Steal  from  the  Best:  Subject  Line  Secrets  from  the  Top  3,000  RetailersTom  Sather,  Sr.  Director,  ResearchBonnie  Malone,  Director,  Response  ConsultingNick  Cesares,  Product  Manager

Wednesday,  April  22,  2015

Today’s  Speakers

Tom  Sather Bonnie  Malone Nick  Casares

Return  Path:  Email  Optimization  Pioneer15+  Years  of  Email  Expertise• Global  leader  in  email  optimization,  email  fraud  protection,  and  consumer  insight solutions

• Serving  over  2,000  leading  brands  across  retail/eCommerce,  publishing,  social  media,  and  financial  services  sectors

• 440+  dedicated  email  professionals• Offices  in  New  York,  Indianapolis,  Denver,  Sunnyvale,  London,  Paris,  Hamburg,  Sydney,  Sao  Paulo,  and  Toronto

Proven  Data  Infrastructure• Benefits  extend  across  more  than  2.5  billion  mailboxes  worldwide• Near-­‐real-­‐time  analysis  of  trillions  of  messages  annually• Longstanding  partnerships  with  major  mailbox  providers  and  anti-­spam  organizations  globally

The  Center  of  the  Email  Universe

Mailbox  Providers

Email  Service  Providers

Global  Brands

Anti-­spam  Solutions

Helping  You  Achieve  Unparalleled  Performance

• Visibility  into  how  much  email  was  delivered  to  the  inbox,  by  domain,  IP  address,  and  campaign  type

• Monitoring  and  analysis  of  your  sending  reputation

• Email  program  management  to  stay  up-­to-­date  on  trends,  and  dedicated  service  teams  to  handle  any  problem

• Experienced  professionals  dedicated  to  delivering  higher  ROI

Return  Path  develops  strategic  partnerships  based  on  mutual  goals  and  deep  collaboration  with  over  300  email  solutions  providers  

around  the  world.

Offering  tools,  data,  and  support  to  help  you  get  more  value  from  your  email  service  provider

How  Can  My  Email  Marketing  Deliver  More  Value?

Messages  delivered  to  the  spam  folder  simply  don’t  reach  subscribers.  You  need  to  know  when  messages  fail  to  reach  the  inbox,  and  how  to  take  corrective  action.

Beyond  opens  and  clicks,  subscribers’  interactions  with  your  messages  send  signals  that  can  influence  inbox  placement  and    help  you  strengthen  relationships.  To  improve  engagement,  you  need  to  see  and  measure  it.

See  -­‐ and  Measure  -­‐EngagementReach  the  Inbox See  What  Works  for  the  

Competition

Top  brands’  engagement  and  response  from  email  marketing  far  outpaces  the  average.  You  need  to  see  whose  messages  and  which  tactics  are  capturing  your  subscribers’  attention  and  dollars.

Measuring  for  Success

Source:  Salesforce  2015  State  of  Marketing

Email  Content  and  Design  is  the  Most  Effective

Source:  Salesforce  2015  State  of  Marketing

Setting  Your  Benchmarks

Apparel,  Banking  See  Highest  Mobile  Opens

Source:  Return  Path  – 5  Mobile  Trends  to  Watch

Personalized  promotional  emails  had  26%  higher  unique  open  rates  and  41%  higher  unique  click  rates  than  non-­personalized  mailings.

Experian "2013  Email  Market  Study"  (2014)

Nearly  1  in  4  Subject  Lines  Never  Tested

74%  of  email  marketers  report  having  an  'excellent'  or  'good'  ROI,  compared  to  just  37%  who  do  not  test.

