BEST SUBJECT LINES OF

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1 THE PEOPLE S CHOICE: BEST SUBJECT LINES OF 2015

2 What makes a subject line engaging to you? Do you respond to personalization? What about punctuation? Oftentimes marketers choose what would work for them and run with it. But do you know what really works best for your audience? Savvy marketers know that subject line testing is the only way to stay in front of audience engagement. It s enlightening to see what organizations can learn from subject line testing. Have you ever tested using humor in your s? Can an organization show their playful side while still maintaining a professional demeanor? Absolutely! The data confirms that audiences can be moved and engaged by unexpected pleasant surprises in their inbox. Personalization, humor, words of thankfulness, and making the recipient feel special were elements amongst the highest performing subject lines. Get ready to be inspired as we dive into the details. A whole lot of TESTING going on! Our association and nonprofit clients published over 80 million s in 2015 that were sent as part of an A/B subject line test. To find out what audiences responded to the most, we analyzed the subject line test data, and what we found may surprise you. But what about top-performing subject lines that were NOT part of A/B test that significantly outperformed benchmark standards? We ve got you covered. We brought in data from an additional 58 million s that achieved a 40% or more open rate. Our analysis focused on keywords, patterns and trends of all winning subject lines and high-performing subject lines. Most Commonly Used Words in 2015 The People s Choice: Best Subject Lines of 2015 Informz, Inc

3 Top Trends in High-Performing Subject Lines Make it Personal Personalization drives response. In head-to-head tests, personalized s consistently outperform non-personalized communications. First name personalization is still the most popular usage of personalized data fields, as illustrated in the A/B split test below. First Name, Your Membership is About to Expire (56% open rate) vs. Your Membership is About to Expire (43% open rate) While first name is the most popular, organizations are experimenting with incremental data fields and seeing strong results. For example, company name, membership expiration date, and geographical data such as city or state were up-and-coming performers. Personalization is an effective way to customize the constituent experience and drive engagement with audiences. The subject line, Your membership has an expiration date of Expiration Date, generated an open rate of 52%, which is far above the benchmark average of 35%. The People s Choice: Best Subject Lines of 2015 Informz, Inc

4 Giving Thanks Humorous and Playful Unexpected expressions of gratitude scored big with audiences across all organizations. Do you want to know what scores even bigger? Thanking them without asking for anything in return. Too often marketers say thank you while holding their hand out for more. A genuine thank you is like making a deposit into the recipient s relationship bank account. These type of s positively impact metrics and constituent loyalty. Thank you s are a great way to reap short-term and long-term benefits with just a few simple words. Below are examples of highperforming subject lines and their associated open rates. Organizations are testing nontraditional ways to communicate routine messages. Subject lines that stand out in the inbox and stir positive emotions in the recipient boast overall audience engagement. This year s analysis showed an increase in the number of s with clever and trendy subject lines. Even organizations that deal with serious subject matter are finding ways to add some creativity and lightheartedness into audience communication. Results in head-to-head tests show that audiences respond well to humorous ways of communicating ordinary business topics. Below are examples that might give you inspiration as you develop a 2016 subject line test plan. "Thank you" for making a real difference (66% open rate) Thank you for all you do! (65% open rate) A Heartfelt Thank You (63% open rate) It's a trashy party, and you're invited! (35% open rate) vs. Join us at the Red Clay Valley Clean Up! (28% open rate) Uh-oh, your membership is expiring! (35% open rate) vs. Organization Name Membership Renewal (29% open rate) OMG, HMF!! (35% open rate) vs. Harvest Moon Festival - Sign up now! (28% open rate) The People s Choice: Best Subject Lines of 2015 Informz, Inc

