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The Madison Avenue Field GuideA field guide to marketing & advertising, by Brandon Mina

GlossaryEmail & LifecycleSubject Line Testing

Email & Lifecycle

Subject Line Testing

Sending different subject line versions to subsets of a list to see which earns more opens or clicks before sending the winner.

By Brandon MinaCEO, BrandPilot AIUpdated November 2026

Short answer

Subject line testing is the practice of sending different subject line versions to subsets of a list to see which earns more opens or clicks before sending the winner. It is a common form of A/B testing in email. Because open tracking is less reliable today, clicks or conversions often make better success measures.