Client Insights - Subject Lines
Are You a Shakespeare or a Mark Twain?
Creating a subject line is like creating a bestseller. Some ESPs recommend subject lines contain no more than 40 to 50 characters, to ensure they show completely in the preview header. Others have done research showing that nine word subject lines perform comparably to three word ones. That set us to wondering: what are the best subject lines to encourage recipients to open your emails e.g. free, intriguing, X% off, or others?) So we put the question to our Client Insights panel. This month the panelists are:
Steve Dumas, Ecommerce Marketing Manager, Ballard Designs
Julie Bridge, Director of Internet Marketing, Indiana Botanic Gardens, Inc
Jessica Fraser Sotelo, Manager, Online Marketing, World Wildlife Fund
Fresh Perspectives (FP): Steve, what subject lines tend to work the best for Ballard Designs, an interior furnishings retailer?
Steve Dumas: An offer in the subject line is usually the greatest motivator. We have also found some content-focused subject lines to have high opens, particularly if it’s about something we don’t normally address. People clearly like discounts on products they value but they also appreciate advice from trusted brands.
FP: Julie, Indiana Botanic Gardens sells herbal supplements and natural remedies. What subject lines keep your open rates healthy?
Julie Bridge: We are always testing subject lines and have identified several that work well for us. We try to introduce one or two new subject line tests each month. "Free Shipping," "Coupon" and "Sale" subject lines are always popular, but we've also found that softer messages like "Thank You" and "VIP Offer" are effective.
We send out two "Health News" emails per month with subject lines that are content-focused. Finally, we personalize a few emails each month with the customer's name or with product/category interests by segment. We don't personalize every email, but mix these in throughout each month. If you use the same subject line each time, your customers can become numb to your offers and tune out your emails.
FP: Jessica, you’re in the non-profit space which means you need to appeal to your subscribers in a different way than Steve and Julie. What subject lines seem to be the most successful for World Wildlife Fund?
Jessica Fraser Soleto: At World Wildlife Fund, we find that deadlines with urgent calls-to-action work well. Also, subject lines that highlight an uncommon, “you-don’t-hear-that-every-day” news story. And, no matter how many times they see it in their inbox, people still love free stuff.
FP: Of course, at FreshAddress we recommend that you always test your creative to ensure brand consistency and IP reputation before going into production. Make sure you optimize your emails to ensure they render properly when they arrive; and code them correctly to avoid being identified as spam. And don’t forget to A/B test 10% of each campaign to see what performs best before rolling out the balance of your deployment. Test, test, and test some more!
Consider modulating the time of day that you send your messages. Marketers that send between 8 p.m. and midnight tend to see the highest average rate of delivery. Most marketers, however, insist on delivering their message between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Of emails sent during those peak hours during the holiday season, 67%-73% on average make it to inboxes. Email sent late at night, though, see 88%-92% inbox placement. Most ESPs will let you pre-determine what time your campaign deploys so you don’t have to sit at your desk burning the midnight oil just to send out your emails.
If you’re comparing your open rates from 2009 to 2010 and it looks like they’ve gone down, keep in mind that more and more people have their images automatically turned off. Consequently, you may have a much higher open rate than you think. In fact, some industry sources suggest you double your open rate statistic to compensate for the number of people who don’t have images optimized on their computers.
To challenge an old email industry dictum, having words like “FREE” in your subject line may cause your email to go directly to the spam filter in the B2B world, but in B2C it’s rarely a problem anymore. And as to the question posed at the very beginning of this article on the correct length of a subject line? Our research shows that you shouldn’t sacrifice your message just for the sake of keeping the subject line short. No template will guarantee your success, unfortunately. But keep trying different things and keep track of what works and what doesn’t so that you can produce your own individual email masterpiece!
This month marks the end of our Client Insights series. We’d like to thank our panel of participants and we wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday!