The Jury is out Subject: Lines

If you are a subscriber or stop by on a regular basis, you know I preach about the importance of using the Subject: field properly. Not only for marketing purposes alone, but for positive perceptions and to ensure that your email even gets opened in the first place!

Subject: fields need to be clear, concise and relevant to the content of your email so it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle. Add to that that most take only a quick glance to determine if they will open/read an email and it is that glance where you have the opportunity to grab them. I see Subject: fields every day that make me think twice before opening the email. If I have to think twice, I had better recognize the Sender: field or chances are the email goes right to Trash. And that’s just for my day-to-day communications.

Imagine how much more important your Subject: field becomes when you are sending a marketing message!

A recent study makes it clear that what works for some, doesn’t work for others. While under 60 characters makes your email more “openable”, 72 characters or more, this study found, make your email more relevant. Rather than becoming obsessive about counting characters — you need to count conversions, what message works best, what Subject: entices more views and therefore hopefully, more click throughs.

The bottom line is to determine what works for you with your specific market to accomplish your goals. Test, test, test and then test some more!

“Studies have shown that using a subject line with 72 characters or more gives added relevance, with click through and conversion tending to increase. By going with a 60 character or less subject line, the open rate will tend to increase. The area between 60 and 72 has been shown to be a “dead zone,” according to the report.”

Click here to view the entire commentary on this study with a link to download the entire study in PDF.