Getting More From Your Subject Line
January 2nd, 2007
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a method that I am using to better choose great products to promote.
(You can read the post here)
The results have been tremendous - instead of taking two or three weeks to find a great product by trial and error (wasting potential earnings) I have been able to lower that time to two days.
Just last week I ran a split test of 4 different products, found the one that did the best, and then made about $1600 in commissions, all while sick with the flu!
What’s really nice is that all 4 products were ClickBank products, and ClickBank allows you to track each source, allowing me to see which email made which sales (I’ll have to make a video about this sometime soon).
However, what made the biggest difference was one little factor - the subject line.
After I tested the four products and found the best selling one, I then set up another split test and sent out four different emails.
Actually, the emails were all the same, the only difference was in the subject line. I usually like to test out different email sales copy as well, but this time I just wanted to see what difference the subject line would make.
My theory was simple - I already knew that the product would sell, but I needed to get people to open my email so that it could be sold.
I figured that the more people that opened the email, the more sales I would make.
Since the email was the same, I guessed that I would get the same click-through rates (i.e. how many people click on the links in the email) and then around the same sales rate (i.e. how many people purchased after clicking).
However, as usual when testing, the results surprised me!
The subject line that won the test was actually in third place for open rates. That means that two other subject lines got more opens, and only one other subject line did worse.
Even when it came to click-through rates the winner sucked. It pulled a 37% CTR while the best one pulled a 51% CTR.
Even though it was ranked 3rd for both of these metrics, it still came in first (by far) for value per subscriber. The bottom line is how much you are making per email address in your database. It doesn’t matter if they click if they don’t buy.
The winning subject line pulled in 67% more profits than the subject line that had the highest open rate and click-through rate.
As you could guess this baffled me. I wondered what could cause such a huge discrepancy in what I expected to happen and what actually happened. (Remember, the email body was the same for each of the tests, only the subject line was changed)
Here are some theories that I have on why it made a difference:
1. The subject line “sets the tone” for the sale.
If the subject line is not a good reason to buy the product, then why purchase? Subject lines that simply get you to open an email are not good enough.
Think about it - if I sent you an email that just said “Hello [INSERT YOUR NAME]” you would probably open it as it sounds like a personal email from me. You would be disappointed to find me trying to simply get you to click on a link to buy something. I would achieve a high open-rate but a low sales rate.
By setting the tone for the sale you help the subscriber to realize why they need the product or service.
2. The subject line has a profound psychological effect on the reader.
Think about it - you probably get hundreds of emails every day, most of them are spam. You pick and choose which ones to open based solely on the subject line (and sometimes by the sender).
If the subject line simply peeks your curiosity you may open the email, but then discard it. If, however, the subject line speaks to a desire that you have, the sale is that much more likely.
3. What do you think?
I am going to leave this post open ended for now. I want your comments - Why do you think that the subject line made such a difference in the profit when it proved to get less opens and less click-throughs?
I would love to know your opinion.
Simply post a comment on this blog to let everybody know what you think.
Happy New Year!
Matthew Glanfield
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11 comments to “Getting More From Your Subject Line”
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Becky Says:
I think that even though the subject line that had the most sales was the least opened, it must have struck a nerve with those who opened it or provided a solution to a problem. Quantity isn’t necessarily quality, and this certainly proves that. I must admit, I am bombarded by emails and I pick and choose based on subject line as to whether or not I will open it or delete it, and sometimes it is based on who is sending it. Although if I am only opening based on the sender, I will usually unsubscribe from the list. I see these same things happening with my list. I check to see how many click throughs I had and sometimes only 3 out of 150 people will actually click on a link (yes, it’s a small list, but growing.) With so many personalities on an email list, just how do you get them to open? I’ve now started a list that caters more to a niche and I’m hoping that since they wanted my niche product, they will be interested in hearing from me and buying.
So to sum it up, I agree with your statement: “if the subject line speaks to a desire that you have, the sale is that much more likely.”
The key would be to find that desire.
Pete Wailes Says:
Same reason as why any copy works better than any other piece - it gets the right kind of people (qualification) and is easy to read from headline to subhead to bodycopy to call to action (email title, email copy, website copy, sales pitch).
That’s my guess, anyway.
Jim Says:
Hey Matt! Good test! In my experience your results stem from the fact that you are reaching a more targeted market, i.e., individuals who are really seeking or interested in what you have to offer. Curiosity is great to get the opens and click throughs, but the fact that you had a lower open and c/t rate and higher profit proves to me that your subject line spoke to the more targeted market.
Keep up the good work, and I would love to hear everyone elses theories on this great subject. I have found that I am usually wrong more than right:)
Jim
Mark Kemsley Says:
We know that pay-per-click advertising is most successful when one step logically leads to the next. The copy of the PPC ad logically follows the keyword of the search. Then the capture page logically follows the content of the ad, and the sales page naturally flow from the capture page.
