Email subject lines are common fodder for internet marketing discussions. Especially what subject lines result in the best results. And yes, I am using the term “results” loosely — to encompass a wide variety of result “types.”
But wait…I know, I know.
I promised to continue in our discussion of “AIDA” from yesterday — and talk about “I”, Interest.
But I read that a well-known marketer had posted his top ten email subject lines, by “open rate”.
“Open rate” …first note, please. That’s one result.
It’s a result necessary on the road to profitability…but it’s not the ONLY result that’s needed to get there.
And, while we’re at it … what measuring stick was used to determine the “top” open rates?
Is it the absolute number of opens? Is it the percentage of opens?
And what kinds of lists are these from? I’m sure the marketer in question has lots of lists. And nearly every marketer has “general” and “buyers” email lists.
And what’s more…what is the CONTEXT of the emails being sent?
So let’s look at a couple of the subject lines that got top rating…
3. [name], do you know of any date conflicts?
4. [name], finally I have dates for you.
Let’s say that this marketer has a list of people who have signed up and paid for this marketer’s $10,000 workshop (I’m making this up, I don’t know if he has one or not), but the dates hadn’t been determined at the time they signed up — at least not specifically!
So…for sure he’s gonna get a huge percentage of opens from the folks who signed up when he asks about date conflicts. And about when he finally has the dates.
Far-fetched?
Not really!
The first Internet Marketing seminar I went to — Carl Galletti’s SuperConference in June of 2005 — had two different marketers who sold follow up seminars that were scheduled for the same weekend — Ken Giddens and Morgan Westerman. Come to think of it, Morgan still owes me a seminar…wonder if I’ll EVER collect. (Yes, I signed up for both.)
I did make a good choice — I showed up for Ken’s. It turns out it was his last seminar ever, as he passed away just about 2 months later. R.I.P., Ken.
Oh wait…back to the topic at hand…
I hope you’re connecting the dots here.
Numbers pulled out of reports without the surrounding context are nearly meaningless.
Perhaps we could modify the statement “Don’t try this at home” to be used with statistics. For instance, how about something like “Don’t use these without engaging your mind.” “Don’t use without thinking.”
For this particular example…think about WHY such subject lines might have been powerful pullers!
And this applies to the use of statistics ANYwhere you see them used.
The abuse of statistics is hardly uncommon, and hardly isolated to the world of marketing. One of my favorite quotes is “There are lies, d*** lies, and statistics” (Mark Twain).
Statistics are only pieces of a puzzle, and you need to have the other pieces to truly make sense of them.
When you get the supposed “Holy Grail” of statistics like this…remember to ask questions. If you don’t, you could easily be spinning your wheels and wasting motion that would be more profitably expended elsewhere.
(Sidenote — the statistics come from an email from Ken McArthur, that Willie Crawford received and printed in Willie Crawford’s private membership forum at The Internet Marketing Inner Circle. I chose not to mention his name earlier simply because it wasn’t germaine to the discussion. But I also felt it was important to credit the source. The goal was to discuss the use of statistics, not one particular marketer. This abuse of statistics is quite common. Ken just happened to provide the fodder for my soapbox at the present time.)