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  &lt;p&gt;
    &lt;em&gt;According to Stefan, a&#160;good subject line should have:&lt;/em&gt;
  &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;ul&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;
      &lt;strong&gt;Branding&lt;/strong&gt; &#8211; customers should immediately see your brand or company name. &lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;
      &lt;strong&gt;Urgency&lt;/strong&gt;
      &lt;em&gt;
      &lt;/em&gt;&#8211;&#160;You should&#160;sum up the message's content as well as&#160;its most compelling feature. &lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;
      &lt;strong&gt;Brevity&lt;/strong&gt; &#8211; It should tell the story in 60 characters or fewer &#8211; research has shown that click rates go down dramatically when the subject line is longer than 50 characters.&#160; &lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;/ul&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;
    &lt;em&gt;Stefan also has some other Yuletide tips:&lt;/em&gt;
  &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;ul&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;
      &lt;strong&gt;&#160;Strive to be Distinct&lt;/strong&gt;
    &lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;/ul&gt;
  &lt;blockquote&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      &lt;em&gt;&#8221;At any other time of the year, the three main elements of a good subject line will get you noticed in the inbox. Now, though, you're not the only one offering free shipping, or an upgrade, or a 50% discount.&lt;/em&gt;
    &lt;/p&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      &lt;em&gt;&#8220;Both of these are legitimate incentives. However, they probably belong inside, in the creative section, more than in the subject line, unless you add an urgent or unusual qualification.&#8221;&lt;/em&gt;
    &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  &lt;ul&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;
      &lt;strong&gt;Know What Your Competition is Up To:&lt;/strong&gt;
    &lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;/ul&gt;
  &lt;blockquote&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      &lt;em&gt;&#8221;You should already subscribe to your competition's email offers to see what they're up to, if you're not finding out from trade publications or retailer gossip.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#8220;If you don't have the time or energy to do that, a good free resource shows what's active right now in email offers: &lt;a href="http://www.retailemail.blogspot.com/"&gt;Chad White's Retail Email blog&lt;/a&gt;, which tracks the email campaigns of major e-retailers by subject line.&#8221;&lt;/em&gt;
    &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  &lt;ul&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;
      &lt;strong&gt;Remember the Sender Line:&lt;/strong&gt;
    &lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;/ul&gt;
  &lt;blockquote&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      &lt;em&gt;&#8221;Your sender line (the "from" line) is also important, because readers look at both when deciding whether to open, trash or spam-report an email message.&#8221;&lt;/em&gt;
    &lt;/p&gt;
    &lt;p&gt;
      &lt;em&gt;&#8221;Configure your email-delivery program to show a company name, brand name, newsletter or offer name in the sender line, rather than an email address or a person's name.&#8221;&lt;/em&gt;
    &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;
    &lt;strong&gt;Further Reading:&lt;/strong&gt;
    &lt;br /&gt;
    &lt;a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/email-marketing-buyer-s-guide-2006"&gt;Email Marketing Buyer's Guide 2006&lt;/a&gt;
    &lt;br /&gt;
    &lt;a href="http://www.emaillabs.com/email_marketing_articles/effective_email_subject_lines.html"&gt;'Tis the Season for Standout Subject Lines - EmailLabs&lt;/a&gt;
  &lt;/p&gt;
</body-formatted>
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  &lt;Paragraph&gt;
    &lt;Quote&gt;According to Stefan, a&#160;good subject line should have:&lt;/Quote&gt;
  &lt;/Paragraph&gt;
  &lt;List Type="Disc"&gt;
    &lt;ListItem&gt;
      &lt;Emphasis&gt;Branding&lt;/Emphasis&gt; &#8211; customers should immediately see your brand or company name. &lt;/ListItem&gt;
    &lt;ListItem&gt;
      &lt;Emphasis&gt;Urgency&lt;/Emphasis&gt;
      &lt;Quote&gt;
      &lt;/Quote&gt;&#8211;&#160;You should&#160;sum up the message's content as well as&#160;its most compelling feature. &lt;/ListItem&gt;
    &lt;ListItem&gt;
      &lt;Emphasis&gt;Brevity&lt;/Emphasis&gt; &#8211; It should tell the story in 60 characters or fewer &#8211; research has shown that click rates go down dramatically when the subject line is longer than 50 characters.&#160; &lt;/ListItem&gt;
  &lt;/List&gt;
  &lt;Paragraph&gt;
    &lt;Quote&gt;Stefan also has some other Yuletide tips:&lt;/Quote&gt;
  &lt;/Paragraph&gt;
  &lt;List Type="Disc"&gt;
    &lt;ListItem&gt;
      &lt;Emphasis&gt;&#160;Strive to be Distinct&lt;/Emphasis&gt;
    &lt;/ListItem&gt;
  &lt;/List&gt;
  &lt;Block&gt;
    &lt;Paragraph&gt;
      &lt;Quote&gt;&#8221;At any other time of the year, the three main elements of a good subject line will get you noticed in the inbox. Now, though, you're not the only one offering free shipping, or an upgrade, or a 50% discount.&lt;/Quote&gt;
    &lt;/Paragraph&gt;
    &lt;Paragraph&gt;