The same is true of email campaigns. People open an email with something in mind…something put in their mind by a combination of who the sender is and what the subject is. If the content of the email meets this expectation, the result will “naturally” be better.
Stanley Chong Says:
Your subject line needs to grab readers’ attention to persuade them to invest time in reading your message. Use your e-mail subject line to summarize, not describe the content of your message:
Not effective: Aspen Philanthropy Letter
Effective: [Aspen Philanthropy Letter] Buffett Gift to Gates Foundation Likely to Increase Scrutiny of Nonprofit Sector
Remember to keep the core part of the subject line under 10 words to ensure that key messages display in readers’ inboxes.
That’s my personal view.
Thanks
Stanley
J.R. Wilson Says:
As Becky said, the key is quality, not quantity. Which is why building a list through what has become a landfill of “giveaway” sites is next to useless – all you get is a list of people, probably using throwaway addresses, interested only in freebies, not in whatever you may want to sell them down the line.
But even more important in this instance, I think, is what I call the “Split-Second-to-Delete Law”: With so much junk and so many pitches coming at us every day, we have been forced to develop an instant, gut response to e-mail. In TV, they say you have maybe 2 seconds to capture a viewer’s attention; with e-mail, you have, at most, 1 percent of that.
I’ve been online since before the Web, back when e-mail addresses were long, impossible-to-remember strings. As a result, I have some very old addresses that have gotten on every spam list in the universe; that also has led to having a lot of addresses, an imperfect attempt to isolate and dismiss.
Including those caught by SpamArrest and other filters, I’d estimate in excess of 5000 e-mails a day – 99 percent of which are junk. Even one second considering each would waste almost an hour and a half every day. So I don’t. I select all new e-mails, then take in the 10 e-mail subject lines visible at a time in my reader and unselect any I know I want or that, for some reason, catch my eye. Then I hit delete. In that fashion, I can clear out 100 e-mails in 3-to-5 seconds (a lot faster when most are using the same stupid subject line).
To get through that kind of screening, which anyone who has been online very long does without thinking, you must have a subject line that:
1. is unique (same subject twice is an auto-delete)
2. makes sense
3. not only catches the eye, but triggers enough interest to actually open the e-mail
4. is not an obvious trick (seriously, if all those IMers who “forgot” the URL or “made a mistake” are really that stupid, why would I want to do business with them?)
5. is not the latest in a tsunami of daily – if not hourly – e-mails from the same source
And the kiss of death? Repeatedly violate any or all of the above; there are some very big names in IM whose e-mails are now automatically deleted. True, I may miss something useful now and then, but they have burned all respect and credibility they ever had.
Sorry for being so long-winded, but I think you’ve touched on an important point here, but one that is just part of a larger issue: eMail marketing can work, but is a combination of both art and science that is rarely mastered.
Cheers,
J.R.
Billy Graham Says:
Hi Matt
Your subject line question is certainly pulling some brain muscles and i will flex mine also.
I think it all comes down to “what you see is what you get”, I was always taught that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and with just a little twist on that statement you can delve into your brain cells and find the answer. If we like what we see,the eye sends a message to the brain which processes the info and confirms that we should look a little more (just like when you see a pretty girl).So is the process of the subject line! we don’t all think the same girls are pretty but when they are pretty to us we WILL look longer and are more likely to act on our feelings, just like a subject line when it hits your eye!Now because the brain has processed that “Likeability” factor we become that precious commodity “a Qualified and targeted visitor” when we open that mail, so we are more likely to click thru and buy.
I think i need to put some ice on my head after all that Matt, you gotta stop making me churn the grey matter this late at night (LoL)
Looking forward to more responses
Billy G
DIanne Says:
I think the subject line is an ad in itself - a good ad being one which doesn’t necessarily present the product, but indicates it is presenting a solution to a problem. So how would the niche product solve a problem relating to said niche activity, condition etc.,?
Michael Ming Says:
Smiles all round here. Like the majority of comments I too anxiously scan/open and look forward to email contents that I know and like after noting a regular sender. Whatever and however you got your result has gotten this relative newbie really thinking.
Mike
Scott Sutherland Says:
Expectations. If someone knows what the email is about (a sale of some kind) and opens it anyway, they know what to expect inside and are willing to go there anyway. So it must be something they’re looking for.
Scott
Syd Says:
I think the third subject line, even though it had a lot less open rate, set the expectation of the reader and what they actually got when they clicked the link in the email was probably similar to what they had expected while reading the subject line.
So they had no hesitation in signing up for that offer. The other subject lines might not have set the proper expectations, or the reader might have expected something else after viewing the subject line. But he/she may not have got what they were expecting when they arrived at the webpage. Like they might have been expecting a free course or service or something and were confronted with an offer to purchase etc. So the conversion rate was comparatively less.