Case study: Should you put the person's name in the email subject line?

Unless you sent it to the same group of people (I'm sure you didn't) you might have sent the second email out to a more responsive crowd then the first and you might have gotten more clicks by using a name with them.

These kind of tests needs variables like people you're sending to, to stay the same.

I find the guys with the biggest lists usually don't put your name in the subject. Sign up for some of the big marketers lists and study all the little things they do with their email marketing.

I wouldn't do that in a market where people see you as a marketer.

(Like IM, for example)

Because it reeks of insincerity on a subliminal level. Everyone knows it's a mass email. Faking a "personal touch" won't trick them. Instead, just use compelling headlines and good content and it will be read in droves.

Just my 2 cents

-Chris

Hmm, that's actually a pretty nice thing to test. Don't really know what to make of it though with such small numbers =/ Good food for thought though!

That's a small test for true results, but certainly shows you are working toward a solution. For me, when I see my name in the email, I know it's either spam or an offer from some guru.

Pretty hard to tell from 60 subscribers.

I have to say my results are the opposite.

Funnily enough I tested this myself to multiple lists in multiple niches and to hundreds of thousands of users.

I split test each list 50/50 using Awebers broadcast split test function.

The results..

[firstname_fix] subject line

Outperformed

subject line

by a minimum of 3% and a maximum of 8%

That held true universally across all niches and all lists, one of which was in excess of 120,000 people.

I also found interestingly that number of spam complaints was noticably smaller on e-mails sent with customisation.

I ran these tests a few days ago and the numbers have held true , interestingly across multiple niches with almost no similarity between them.

I think that where this doesn't hold true to the same degree is in IM where it's becoming pretty tired. In markets spreading from stock trading to weight loss and health treatments I've found it out performs.

What is very hard to gauge however is how the performance is related to the manner in which the lead magnet aquired the names and equally how the relationship between author and list has been maintained.

I manage some big lists for a number of authors, the lists are double opt in and the users subscribed based on being interested in the authors content and after a relationship has been built with that author, the authors also keep relatively consistent contact with the list on a personal basis, therefore in my scenario, personalisation outperforms, if the criteria above are not the same, then it's quite possible personalisation may not outperform.

Equally if you have sent e-mails for many years without personlisation and you suddently start sending with personslisation you may see a decrease in open rates as the subscribers eye doesn't recognise the format of the subject line as yours , it doesnt' feel congruent with the "from" name and is ignored, the opposite scenario is also true which is why I always tell folks to keep a consistent format and manner in their e-mail communication.

In short, the devil is in the details and it's important , very important to not simply run tests but look at outside paramaters which can dictate or influence test results.

What I will say is more important is the subject line, that will determine open rates to a much much greater degree than personlisation or otherwise.

I've split test various plaguerisations of IM based subject lines against plain and simple subject lines and the IM based *******isations for my niches always outperform dramatically simply stating the basics of what's in the e-mail

For example

99% of stock traders need to read this
OR
3 Simple Words - You're Losing Money

Massively outperform..

New article on Stock Trading No-No's

I did a test in a sports coaching market recently and got the following open rates; 52.8% with name, 51.1% without name. So same here really, no real difference!

I am getting tired of seeing my name in the subject. Most lists I sign up to with a misspelled first name so I can spot the spam fly later and see if they sell my info.

I agree with Chris.

Speaking from my own point of view, no testing involved.

I know it's a mass mailing. Seeing my name doesn't appear magical or that it is a personal email addressed just to me.

The subject line is valuable real estate. It's like "above the fold" on a website. It's the first and possibly only thing someone may see so it should be used to its full advantage.

Not only that but consider how many people may not enter their actual name in the box but use a derivitive of the site/product name or just something completely off the wall.

Just to clarify. It doesn't bother me in the least. The subject line is their real estate, they have so many characters to entice me to open the email. If that want to use some of those characters to spell out my name, it is absolutely not a problem to me.

If you only got a total of 62 clicks it must have been a very small list which would make it statistically insignificant.

I agree with what Chris stated earlier -- it really depends on what type of crowd you are marketing too. If it's the IM or "opportunity seeker" then they will likely know you are going to be selling to them anyway. I never use my real name when signing up with IM lists.

Bravo, Nick..

The beauty of TESTING!!...

Simon got different results from you, and they work for him...


BUT..

The most important point of this topic is that:

Testing and only testing will allow us all to see what is going to work and what isn't going to work in our business..

The only numbers that are of any real significance in this industry, are your own, imho.

Peace

Jay

One of the recent MailerMailer email marketing reports suggests that subject lines without the person's name get more opens. But really, do what you feel works best for your messages.

Subject lines with personalization can get more opens on occasion, but at the same time those same subject lines may be seen as 'spammy' by other subscribers. Not all subscribers on a list will see an email the same way.

Basically, there are 3 ways to go about subject lines long-term:

1. Always leave out the name

2. Always put in the name

3. Put the name in sometimes on appropriate occasions (e.g. a super short subject line may do better with personalization, while a long subject line with personalization might make the subject line too long)

Fabian

Now if you could just get their secret lover's name and put it in the subject line. I think that would get great clicks.