      &lt;Quote&gt;&#8220;Both of these are legitimate incentives. However, they probably belong inside, in the creative section, more than in the subject line, unless you add an urgent or unusual qualification.&#8221;&lt;/Quote&gt;
    &lt;/Paragraph&gt;
  &lt;/Block&gt;
  &lt;List Type="Disc"&gt;
    &lt;ListItem&gt;
      &lt;Emphasis&gt;Know What Your Competition is Up To:&lt;/Emphasis&gt;
    &lt;/ListItem&gt;
  &lt;/List&gt;
  &lt;Block&gt;
    &lt;Paragraph&gt;
      &lt;Quote&gt;&#8221;You should already subscribe to your competition's email offers to see what they're up to, if you're not finding out from trade publications or retailer gossip.&lt;LineBreak /&gt;&lt;LineBreak /&gt;&#8220;If you don't have the time or energy to do that, a good free resource shows what's active right now in email offers: &lt;Link URL="http://www.retailemail.blogspot.com/" Window="New"&gt;Chad White's Retail Email blog&lt;/Link&gt;, which tracks the email campaigns of major e-retailers by subject line.&#8221;&lt;/Quote&gt;
    &lt;/Paragraph&gt;
  &lt;/Block&gt;
  &lt;List Type="Disc"&gt;
    &lt;ListItem&gt;
      &lt;Emphasis&gt;Remember the Sender Line:&lt;/Emphasis&gt;
    &lt;/ListItem&gt;
  &lt;/List&gt;
  &lt;Block&gt;
    &lt;Paragraph&gt;
      &lt;Quote&gt;&#8221;Your sender line (the "from" line) is also important, because readers look at both when deciding whether to open, trash or spam-report an email message.&#8221;&lt;/Quote&gt;
    &lt;/Paragraph&gt;
    &lt;Paragraph&gt;
      &lt;Quote&gt;&#8221;Configure your email-delivery program to show a company name, brand name, newsletter or offer name in the sender line, rather than an email address or a person's name.&#8221;&lt;/Quote&gt;
    &lt;/Paragraph&gt;
  &lt;/Block&gt;
  &lt;Paragraph&gt;
    &lt;Emphasis&gt;Further Reading:&lt;/Emphasis&gt;
    &lt;LineBreak /&gt;
    &lt;Link URL="http://econsultancy.com/reports/email-marketing-buyer-s-guide-2006" Window="New"&gt;Email Marketing Buyer's Guide 2006&lt;/Link&gt;
    &lt;LineBreak /&gt;
    &lt;Link URL="http://www.emaillabs.com/email_marketing_articles/effective_email_subject_lines.html" Window="New"&gt;'Tis the Season for Standout Subject Lines - EmailLabs&lt;/Link&gt;
  &lt;/Paragraph&gt;
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  <created-at type="datetime">2006-11-13T13:19:00+00:00</created-at>
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  &lt;p&gt;
    &lt;strong&gt;With the Christmas season coming up, Stefan Pollard at &lt;a href="http://www.emaillabs.com/"&gt;Email Labs&lt;/a&gt; has published some useful tips on how to make your emails stand out from the crowd.&lt;/strong&gt;
  &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Specifically, he's focused on the thorny issue of subject lines, and&#160;how&#160;to improve&#160;the odds that readers will open your mail. &lt;/p&gt;
</extract-formatted>
  <extract-unformatted>&lt;FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"&gt;
  &lt;Paragraph&gt;
    &lt;Emphasis&gt;With the Christmas season coming up, Stefan Pollard at &lt;Link URL="http://www.emaillabs.com/" Window="New"&gt;Email Labs&lt;/Link&gt; has published some useful tips on how to make your emails stand out from the crowd.&lt;/Emphasis&gt;
  &lt;/Paragraph&gt;
  &lt;Paragraph&gt;Specifically, he's focused on the thorny issue of subject lines, and&#160;how&#160;to improve&#160;the odds that readers will open your mail. &lt;/Paragraph&gt;
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  <learn-more-formatted>&lt;p&gt;For further information about email marketing, download Econsultancy's &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/email-census"&gt;Email Census&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (based on a survey of digital marketers) and the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/email-marketing-buyers-guide"&gt;Email Marketing Platforms Buyer's Guide&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (particularly relevant for the UK market). See also the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/email-marketing-statistics"&gt;Email Statistics Compendium&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</learn-more-formatted>
  <learn-more-unformatted>&lt;p&gt;For further information about email marketing, download Econsultancy's &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/email-census"&gt;Email Census&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (based on a survey of digital marketers) and the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/email-marketing-buyers-guide"&gt;Email Marketing Platforms Buyer's Guide&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (particularly relevant for the UK market). See also the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/email-marketing-statistics"&gt;Email Statistics Compendium&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</learn-more-unformatted>
  <legacy-article-id type="integer">362121</legacy-article-id>
  <name>Email marketing &#8211; tips on subject lines</name>
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  <published-at type="datetime">2006-11-14T14:00:00+00:00</published-at>
  <slug>email-marketing-tips-on-subject-lines</slug>
  <tweetbacks-updated-at type="datetime">2009-04-28T22:37:49+01:00</tweetbacks-updated-at>
  <unpublished-at type="datetime" nil="true"></unpublished-at>
  <updated-at type="datetime">2009-10-13T08:43:49+01:00</updated-at>
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</blog-post>
