For years most experts have advised that fewer than 50 characters are best for email subject lines, but… in-depth research by Alchemy Worx has brought the magnifying glass a little closer showing that it’s not what it seems. Analysis of 646 subject lines in 205 million B2B and B2C emails between 2003 and 2008 suggests that past assumptions may have led email marketers seriously astray…

Do you want opens or clicks?

Past analysis has focused on open rates, which is the first measure of success people tend to think of. After all, we want our target audience to open our emails before any business is going to happen right? The Alchemy Worx analysis takes things a step further, measuring click–through rates as well, to get a better picture of real success.

Short subject lines will get you opens, but…

Some companies maximise open rates by using ambiguous, mysterious, or potentially misleading subject lines, a technique often used by spammers. Shorter subject lines are more likely to be achieve this, attracting more reader interest and curiosity, but are they the right customers? Often not, and that’s why they get much lower click-to-open rates.

At the same time, relevant customers may not realise that the email contains a proposition of interest to them, and may not open it, and therefore won’t click through.

Long subject lines will get you what you really want

The research found longer subject lines to be markedly more effective for driving action - earning a much higher click-to-open rate, indicating real relevance. Longer subject lines serve as a filter for customers to check relevance to their interests.

A more specific subject line, containing more than one proposition such as “50% off Nike trainers; the latest from Wimbledon; plus your chance to win a spa weekend” ensures that all the propositions contained in the email are communicated, attracting the maximum number of relevant customers.

Avoid the dead zone in the middle

The open rate and click-to-open rate curves cross over at about 60-70 characters, a “dead zone” where neither result is optimised. This usually happens when subject lines attempt to over-simplify multiple propositions too much, or unnecessarily lengthen single propositions – adding no value.

Make sense?

If you want click-throughs, as most businesses will, you need a long specific subject line (80 characters +) that concisely communicates your specific propositions, with no extra waffle. Realise that any old long subject line won’t necessarily cut the ice…you must touch the hot buttons of your target customers by communicating relevant benefits in their terms of interest (versus just company product features).

A client has asked us about changing the FROM address in their emails so they can provide a more descriptive text to help with subscriber recognition. We thought about this question for a while and decided to run a couple of tests to see what would be the impact of changing the FROM address.

Now before we begin the FROM address field in an email can comprise of two parts:

The senders email address such as "Newsletters@mobilizemail.com",

A text part such as "Mobilize Mail". The text part if provided is sometimes displayed instead of the email address.

So for a FROM address you could have: "Mobilize Mail <newsletters@mobilizemail.com>".

In most modern email clients this would be displayed as:

If you did not have a text part in the FROM address then the email would be displayed like this:

When you click the reply button your email client is normally smart enough to use the email address that was supplied within the FROM address.

Best Practices for the FROM Address

The most common best practice around the content of the FROM address is to provide something that will spark some form of recognition with the subscribers such as your business name or your full name.

In the example above the FROM contains "Mobilize Mail" which alerts the subscriber instantly to who sent the email. The subject line also provides a good indication of the intent of the email.

Now, what happens if after a while you decide to change the FROM address to something else?

For example:

That should not be a problem should it?

Well there are a number of considerations to think about before you make the leap. For example what if the subscriber added a rule in their email client that located your emails based on the FROM content?

Below we can see a subscriber has created a mailbox rule for any email that contains "Mobilize Mail" in the FROM field.

By changing your FROM address you may in fact be damaging your existing relationship with the subscribers by making their existing mailbox rules redundant or worse causing your emails to be deleted or moved to the trash folder.

How did the email clients like the change?

One thing that we were interested in was how an email client would deal with a change in the FROM address if there was a current address book entry.

For example below is an Entourage address book entry for "Mobilize Mail".

When an email is sent to the client this is how the FROM address currently appears:

Now lets change the address book entry for Mobilize Mail to "Joe Bloggs" as below.

We then send the same email again to this subscriber with the same FROM address which is "Mobilize Mail <newsletters@mobilizemail.com>".

Below is how Entourage now displays the FROM address. Entourage completely ignored the FROM address in the email!

We can see from this example that Entourage will display the details within the address book for the sender not what has been added to the emails FROM address.

