In most of our studies, we see the open rate increase with shorter subject lines. Across a large sample, our highest open rates were with subjects that had fewer than 39 characters, but there are exceptions to the rule which makes it very important to test. In a post from early 2009, I wrote about A/B Subject Line Testing. While this plays an increasingly important role as your list size grows, it can also help to make big improvement for small senders.

Quick Tips for Subject Lines:

1. Be Cognizant of Inbox Restraints: some email clients will not display your entire subject, so make sure to have your key points at the front.

2. Focus on Targeted Copy: more important than the length is what your subject says. If it is timely and targeted you will see higher engagement rates.

3. Explore Dynamic Subjects: If your email platform supports dynamic content, experiment with using dynamic elements in your subject.

4. Test: The A/B approach helps increase your email funnel for each send and provide good data for future improvements. Take the extra step and test your subject lines.

This morning I received the 4th of July Promo email. Consistent on some good elements, but a few things were missing for me.

Good Elements

1. Clear Subject Line: 4th Of July Savings : Get 10% off all Blinds.com Brand Products To the point and specific. I know what to expect when I open (and expectations have been established for my savings).

2. Consistency: The email is specifically about the promotion, a continuation of the subject, and focused on the event (in this case; July 4th)

3. Landing Page: Highly targeted landing page specifically for this email promo. This is a big win. If I had a dollar for every email I’ve seen that links to a not-so-well targeted landing page…

Improvements

1. Design: The majority of this email is a big image. Not good at all when images are blocked. Even with some nice things they have (some plain text in case images are blocked) there are still much better ways to balance it.

2. Architecture: The layout of this email does not help the problems with the images. Such a big piece of real estate is taken up by the flag (problem 1) but it’s also in the left portion and takes up the majority of my preview window (see screen grab). If you must have a big image, at least have your primary copy to the left so I can see it. Had I not liked reviewing emails from Blinds.com this would have been an instant delete. I also feel there is much to be improved with the layout and presentation of key buttons (Shop Now, Save 10% Today, Offer expires..).

I like what Blinds.com has been doing with the email channel and think that they are a cut above many email marketing programs. But this particular email was sub-par for me.

Screen Grab of Left Half of Image (click to enlarge)

Screen Grab of Expanded Email Image (click to enlarge)

A few quick comments on this delivery

Some Nice Elements

1.Pre-Header: They have a link to an online version of the message. Good move, and something that should be present in all emails.

2. Social Media Options: Simple and clean buttons in the header to connect with the company on Facebook and Twitter

3. Navigation: As I pointed out in a previous post, this not only give the user relevant options for connecting to your site, but it provides you the ability to create meaningful segments later based on their click engagement.

4. Pricing Layout: Instead of just showing the sale price, they also have the regular priced crossed out. Nice way to help visualize the savings.

Some Areas of Improvement

1. Text to Image Ratio: In this email, the ratio is to heavy on images.  This creates problems, as many email clients will block images by default. Even with Alt-Text, it can have a negative impact on the success of your email program. You can design an email that is more text driven while not hurting the aesthetic design intentions.

2. Subject Line: The subject line used in the email was 59 characters w/spaces. In general, this is a bit long. Of course you always want to test, and A/B subject line testing can help make nice improvements to your metrics. We see high engagement though with subject lines that are below 39 characters.

3. No Order Now Button: What I would like to see next to the price is an ‘Order Now’ button (or text link). While everyone hopefully clicks on the image or title to view the product, many won’t. Additionally, in some of our own tests, we’ve seen higher engagement with a clear button or text link for ordering.

While there is some more intricate improvements that can be made, tackling some low-hanging fruit here should improve the success of Wrapables’ email program.

Follow Me on Twitter

(Click on image to enlarge)

It read:  EMAIL-ONLY SALE

A few quick comments here:

1. On a basic level, I like the focus and promotion of a special sale for email subscribers. Too often list members get fatigued and question why they are on a mailing list in the first place. Rewarding them, and providing a little something special for letting you into their inbox is a very nice gesture.

2. ALL CAPS: On a first view, this grabbed my attention, however I wouldn’t recommend it. Some email filters may view this as spammy and it may never get to the inbox. There goes the nice promotion and simple subject. I don’t think anything is lost with just having: Email Only Sale

3. One way to make this more enticing would be to add some time sensitivity. e.g. Email Only Sale – 3 Days Left!

Not a bad effort though by Overstock.com. With subject lines in particular, it’s always good to do subject line testing to achieve higher engagement.

