A new study by eMarketer dove into consumer behaviors with respect to opening your e-mail messages. Generally, consumers pay less attention to e-mail; when they do, they tend to focus on shorter messages. So what is that perfect subject line?
I can’t tell you.
In the eMarketer article, Consumers Opening Fewer E-Mails, they describe a sizable advantage in using shorter subject lines for marketing. I suspect this is due to the fact it requires less time to scan so people assume the e-mail is short and to the point. Of course, I am describing this from my own consumer behavior more than my marketing experience.
“Subject lines of less than 35 characters yielded an average open rate of 19.6% and a 3.1% average click rate. E-mails with subject lines of 35 or more characters drew average open rates of 14.8% and average click rates of 1.9%.”
–eMarketer, “Consumers Opening Fewer E-Mails”
In addition to this statistic, you can’t deny the fact that consumers are relying much less on e-mail as they evolve their technology needs. As evident in the graph below, attention to e-mail has dropped. I firmly believe as e-mail usage drops, RSS and social media adoption will rise. Send every e-mail as if it were your last, as it may very well be.
Regardless, as marketers, we all need to respect and embrace the needs of our consumers. We can do this by setting proper expectations when people opt-in to your e-mail marketing. Just as important, you need to engage with your consumers on an expected, regular fashion — not only blasting your contacts about a sale – interact and share relevant information for what they requested. I suggest for you to read the 10-Round Spam Smack-Down to find out if you’re sending spam and our e-mail best practices, too.
Simply put, do the right thing for your prospects and customers. Respect their time and they will respect yours. Best-case scenario, you make a ton of sales; worst-case scenario, you don’t make a sale. It’s OK. Always test and find out what works in your industry.
Have you found any interesting subject lines that made you open an e-mail? Share them in the comments below so we all can see what works. 
[Image credit: idogcow on Flickr]
