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05.07.07
Best And Worst Email Open Rates
 By
Rich Brooks
Tara Robinson of Zugunruhe Coaching forwarded me a link to a study at MailChimp, an email service provider, that listed the subject lines of the best and worst open rates for clients using their service.
The results were very surprising based on my experience. Here are the top 5 for each side:
THE BEST (60% - 87%):
1. [COMPANYNAME] Sales & Marketing Newsletter
2. Eye on the [COMPANYNAME] Update (Oct 31 - Nov 4)
3. [COMPANYNAME] Staff Shirts & Photos
4. [COMPANYNAME] May 2005 News Bulletin!
5. [COMPANYNAME] Newsletter - February 2006
THE WORST (1% - 14%):
1. Last Minute Gift - We Have The Answer
2. Valentines - Shop Early & Save 10%
3. Give a Gift Certificate this Holiday
4. Valentine's Day Salon and Spa Specials!
5. Gift Certificates - Easy & Elegant Giving - Let Them Choose
At first glance, it would appear that boring, generic, subject lines with company names listed beat out Valentine's day gift lines every time. In fact, MailChimp says:
On the "best" side, you'll notice the subject lines are pretty straightforward. They're not very "salesy" or "pushy" at all. Heck, some people might even say they're "boring." On the "worst" side however, notice how the subject lines read like headlines from advertisements you'd see in the Sunday paper. They might look more "creative," but their open rates are horrible.
However, there are a couple of variables NOT mentioned here that might make all the difference in the world.
First off is the size of these lists. I've seen it reported before, and I've certainly noticed it from anecdotal evidence, that the larger your list, the lower your open rate. Now, obviously a 1% open rate is abysmal, no matter your list size. Maybe this is because over time subscribers become less likely to open your email newsletters. Generally, they know what you have to say, and they may be so busy that they don't have time to read another article on Web marketing, or they already bought their Valentine's day gifts.
Secondly, the spamminess/deliverability of the messages. If the "worst" ranked subject lines were coming from companies that used words and phrases that set off junk filters, that would definitely reduce the deliverability and thus open rates of these email missives.
Thirdly, many of the "best" messages appear to be intra-office messages. If companies are using this email service provider to send messages to staff, (i.e., [COMPANYNAME] Staff Shirts & Photos, ATTENTION [COMPANYNAME] Staff! and ATTENTION [COMPANYNAME] West Staff!!) then it's likely that the staff needs to read these emails.
Fourthly, what appears in the "from" line. Other studies have shown that the "from" line has the biggest impact on open rates, even more than subject lines.
Continue reading this article.
About the Author:
Rich Brooks is president of flyte new media, a Web site design and Internet marketing company in Portland, Maine. Flyte works with small businesses to build professional Web sites that often include e-commerce, Flash and content management systems. They promote their clients' sites through search engine optimization, e-mail marketing, business blogs and podcasts, and viral marketing.
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