No rental professional wants to write a poor subject line. Writing a good subject line has a simple formula. It needs to be clear, readable and satisfy a renter’s “what’s in it for me?”. Well-written subject lines attract positive attention from rental hunters and won’t deter people from reading it. Make sure you use these three tips when you write your subject line:
Tip #1: Sentence capitalization.
Just like a sentence, capitalize the first letter of the first word in the subject line. This is how we are trained to read, so it is faster for us to read sentences this way in contrast to all caps. If you don’t want to overwhelm your prospective renters, write your online listings using sentence capitalization.
Tip #2: Fill out all the fields, but don’t repeat.
Craigslist provides fields to fill about your property. Craigslist will ask you to add the number of bedrooms and pictures of your unit. Do it. Not adding that information is negligent. People want to know how large the property is and what it looks like. (You can also learn more about taking better rental pictures.)
If you do fill the number of bedroom field, don’t include it in the rest of the subject line. State it once. Being redundant is a waste of valuable subject line space.
Tip #3: Feature a benefit.
If you’re going to include any additional information about your unit in your subject line, highlight a benefit that your unit offers. That means, the renter living in your unit will be at some advantage by choosing to live there. For example, a feature could be “close walk to university” or “washer and dryer in unit.” These features could win over a rental hunter right on the search list page, getting them to click into your listing.