Z Gallerie: Celebrate Mom – 20% off gifts

GUESS.com: Gifts Mom will love

Williams-Sonoma: Perfect for Mom: Calphalon Unison Nonstick Frittata Pan

Sephora: Free gift for mom (or for you!)

Hallmark: Make Mom’s day with the perfect card

Costco: Only Two Days Left To Order For Mother’s Day!

Large retailers like these will have big lists and most definitely engage in Subject Line Testing. With this type of event and the various promotions, there are several different directions the email department can go with their subject lines. We see Costco not pushing a particular product or promotion, but emphasizing the act of ordering (and the time sensitivity). Williams-Sonoma on the other hand goes very specific with a product recommendation. I like this approach — especially for shoppers that have a hard time shopping (either due to lack of time or lack of creativity). With this, Williams-Sonoma provides a specific solution — no shopping around, no decisions. This of course has its drawbacks and isn’t perfect for all situations, but I like the simplicity of the approach.

Of the dozens of others I received, they all followed a similar theme of the above 6. Promoting a discount, specific product, time sensitivity, or a simple reminder.

In a previous post I commented on a nice subject line from Blinds.com. A/B Subject line testing is usually the quickest place to start of you are new to email marketing testing, and one of the easiest tests to have in place if you are already running more complex testing programs.

The concept is simple: Test 2 or more different versions of your subject line to see what performs better.

To keep it simple, let’s assume we are using the open rate (number of opened emails/number of delivered emails) as the metric of determining a ‘winner.’ Let’s also assume we are sending to a list of 50,000 subscribers.

Let’s do a sample of 7,500 for each for 2 subject lines, and then roll the winner out to the remaining 35,000 subscribers after 2 days. The diagram below shows this scenario:

In my own testing, I’ve seen everything from near microscopic differences (15.04% vs 15.06%) to significant winners (12% vs. 30%). See how your lists perform under a testing scenario. The larger the list, the greater the impact of even a small improvement. With email marketing, we want to systematically make improvements to all of our key metrics. While one may be more important than the other, they all play an important role in the success of our campaign.

- Forest Bronzan

Follow me on Twitter

Other posts you might find of interest:

Best Day to Send Email

Introduction to Email Segmentation

Email List Building Mistakes

Over the weekend I was going through some personal email and saw the following subject line from Blinds.com

Our Best Sale Ever – 4 Days Only!

I like it! Now as an advance note on my following comment, I just recently became a subscriber to Blinds.com so have not seen many other emails. If they use this tactic (saying it’s their best sale ever) over and over it will of course become diluted and lose effect.

But assuming they are selective with their CTAs (calls to action), this subject line has 4 winning points to note:

1. It’s not too long: People are busy, they scan quickly, and it’s rarely good to cram too much into a small space. This short subject is to-the-point.

2. Promotion Preview: If it’s their best sale ever, aren’t you at least somewhat curious what that sale could be? Notice they did not reveal the actual promotion here, but gave a reason to open and find out.

3. Urgency: It may in fact be their best sale ever, but it only last 4 days. This gives you reason to explore the email now, and not put it aside for a week.

4. It’s Targeted: Well for me it is. I just happen to be in the market for window treatments for my new home. This may be coincidence, or I may be apart of a well executed segment based on site activity.

To close it off, the email design was very well integrated with the subject line. It’s a sad day in email when you have a great subject line, but the content of your email does nothing to follow up. Here we see copy from the subject line repeated for emphasis, and the entire email is about the promotion. Keeping the customer focused is very important.

I like what I’m seeing here and will follow blinds.com a bit more.

Follow me on Twitter

For SEO, one of the best resources on the planet is seomoz.org. (note: I’m not affiliated with or compensated by SEOmoz in any way — just a happy customer). It turns out that the crew over at SEOmoz has some email marketing know-how up their sleeves as well. For a company that isn’t overboard with email marketing (compared to retailers such as Sephora, Victoria’s Secret, and Toys R’ Us) email marketers can take some notes from a recent campaign that SEOmoz had in early February. I’ve heard now that Scott Willoughby at the Moz was the mastermind of this piece.

Below is the February 4th Email (click to enlarge)

Subject Line: Try SEOmoz PRO For Just A Dollar!

4 Elements That Were Great

1. The Subject Line: Specific and juicy. I’ve been a ‘basic’ member for a while and have been thinking of upgrading to a pro membership ($79/month). This subject definitely grabbed my attention.

