• Mar252009

    Insider tip to better email subject lines

    Posted by Melissa in Email Marketing

    EmailDo Not Send Messages on Fridays. Especially Friday afternoons! - This is one tip I usually give our SwiftPress customers regarding send days and times. Why? Well, from my research and experience, the open rate for Friday sends - especially afternoon sends - is usually pretty dismal. However, my theory was debunked this past Friday with a send. All because of a strategic subject line.

    This certain customer is a retail store who, like many others, is trying to move their advertising from expensive print mailers to more effective email sends. Their eMessaging has proven to be pretty successful with a good number of opens and clicks per send. The switch has also proven helpful with the retail store for the fact that sales can occur at short notice because of a shipment, etc.

    The usual subject line is broad considering they have several things on sale at once. For instance, “Last Chance Winter Sale” or “2-for-1 Sale now in Progress.” This time, they needed a message sent that afternoon which was a Friday. I wasn’t very optimistic sending the message so I decided to try something a little different and a little more precise. I sent with the subject line “20% off Polo Knit Shirts” - instead of just the general, “Polo Sale.”

    Finalize. Click. Send. Within 30 minutes of the send we had hit the open percentage rate the previous email had received after a full send (which, in my opinion, is about 3 days) that was sent on a Monday afternoon. After the full send for this particular email, the open rate surpassed the open rate of the majority of their other sends. The click through rate was also pretty high taking into consideration the email had no direct URL link. Pretty impressive, eh?

    I know what you’re thinking, maybe people just really wanted some Polo knits that Friday afternoon. But I beg to differ. My moral of the story is this: Precise and strategic subject lines make a great deal of difference in your resulting mass email opens and clicks. Find what you think the customers will be most interested in and push it in your delivery. I’m still not convinced it’s more important than the send day/time; however, I’ll keep testing it.

    • Post a Comment 3 Comments

    1. Posted at 9:52 am on 03/28/09

      Nicole Cendrowski

      This is great advice, Melissa. A simple, accurate subject line, as well as sending the email at the right time is a powerful duo.

      For one of our clients who uses Swiftpress, we’ve found that sending their email messages late morning, mid-week is an ideal time. Open and click-through rates are strong. What also helps is that they have a well-developed mailing list of contacts who really want to receive email from them. The client carefully nurtured this email list for several years before even starting an email campaign. The work has paid off.

      Also, when crafting an email message, I often take a step back and think, does this email subject line need to communicate the message clearly and quickly - over creatively? One example is a upscale salon/spa I receive email from. Their subject lines are things like “Tempt your tresses” or “Indulge your senses.” While I appreciate the creativity, I’ve ignored them. If the subject line simply read, “$20 off your next haircut in April,” that is clearly a sweet deal. They may garner a larger response that way.

    2. Posted at 2:42 pm on 05/05/09

      tom

      If you do not recommend Friday send days, which day(s) do you recommend?

    3. Posted at 4:56 pm on 08/08/11

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