This could be a pain for some email marketers who frequently send out emails using the same email address but change part of the FROM address.

In order to see how some of the more popular email clients dealt with changes to the FROM address with an existing address book entry we created the following simple test:

1. Create an email campaign with the following FROM address "Mobilize Mail <newsletters@mobilizemail.com>" and send to the test email lab.
2. Once the email arrived add the senders details (in the FROM address) to each email clients address book including the text part which is "Mobilize Mail".
3. Send the second email campaign and change the FROM address to "Mobilize Mail Newsletter Service <newsletters@mobilizemail.com>".
4. Finally send the third email campaign but only have "newsletters@mobilizemail.com" in the FROM address (no text part).

What we are looking for is if the address book entry overruled the change in the FROM address of the email. The findings are below:

Apple Mail:

No problems with Apple Mail.

Entourage:

Bummer! The Entourage address book controls the FROM address!

Eudora:

Gmail:

Interesting. All 3 emails are grouped by the "Mobilize Mail" contacts entry which works like an address book. When the email group is clicked all 3 emails are expanded - see below.

Lotus Notes:

Lotus Notes is happy.

Outlook 2007:

All good here.

Thunderbird:

Changes showed up in Thunderbird.

Windows Live:

Yahoo! Mail:

Our testing identified only one email client namely Entourage that refused to display the emails correct FROM address if there was an existing entry in the address book for the recipient.

Gmail grouped the emails together based on the "Contact" entry which is not great but at least the correct FROM address details are displayed when you click on the email group.

Our Tips for the FROM Address

Even though only one of the email clients refused to display the emails FROM address (namely Entourage) and instead displayed the address book details you should still seriously think before you change your FROM address text or email address.

Subscribers these days create rules to help them manage their email which includes rules using the content of the FROM address.

We recommend that caution should be taken to any decision to change the FROM address details. If you do need to change the details then warn the subscriber in at least one email prior to the change so any changes they need to make can be done at their end.

Every couple of weeks I wait with baited breath for the next installment of Tim Ferriss’s exciting life. Tim Ferris is a man who states that he only works 4 hours a week to earn more in a month than some people earn in a year. I have read his book and love it so it was an easy leap to get me to sign up to receive updates to his blog via email.

Sometimes Tim provides a little movie dealing with something interesting which automatically appears within my email client. In the last installment it was how to “peel” a hard-boiled egg without peeling!!

To view the movie within my email client all I have to do is play it. The movie starts in seconds and there is no latency and well – it just plays where it is – no trips to a web site or nothing.

I thoroughly enjoy watching the movies and told many of my friends to sign up to his email alerts.

What I forgot to mention was that unless you are using Apple Mail as your email client you are not in fact going to see the movies nor in Tim’s case will you ever know they were ever present!

You see Apple Mail as of this posting seems to be the only email client that plays flash movies.

In order to prove my statement I ran Tim’s latest email blog alert through our email test lab – see the results below:

Apple Mail

Go Tim!
Tims video in Apple Mail

Entourage

Interesting that Entourage at least provided a blank space where the flash should be running. At least you know something might be missing.

Yahoo! Mail

There is even no mention of the movie not even a little broken icon to make me wonder what I am missing.

Gmail

Nope – nothing here.

Outlook

No surprises here. Outlook 2007 would be the last email application I would expect flash to run in.

Outlook Express (Windows Mail)

A warning about the flash file is all that Outlook Express can muster.

Thunderbird

Thunderbird at least displays a blank area where the flash should be.

Windows Live Hotmail

Hotmail doesn’t want to know about the flash file either.

So is it Worth Sending Flash Movies in Email?
Looking at the results the only reason you would bother inserting flash movies in an email is if you knew for a fact that most if not all of your subscribers used Apple Mail.

If not don’t bother. You can try and fiddle with wrapping the flash in a table or a DIV and provide a backup image but I doubt that even the image would appear if its anywhere near the HTML that deals with the flash file.

In Tim’s case I doubt he is even aware of this issue and maybe its not a concern as most people would just visit his blog.

Mark over at Email Marketing Reports has a number of articles on the subject including this one.

The May 08 Habeas study reveals consumer attitudes towards email and online interaction with businesses. There’s some really valuable insight here for your online marketing…

Email vs other communication mediums – will it survive?

