Dive Brief:
- Personalizing email subject lines can increase open rates by 50% and lead to 58% higher click-to-open rates, according to data by Yes Lifecycle Marketing made available in a press release. Even though personalized subject lines dramatically improve KPIs, 97.7% of emails sent in Q2 didn't use personalization in the subject lines, the firm found in its analysis over 7 billion emails.
- Non-personalized subject lines had open rates of 14.1% compared to 21.2% for email personalized with names and 22% for emails with another type of personalization. The study also found 1.1% of all emails sent in Q2 had first/last name personalization in the subject line and 1.2% were personalized based on other factors such as loyalty program status, browse behavior or purchase history.
- Other findings from the report include: 27% of marketers send reactivation campaigns, the second most popular type of trigger; browse abandon triggers with subject lines under 30 characters generated open rates of 35.5%, while those with subject lines over 30 characters drove open rates of 40.6%; and welcome campaigns were the most widely adopted type of trigger, with 69% of marketers implementing them.
Dive Insight:
With clear evidence of how personalized email subject lines can improve performance, and automation technology simplifying the process of personalizing email campaigns, there's no real excuse for marketers not to employ the tactic. The fact that nearly 98% of emails analyzed in Q2 were not personalized indicates there's a lot of lost opportunity for email marketers. This is a particularly glaring gap heading into the critical holiday shopping season, where email marketing remains a staple but demands a lot of early prep time.
Email was viewed as the most effective holiday marketing channel by 66% of surveyed industry professionals in a Campaigner study released in July. However, like Yes Lifecycle Marketing, the Campaigner findings emphasized that personalization is the key to outreach, with 40% of respondents highlighting it as the sturdiest measure of success.
Personalization is no longer a novelty and consumers expect marketers to tailor content to their needs and preferences, Michael Iaccarino, president of Infogroup, Yes Lifecycle Marketing's parent, said in a statement. While email is the elder statesman among digital marketing channels, it remains a powerful way to connect and communicate with an audience with messages ranging from promotional to transactional. Email is also one of the most highly tested and optimized digital marketing channels.