5 Strength in Numbers An interesting observation in this year s analysis was the increase of subject lines that contained numeric values. Stating a specific date in a subject line conveys a sense of urgency and provides the recipient with a solid deadline date to work towards. A surprising key takeaway was the strong response membership renewal s received when the membership year was included in the subject line. Below are examples of the subject lines with associated open rates. Early bird rate expires Oct. 5 (52% open rate) Your Annual Renewal Notice (85% open rate) Renew your Membership (67% open rate) The People s Choice: Best Subject Lines of 2015 Informz, Inc We observed clever ways to use numbers to communicate discounts or savings. $25 in Your Pocket! is an engaging way to communicate a savings of $25, and garnered a 38% open rate. 17 Sessions One Low Price Register Today is a great example of communicating a lot of information in a very succinct way. 5

6 Is it Complimentary or Free? The words complimentary and free are synonymous with each other and either one could be used to describe something that comes at no cost. In looking at results from A/B split tests, it s not a surprise that audiences respond to offers of no charge items. But are these words equitable in terms of impacting open rates? Is one word preferred over another? The data analysis show that BOTH work well in different scenarios. Complimentary is a word that conveys receiving special treatment and may be the more appropriate word to use based on what you are giving the recipient. Complimentary services outperform free services, such as complimentary guest registration, complementary airport transportation and complimentary concert tickets. Below are examples of how complimentary was used in subject lines. World Conference: Complimentary Airport Transportation (67% open rate) Complimentary Guest Registration for Scottsdale (46% open rate) The data also show that free performed best when the item given away was an object rather than a service and it was something that a recipient would normally pay for. For example, free shipping is a popular offer that consistently performed well in subject lines. Free shipping + free gift - TODAY ONLY! (46% open rate) The People s Choice: Best Subject Lines of 2015 Informz, Inc

7 What else are organizations giving away? A newer trend we saw this year was promoting free food as part of event promotions. Below are examples of the word free in subject lines and the associated open rates. Register Today Free Breakfast on Saturday (58% open rate) Did someone say free food? (68% open rate) The word free can also take on different meaning depending on how it s used. Below are other examples of how organizations are using free within their subject lines. Are you free on October 14? (64% open rate) Stress-free ways to deal with difficult patrons (55% open rate) Preheaders play a Supporting Role The preheader text is valuable real estate in an and should be put to good use. Too often this area is left blank or contains a link to a web version of the . This is an area that is vastly underutilized when it comes to engaging subscribers from the get-go. The preheader text can be thought of as an extension of your subject line. This area can include text to further describe and support the contents and can include a call to action, such as Join Now, Register, Shop Sale, etc. The preheader is especially helpful in communicating messages within a limited inbox window, especially with mobile readership on the rise. In the example below we can see how organizations are utilizing preheader text to supplement the subject line. Preheader Organizations that have successfully used the word free in subject lines are those that have strong sender reputations and an established track record of excellent deliverability. Sample size testing is one option for learning how your audience responds and an alternate testing recommendation would be to utilize the preheader text area to test words like free. The People s Choice: Best Subject Lines of 2015 Informz, Inc

8 A/B Testing: 50/50 split or 10/10/80? Traditional A/B testing involves doing a 50/50 split of your audience file and then sending each a different subject line. Marketers would continue to test again or analyze results, taking the learning and applying it the next time they sent an . The downside of this practice was that half of the audience received the losing subject line, potentially affecting open rates. A faster and more efficient approach is to use sample size testing and then automatically have the winning subject line applied to the remaining balance. The A/B split is applied to a specific percentage of a file based on client specifications and once a winner is determined the balance of the file is sent with the winning subject line. This method gives you the feedback and lets you apply it immediately. What will you be testing in 2016? Does personalization positively impact your open rates? Will you be surprising your audience with unexpected words of thanksgiving? Perhaps you will experiment with showing your lighter side and sprinkle in a few playful subject lines. Subject line testing really is a win-win proposition. As a marketer, it actually takes some of the pressure off of you. Don t second guess what your audience will respond to. Subject line testing puts the decision making process into the hands of the audience, which is where it belongs. The message is for them! The People s Choice: Best Subject Lines of 2015 Informz, Inc

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