whichtestwon the live event: subject line optimization masterclass
TRANSCRIPT
Subject Line Optimization Master class:
What To Test, When To Test, And What To
Look For
Dela Quist: CEO Alchemy Worx
uk.linkedin.com/in/delaquist @delaquist & @alchemyworx
Why You Should Listen To Me?
When It Comes To SL’s People Are People
B2B B2C
Without A Goal Or Methodology Testing Is Of
Limited Value
Optimise For Opens Or For Clicks?
Optimise For Opens Or Clicks?
50%
30%20%
8%
Top SL Tip For Selecting KPI’s
Forget about open rates and to a lesser extent
clicks focus on total opens, clicks and most of all
total $ £ €
Long Or Short?
Mailer Mailer Email Marketing Metrics Report 2010
Does length Matter?
If That Were True then SL 1 Would Always Beat
SL 2
1. Rock it up with these Great Looks, High
School Musical and 50% off selected
items!
2. Majestic's Winter Offers are Here!
Subject Line Length – No. Of Characters
Subject Line Length – No. Of Words
What’s Going On?
Short - Ambiguous or Misleading
“Summer starts here”
CTO Rate = 7%
Open rate 75%
Relevant Customers
10%
Click Rate 5.25%
Subject Lines Filter Or Pre-Qualify Your Openers
Long - Multiple Proposition
“50% off Nike trainers; the latest from Wimbledon, Plus your chance to win a spa weekend”
CTO Rate = 28.5%
Open rate 35%
Relevant Customer Group A
10%
Click Rate 10%
Relevant Customer Group B
10%
Short - Strong Single Proposition
“Nike trainers - 50% off”
CTO Rate = 60%
Open rate 15%
Relevant Customers
10%
Click Rate 9%
Gilt – Masters of the Looong SL
Top SL Length Tips
Our research shows that subject lines under 60 or more than 70
characters generate the highest response – but that the
response is actually different at each end of the spectrum
• shorter subject lines generate higher open rates, a measure of
wider interest, but much lower click rates
• longer subject lines earn a much higher click rate, an
indication that the more openers find the content relevant to
them
• the open rate and click-to-open rate curves intersect at about
60-70 characters, a “neutral zone” where neither metric is
optimised
What About Branding?
There Are 2 Kinds Of Marketing
Demand Response Marketing
(Giving You What I think Or Know You Want)
V
Demand Generation Marketing
(Making You Want What I have)
In The Inbox The Subject Line
Gives A Guaranteed Brand
Impression
Lets Play Pretend – Who Wins?
Familiarity Builds Trust
Familiarity Builds Trust
Familiarity Breeds Trust & Trust Sells
Occasional Change Delivers A Temporary Lift
Mixing It Up – Using Names
Mixing It Up – Special Characters
Top Tips For Promoting Brand Values In Your SL
• Focus on a values you wish to be identified with
• Branding is about repetition – once identified keep repeating your core values
• Emails do NOT have to be opened for your brand values to register
• Discounts do not build your brand but they sell so you need a balance
The Vast Majority Of The Emails
You Send Will Not Get Opened
No Matter Who You Are Or What
You Do
The Good News Is You Can’t Ignore Email Without
Processing The SL
The Nudge Effect
The Nudge Effect Subject Lines Influence
Non-Openers Too
The Nudge Effect Subject Lines Influence Non-
Openers Too
Top SL Tips For Promoting Sales In Other
Channels
• Attribution Attribution Attribution – who holds the power in your organisation?
• Send times should aim to coincide or influence peak sales in that channel
• SL should acknowledge the channel “Great deals in store this weekend”
• You can still promote specific products and great offers
3 Problems With Current Method Of A/B
Testing SL’s
Subject Line A
Sent To Entire List
Subject Line B
Group A15% Open Rate
Group B12% Open Rate
Subject Line A
Purchase From Time Of Deployment
Purchase From Time Of Last Click
The Only SL Tool That Accurately Predicts Results
www.subjectlinegold.com
How To Create An Effective SL Methodology
• Have a clear sense of what you want to improve or optimise -
Are you interested in improving opens, clicks or sales? It is not
uncommon for the SL with the least opens to generate more click
and/or sales.
• Own the results – Make sure that whoever conducts the tests
goes on the record and documents which SL they predict will win
(or lose) and, more importantly, why.
• Aim to develop a methodology for creating subject lines – Do
not reinvent the wheel every time you send an email out, which is
what happens if you focus on creating the “perfect” subject line;
you are much more likely to deliver consistent results if you have a
proven and well tested methodology.
Spanner In The Works?
Further Reading On Subject Lines
Most popular articles:
How to get special results from special characters http://bit.ly/1mOSVNS
What’s the best way to separate items in a subject line? http://bit.ly/1mOSZNI
How to create emails that sell – even unopened http://bit.ly/1gHannM
How to create an effective subject line methodology http://bit.ly/1wxst0j
Subject Lines – Length does matter http://bit.ly/1rnCf51
Thank You & Stay in Touch
uk.linkedin.com/in/delaquist
alchemyworx.com/delaquist_ebook
@Alchemyworx
@delaquist
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