MailChimp recently posted a blog article called, "Best Practices for Email Subject Lines" in which they identified three words that negatively impact open rates:
1. Help
2. Percent Off
3. Reminder
I decided to examine my own Gmail inbox to see if I opened any emails over the last month with the above three words in them.
Help:
I received one email in the past month that had "help" in the subject line. It was from my alma mater's alumni association, and the subject line read: "Miss Pounder, help Vanderbilt recruit talented students". That sounds like a lot of work! I can't even find time to do my laundry, let alone recruit prospective undergrads. Generally, it makes sense that people who are opening their inboxes--and are already being bombarded with messaging--will shy away from anything that looks like it's adding more to their plate. Verdict: DELETED. And the point goes to MailChimp.
Percent Off:
I received 19 emails last week that had some form of "percent off" in the subject line, but surprisingly, this didn't always deter me from opening them. Emails that also included phrases like "Ends today", "Today only", and "Last chance" drew me in like a moth to a flame, especially if "today" were in all capital letters. Even if I didn't want what the company was selling, I felt I had to check it out because if I didn't do it today, I'd lose my shot. Email FOMO, maybe? Whatever it was, it got me more times than not. Verdict: OPENED.
Reminder:
This one was a bit of a toss up. Some of my "reminder" emails were for appointments, like an upcoming haircut and a happy hour I had RSVP-ed for. Others were from customer satisfaction surveys that I had apparently blown off the first time. (I seem to be awful at completing those...) I think if someone were a bit scatter-brained or unorganized, the "reminder" text might work on them because they'll think they missed something important. I'm usually pretty up to date on my email, so I see "reminder" and think that I already saw and processed the first email, so I don't need the followup, especially if I deleted the first email. Verdict: DELETED. MailChimp goes 2 for 3.
Side note: Despite the general distain that marketers have for the Gmail "Promotions" tab, I actually pay just as much attention to the emails that land there as I did before the tab was created. The only change is that it may take me longer to open them because I wait to read them until I know I have a little free time to browse promotional deals (e.g. when I'm riding the bus).
1. Help
2. Percent Off
3. Reminder
I decided to examine my own Gmail inbox to see if I opened any emails over the last month with the above three words in them.
Help:
I received one email in the past month that had "help" in the subject line. It was from my alma mater's alumni association, and the subject line read: "Miss Pounder, help Vanderbilt recruit talented students". That sounds like a lot of work! I can't even find time to do my laundry, let alone recruit prospective undergrads. Generally, it makes sense that people who are opening their inboxes--and are already being bombarded with messaging--will shy away from anything that looks like it's adding more to their plate. Verdict: DELETED. And the point goes to MailChimp.
Percent Off:
 |
| This meme isn't particularly relevant. I just like Bill and Ted. |
Reminder:
This one was a bit of a toss up. Some of my "reminder" emails were for appointments, like an upcoming haircut and a happy hour I had RSVP-ed for. Others were from customer satisfaction surveys that I had apparently blown off the first time. (I seem to be awful at completing those...) I think if someone were a bit scatter-brained or unorganized, the "reminder" text might work on them because they'll think they missed something important. I'm usually pretty up to date on my email, so I see "reminder" and think that I already saw and processed the first email, so I don't need the followup, especially if I deleted the first email. Verdict: DELETED. MailChimp goes 2 for 3.
Side note: Despite the general distain that marketers have for the Gmail "Promotions" tab, I actually pay just as much attention to the emails that land there as I did before the tab was created. The only change is that it may take me longer to open them because I wait to read them until I know I have a little free time to browse promotional deals (e.g. when I'm riding the bus).
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