not all will be winners, but you might just find that golden ticket.
Sample sales email subject line AI prompts
Write 10 alternative catchy sales email subject lines for a [add the type of sales email] based on the following instructions:
Use the prospect’s first name [add prospect’s name] in the subject line to increase personalization and engagement.
Choose words that evoke an emotional response in the reader, such as curiosity, excitement, or urgency.
Keep the subject line short and to the point, ideally fewer than 5 words, to increase open rates.
Use action-oriented verbs to convey a sense of urgency and encourage the reader to take action.
If you want AI to do even more work for you, why not let it help with lead gen, sales prospecting, and generating your outbound sales emails (including subject lines)? Automated sales prospecting tools like Video Agent are doing just that. They act as virtual sales assistants, taking the heavy lifting off the rep so you can spend more time on following up with the most engaged leads.
The future of AI in sales email outreach
Top sellers agree — subject lines can make or break your sales outreach. So why not listen to the experts?
While inboxes are noisier than ever, standing out can be easier than ever if you’re strategic, thoughtful, and use the latest AI sales tools at your fingertips to craft that banger subject line.
Vidyard has enabled over 100,000 companies around the world to send personalized video messages that increase response rates and ultimately help them close more deals. We’re all about helping every rep be their best from our free Chrome Extension with a built-in video sales script generator, our in-depth analytics, and Video Agents that automate the process of creating and sending videos based on the actions prospects take like requesting a demo.
Schedule some time to chat with our team to see our platform in action (including the email subject lines we use!).
Spend less time hunting leads and more hitting quota with AI-powered prospecting. Vidyard Prospector handles the heavy lifting of hyper-personalized outreach to the right kind of leads, so you can focus on new relationships, building pipeline and closing more deals.