The study confirms increasing concern about email fraud, scams, spam, viruses, and privacy, but…despite all this:

What about emerging platforms such as mobile?

There is an increasing trend toward consumer use of mobile devices such as internet-enabled phones, but far from superseding email, they will provide another arena for it. Just like Web sites, mobile versions of email need to be compact and focused to reach mobile users effectively. This is an opportunity not many businesses are tapping into yet, but will become more commonplace – probably for businesses with more time-sensitive services. It could be worth thinking forward to be ahead of the game…

What are the most important factors for success?

The study confirmed interest from consumers in gaining more control over their online interactions with businesses, and noted other trust factors:

What things will most scare your customers off?

Previous studies have shown a real ‘email insecurity factor’ among consumers, in fact nearly 60% keep different addresses for entities they trust vs don’t trust. If you can make it into their latter category, your emails will likely attract ready attention.

So…stick with email but keep looking forward with good reputation management

Far from being eclipsed by other emerging communications methods, consumers expect email to be the main workhorse channel into the future. Organisations that build trust with consumers through forward-looking reputation management strategies will stand out and gain long-term competitive advantage. As a brand expert recently said…your reputation is your brand - the most important asset your business has.

Outlook 2003 was one of the first major email applications to set image blocking on by default. Many email applications both desktop based and web based have followed suit. In fact these days its better to just assume that images within your email content will not be shown by 50% of your subscribers.

A recent study provided another statistic that all email marketers should find interesting:

“Study Finds Emails of 23% of Retailers Are Completely Unintelligible When Images Are Blocked”

So if its looking bad for images what should you do?

Here are some basic tips that will help your email content be understood by your subscribers even if the images are not displayed:

1) Use ALT tags for all your images. The text within the ALT tag will be displayed if the image is blocked by most (not all) email applications.

Image displayed

Image Blocked but displaying ALT text

<img src=“whale.jpg” alt=“Picture of Humpback Whale”width=“555″ height=“599″ />

We have seen quite creative ideas when it comes to the text within an alt tag! For example:

“So you don’t want to see the special deal we have for you?”

2) Try and avoid adding important messages and call to actions within images. Using an image for “Buy Now” is not a good idea instead provide a text link.

3) Provide a statement somewhere near the top which could say:

“Best viewed with images on”

A certain portion of your subscribers will have images blocked and have no idea that there is image blocking occurring.

4) Add height and width values for all your images. This is very important if you use images to space or partition your content. If images are blocked and you have not provided width and height values the email application will attempt to guess or default to a height and width which more than likely will not be in your best interests.

5) Avoid adding too many images “above the fold” as this is valuable real estate that will be viewed within the preview pane.

Back in October 2007 we presented our thoughts on email Subject Lines - Improving the Email Subject Line.

Six months later and we have some fresh perspective on Subject Lines – because your email message starts here! If the subject line fails to win over your recipients your email message is left unread.

In our October 2007 blog post we acknowledged great subject lines either provided content that is relevant and important to the recipient; suggested a sense of urgency or expiration factor ( e.g. book sale - last 2 days ) or provided something the recipient can act upon. (e.g. Travel in March 08 and Save $100). Combining more than one of these email openers in your subject line may work a treat too.

Using the recipient’s name in the subject line is another proven email opener - however what follows on after their name is equally important so the message is not confused with SPAM. You can also achieve instant recognition for subject headings by using your name ( e.g. Mobilize Mail – It all starts with the Subject Line).

Creating curiosity with a question is also an attention grabber – and as long as the question is relevant to the recipient it’s a winner. Remember to have the answer to the question within the email message your recipient will be looking for it and may judge your message on the quality of the answer. Personally I think there is nothing worse than a question without an answer – it leaves you with the feeling of being duped or tricked and that leads me onto the next focus – that being honesty. Subject Lines are part of your email message and they too need to be respectful and honest in their communication …they are to lead not mislead.

As uninteresting as it may appear the best subject lines simply describe the contents of the email message – nothing more – nothing less!

The main way to get people to open your email are recognition, reputation and subject line.

One thing to keep in mind is how do you get your emails opened as it is easy to hit the “Delete” key.

