Custom Subject LinesANALYSISJanuary 2011

Q2 (2010) Data Analysis

• Health: AdvaMed, AANP, ANA• CPG: ICSC, NRF, GMA• Transportation/Hospitality: AGA, ATA• Small Business: NFIB• Ads/Telecom: CEA, AAF, CompTIA• Education: ASCD, CEC

Q2 (2010) Data Analysis

Analysis of average open rate, compared via:• Q2 of 2009 vs. Q2 2010 (April through June)• individual months (April vs. May vs. June 2010)• Type of subject head vs. similar estimated dates

from 2009

Types of subject lines

• Verbatim• Rewritten• Keywords • Attention grabbers• Top story• Combination (AANP and ANA only)

Average open rate

• Percentages refer to average open rates• Rates are calculated as:

• Caveat: Some averages differentiate by hundredths of a percent after rounding, so some months can be considered “about equal”

Total number of unique opens

Total messages sent

Overall

• Q2 2010 vs. 2009: Fell by 1.68%• Improvements:

– GMA (+0.36%) and ASCD (+1.05%)• GMA and ASCD were also the only briefs to see improvements

in all the rates – both by Q2 and month-by-month– AGA improved (+1.24%), but did not launch until June 2009.

There is no Q2 2009 date for AGA.• Steepest declines:

– CompTIA: - 7.28%– NFIB: - 6.1%

Q2 2010 vs. Q2 2009Rank Q2 2009 Q2 2010

1 AGA AGA

2 ATA ATA

3 AdvaMed ICSC

4 ICSC AdvaMed

5 NFIB NRF

6 NRF GMA

7 CEA AAF

8 AAF NFIB

9 GMA CEA

10 AANP AANP

11 ANA ANA

12 CompTIA ASCD

13 ASCD CompTIA

14 CEC CEC

Caveats:

• Comparing across industries

• Different subscriber numbers

• Different subscriber habits

• No proven correlation between custom subject lines and higher/lower open rates

Month-by-month

• Highest open rate: APRIL– Outliers: AdvaMed and AANP had highest rate in May

• Lowest open rate: JUNE– Outliers: AANP lowest in April; NFIB lowest in May

• Highest increase: ASCD: +1.23% in May• Steepest decline: CompTIA: -10.15% in April

Subject line types

• Best performing: Verbatim or Rewritten– News-type headline, or posed questions– Subject lines specific to audience; best practice or how-to stories– NFIB: Attention grabbers performed best by +2.45%

• Lowest: Keywords or Attention grabbers– Worst performing: “spam-like” (eg. Read this now!)

• Vs. 2009: Fell by 2.39%– BUT: ICSC and AdvaMed used Top Story headlines, and these

were lower than other subject types

Industry: HEALTH

• High open rates– Specific names (companies/federal) only IF there was a

connection to major industry• Eg.: legislation, health-care reform, new research

– News on studies, research, legislation• Low open rates

– Generalized subject lines without specificity– Generic attention grabbers (Read this!)– Keywords

Industry: CPG

• High open rates– Best practices or how-to– Brand names, if there’s a connection to best practice/how-to– Major news, like closures, acquisitions, financial stories

• Lowest open rates:– Studies or research– General trends without specific names– General keywords like “retailers” or “companies”

Industry: TRANSPORATION and HOSPITALITY

• High open rates– How-to stories– Mergers, financial stories– Stories about major companies in the industry

• Lowest open rates:– ATA: Stories that did not directly affect actual companies– AGA: Foreign markets, feature stories– Keywords and general nonspecific trends

Industry: SMALL BUSINESS

• High open rates– Attention grabbers (the only one where they did well!)– Best practices, especially about customers, how-to, subject lines

with numbers– Federal legislation, taxes

• Lowest open rates– Stories that didn’t directly apply to small businesses– Keywords and combination of modified headlines

Industry: EDUCATION

• High open rates– Focus on teachers– District or government legislation– Best practices

• Lowest open rates– Stories about students, programs for students or student life– Regional or local news– News about specific schools or districts

Industry: ADVERTISING and TELECOM

• High open rates– Digital or virtual stories, new technology– Major news about big names– Layoffs, funding– Interesting trends or quirky stories

• Lowest open rates– Generic IT or consumer electronic stories– Video game industry stories– Advertising: Financial or anything remotely technical