2. Simple Design Layout: They could have easily pushed out a flashy creative heavy with imagery. They instead opted for plain text with a simple header and footer for branding. This has two major wins: first, it’s much more personal and pleasant to read, and second, the content is actually viewable to the recipient. In a previous post I discussed how sexy retailer Victoria’s Secret had an ugly view with their email — no one could see it with images blocked. The prettiest picture is worthless if the lights are out.

3. Going off of the plain text, the tone of the copy is very comfortable. While a bit heavy with sales, it’s not too stiff — and it’s written in the voice of Rand Fishkin (the wizard of moz).

4. P.S.: In my own tests, I’ve seen exceptional engagement with the use of a post script message to re-state the primary call to action and promo. Nice use of it here.

A Few Ideas for Improvement:

1. Personalization: the format of the email is already quite personal. In the opening line it says: Hi (username). This is better than a general greeting, but why not use the subscriber’s actual first name? a username appears more ‘batch blast’ while a first name is personal and closer to creating the impression of a one-to-one communication.

2. I’m a huge fan of plain text (at least testing it against other formats) and have seen exceptional results in my own tests. There is a decent amount of copy here and to make it easier on the eyes it probably couldn’t hurt to have an isolated summary of sorts above the fold. Something to the effect of:

Here’s the Skinny

Full Month of SEOmos’z Pro Membership

Only $1.00 for a limited time

Promo Code: SUCCESS09

Get Started Now: www.seomoz.org/trypro

With more visual creative pieces it’s easier to package up certain CTAs. With simple text, we need to do our best to quickly communicate our desired action and organize copy in a way that is easy to engage with.

3. Video: I noticed on the landing page a video of Rand discussing the benefits of Pro membership. I’ve seen great engagement from having a video screen shot within an email that links to the actual video. Helps mix up the copy and provides another juicy entry point to the site for increased CTRs.

Now back to the good stuff…

What was truly impressive was the follow-through and personalized experience after this email was sent. I was traveling when this email went out and was too busy to act. When I finally came up for air I had missed the deadline. I replied to the email thanking them for the promo but stating that I unfortunately missed the deadline. That day I received a reply from the wizard (Rand Fishkin) himself saying that while the offer had expired, they would find a way to get me on board. In a marketing environment these days where there is often a lot of disconnect between company and customer, this was a pleasant surprise. The result of a little extra time and customer service can be a new promoter and long-term customer. The crew there made me feel valued, and their customer-centric attitude stood out with shining lights.

This brings up a point I’d like to close with regarding the email channel. Too many marketers treat it as a vehicle to blast out unpersonalized messages. Some marketers ‘get it’ and start to implement segmentation strategies, advanced personalization with dynamic content, and complex behavioral retargeting programs. Even with this though, there is still often a barrier between subscriber and marketer/company. The email channel (and other social media channels) give companies a fantastic opportunity to engage with their customers, learn more, mediate problems, manage the cross-channel brand experience, and create the impression of a one-to-one interaction. The technology is there, we just need to use it properly and re-focus our program strategy.

- Forest Bronzan

On Fan 5th I received an email from the jewelry store; Blue Nile. The subject line read: It’s not too late for a Valentine’s Day Engagement. While this post isn’t concentrating on the subject line, I’ll note that I like this. It’s specific & timely.

I felt the architecture of the email though was top notch. Below are a few comments:

1. They have a simple and clean header navigation. The logo is displayed for recognition, the phone number is available, and 5 simple navigation choices. One thing I might change here is to put the phone number on the right side and have the nav start flush left. In some of my own tests, I’ve seen higher conversion (completed phone call) with the number right justified.

2. The main text header and copy is simple and specific. They are not trying to introduce multiple elements, and are staying consistent with the initial subject of this email. Plus they offer a discount which was expected (based on the subject line) — making it  a bit ’sweeter’ for the subscriber. Under promise and over deliver. If I were running this campaign, I likely would do an A/B test where one version was this email, and the other switched the main text with the large ring/ribbon image so the text is left justified. With many subscribers using the preview window in programs like MS Outlook, we usually want to get copy to the left so we make sure they read it.

3. Below the main copy and image, we have 3 funnels that pretty much repeat the navigation, but provide a clean way to narrow down my interests. We see ‘Build Your Own Ring (TM)’, ‘Diamonds’, and ‘Engagement Rings’. Clean, to the point, and a simple way to help get me where I want to go.

4. Finally, I like the footer line that reads: Free Fedex Shipping and 30-Day Returns. Yet another reason to go with this vendor for a big purchase. I may even want to incorporate this into the main email copy.

Very well executed.

- Forest Bronzan