Below are common characteristics all great subject lines share:

1. It needs to have something that is relevant to the subscribers
2. It needs to be something that is important to the subscriber
3. It needs to have an expiration or urgency factor so the subscriber is motivated
4. It needs to be something the subscriber can act upon

Create subject lines that incorporate these characteristics and you’re bound to boost your open rates.

As we move to less and less personal forms of communication (from handwriting to emails) we gain more exposure but face the danger of becoming disconnected from our clients.

Characters and words to avoid putting into your subject line:

1. Avoid use of + and ?
2. Avoid using exclamation points (!)
3. Avoid using your email address again in the Subject line
4. Avoid using the same word twice in a Subject line
5. Avoid using similar words together (eg “offer” and “sale”)

It is important to send the email to the person responsible so it is about something they know, so instil a sense of urgency and have something in the email that they can act upon immediately.

Remember that it is past behaviour and receiving relevant and useful emails that drives future success so think carefully about what you send.

Here are our top tips for newsletter success:

1. Keep It Relevant: Ensure your newsletters contain ‘news’ or content that is highly relevant to your subscribers. We recommend mailing list segmentation to achieve targeted marketing. Your newsletter communication can contain your special deals, new products services – as long as the information is relevant to your subscribers.
2. Short and Frequent: Email newsletters can be just a few paragraphs yet highly effective - we suggest you keep your newsletters short and frequent to win your subscribers respect, interest and trust.
3. Share and Receive: Share your expertise and receive a healthy open rate from your subscribers. Providing a regular helpful tip in your newsletters can be the factor or ‘tipping point’ that results in your newsletters being opened and read. If your newsletters are known to provide relevant, helpful information they are more likely to be viewed by your subscribers every time.

Usability guru Jakob Nielsen listed email newsletters as “probably the single-highest ROI action you can take to improve your Internet presence.”

A missed opportunity - increase your mailing list registrations. Many businesses are missing out on growing their mailing lists daily. A proven method of getting more people on your email mailing list is to put your registration information boldly on your homepage. Either present an animated banner that clicks through to a dedicated registration page or present the ’subscription form’ on your homepage. Make it easy for your website visitors to join up to receive your email marketing information.

Subject Lines - invite the recipient to open your email. Subject Lines are often overlooked or an afterthought however they can greatly impact on your open rate. Choose a subject line that has a value proposition or call to action to improve your open rate.

Targeted Message Content - give your recipients relevant information. Provide your recipients with information that they want and can use and this will increase the click rate. We say “get to the Inbox to drive visits to your Website”. Providing relevant information in your email message that delivers a value proposition will improve your click statistics.

Message Presentation - enhance the reader experience. Carefully consider the visual impact of your email message ‘when images have not been downloaded’. Many marketers overly rely on images in their email messages yet a high percentage of recipients never download images. Ensure you have ample relevant information that can entice the click without the reliance on images to tell the story.

Message Templates - level the playing field with an eye catching professional email template. Get the appropriate branding presentation with a custom designed template for your email messages. Ensure there are valid links to your website and the branding is consistent with your website presentation. First impressions count so start out with a top class template.

It will not be a surprise to learn that the number one way to get people to open your email is to send email to people that know  you.  An Email Consumer Survey conducted by Return Path in December 2006 also revealed that 51 percent of people surveyed opened email when they had thought they had opened that email previously and believed it contained useful information.  The Subject Line was another key reason for consumers opening email.  If the subject line suggested the email was important or offered relevant information then the consumer would read the email message.

Regular email (but not too regular) gets attention as long as it is relevant to the recipient and the suggestion of a discount on offer will capture the attention of readers.  Surveys provide us with valuable feedback and suggest to us that forming relationships and trust with the people we are emailing is key to getting a good open rate.  With email marketing in particular we need to get into the habit of sending relevant newsworthy emails that are personalised (Dear Sue etc) and written in first person.  Respect and trust needs to be built between you and your mailing list (readers).  Ensuring your email communication is compliant with Spam Laws is essential and also key to getting a good open rate.

Analyse the feedback you received from the statistics captured from your email campaign to learn of your readers choices.  The saying ‘seek to understand, then to be understood ‘ is probably the most fundamental requirement for getting a much improved email message open rate.