Econsultancy ,  "Email  Marketing  Industry  Census  2013”

Four  Ways  to  Be  Optimal  with  Subject  Lines

Be  Mobile  Friendly

Be  Lifestyle-­Oriented

Be  Personal

Be  Persistently  Testing

Be  mobile  friendly!• Small  screens,  short  attention  spans• Frontload  key  words• Variety  of  user  experiences• Keep  it  short  – no  truncating

•Exclusive:  Friends  &  Family  Get  20%  Off•Last  call!    Up  to  80%  OFF  Ends  Today•Rewards  member  exclusive:  __  for  $25  Mix  &  Match  Underwear•Today  only!  25%  OFF  +  free  shipping•Ends  tonight:  20%  off  your  entire  purchase

Which  Subject  Line  was  Read  the  Most?• Sunday  Funday• Do  the  shuffle!• It’s  tough  out  there…• Sundays  >  Mondays• You  can  do  it!• We’re  seeing  double…

Sunday  Funday!• 20%  Read  Rate• 17%  -­ 18%  Read  Rate  for  All  Other  Subject  Lines

Be  lifestyle-­oriented!• Be  better,  faster,  slimmer,  smarter  • Use  phrases  that  appeal  to  your  audience• Be  a  great  resource• Pique  interest

Marriott:  The  Email  Tour  Guide

• __  Must-­See  Museums  in  Philadelphia

• __  Destinations  for  President’s  Weekend

• __  College  Towns  to  Visit

Which  Subject  Line  was  Read  the  Most?• This  Is  What  Every  Athlete  Wears  To  Be  Better• Our  Job  is  to  Make  Runners  Better• This  is  Your  Armour• It’s  Not  Getting  Warmer  Out  There• Meet  Our  Latest  Game  Changers

Winner:Meet  Our  Latest  Game  Changers• 26%  Read  Rate• 24%  -­ 25%  Read  Rate  for  All  Other  Subject  Lines

Which  Subject  Line  was  Read  the  Most?

• Swimwear  that  makes  waves• #FIRSTLIKE:  new  arrivals  just  added  • BOUTIQUE  FREAK• WANNA  GO  OUT?• Playing  the  Field• Denim:  Wear  It  Your  Way

Winner:WANNA  GO  OUT?• 33%  Read  Rate• 26%  -­ 20%  Read  Rate  for  All  Other  Subject  Lines

Be  personal!• “First  Name”  doesn’t  always  work  • What  data  points  do  you  have  for  personalization?• Geography  can  be  interesting

LinkedIn  Gets  Personal

•Congratulate  _  on  the  new  job•__  &  __  are  looking  for  candidates  like  you!•___  has  endorsed  you!•___  get  even  more  out  of  your  account•__  added  connections  you  may  know

Which  Subject  Line  was  Read  the  Most?

• You’ll  love  this,  Atlanta:  __  music  sweepstakes  plus  sweet  deals• __  NEW  nonstops,  Dallas!  On  sale  now• Double  points  on  [Dallas/Austin] flights!  Register  now• These  Spring  Sales  Will  Make  You…• Sale  on  spring  travel.  More  daylight,  less  dollars

Winner:Double  points  on  [Dallas/Austin] flights!  Register  now  

• “Dallas”  newsletter  had  23%  read  rate,  “Austin”  25%  read  rate• NEW  nonstops,  Dallas!  Second  place  at  22%• You’ll  love  this,  Atlanta  had  17%  read  rate• Non-­personalized  campaigns  had  16%  read  rate  

Be  persistently  testing!• What  works  today  may  not  work  tomorrow• Strive  to  conduct  at  least  one  subject  line  test  per  month

Which  Subject  Line  Split  Test  was  Read  the  Most?• jetBlue tested  two  subject  lines  promoting  their  mileage  pool  for  families:

• Your  family  can  be  points  millionaires!• Join  Family  Pooling  &  enter  to  win  __  million  points!

Winner:Your  family  can  be  points  millionaires!• “Your  family  can  be  points  millionaires!”  had  a  read  rate  of  42%,  compared  to  a  27%  read  rate  for  “Join  Family  Pooling.”

Which  Subject  Line  Split  Test  was  Read  the  Most?jetBlue tested  two  subject  lines  on  Valentine’s  Day:

• Love  is  a  trip.• Flying  solo?  Or  with  a  seatmate?  #loveisintheair

Winner:Tie

• Both  campaigns  had  a  28%  read  rate• “Flying  Solo?”  had  a  slightly  lower  “deleted  without  read”  rate  (10%  vs.  11%)

Return  Path  Labs

Subject  Line  Optimizer

returnpath.com

Thank  You