Written by Andrew Preshong, Email Marketing Manager at Simplicity Lone Beacon, and edited by Marcus Roth, Senior Director of Email Marketing, Automation, and Content at Simplicity Lone Beacon.

 

To continually optimize our email marketing efforts, Simplicity Lone Beacon embarked on a challenge to discover which email subject lines are performing the best across all of our accounts and why. 

To do this we took a list of over 2,700 individual email subject lines that were sent on advisors’ behalf over the past year and thoroughly analyzed them. 

For those who don’t know an email subject line is the brief text that summarizes the content or purpose of an email, appearing in the recipient’s inbox. 

Effective subject lines are important because, without a good, enticing subject line, recipients won’t ever open the advisor’s emails in the first place and have a chance to answer the call to action. 

If you’re an advisor looking to send high-performing, branded emails, we concluded two key takeaways as subject line best practices. The most successful subject lines across all of our email deployments had two things in common: 

  1. Low character count in the subject lines – Keep them short and sweet! 
  2. The value proposition is clear in the subject lines. The reader needs to know what they will receive or learn before they care to open the email. 

Below are 4 example subject lines that showcase these takeaways well:
 

  • Complimentary Webinar: Secrets To Building a Solid Income Plan 
    •  54% Open Rate
       
  • Navigating The Retirement Worries of Gen X 
    • 68% Open Rate
       
  • You’re Invited – Client Appreciation Summer BBQ Event!  
    • 77% Open Rate
       
  • Download Your Complimentary Social Security Guide  
    • 61% Open Rate 

The most unsuccessful subject lines across all our email deployments did not utilize the best practices as well. Here are 3 key takeaways as to why our bottom-performing subject lines did not perform as well. 

  1. High character count in the subject line.
  2. The value proposition is not as prominent or clear.
  3. The subject line contained difficult concepts or unpleasant topics to think about.
     
  • Our On-Demand Webinar Explains Crucial Legacy & Estate Planning Information  
    • 22% Open Rate
       
  • Navigating Economic Uncertainty: Interest Rates, Inflation, And Government Debt  
    • 10.96% Open Rate
       
  • A Delicious Dining Experience Awaits at Chesapeake, VA – Complimentary Dinner Event  
    • 22% Open Rate
       
  • Are You Looking to Get Your Taxes Under Control This Year? Our Guide Can Help 
    • 41% Open Rate 

 

So Why Do These Things Matter? 

Well, think about it from the recipients’ eyes… 

Short, concise subject lines are crucial for capturing attention quickly, especially on mobile devices with limited space. Additionally, clear value propositions in subject lines inform recipients about the benefits of opening the email. It’s noteworthy that the most successful subject lines exhibited both qualities, leading to their high open rates. 

Conversely, long subject lines risk being overlooked, leading to lower open rates and engagement. Likewise, unclear value propositions diminish relevance and interest, reflected in the least successful subject lines. Sometimes subjects that use jargon, even basic jargon, might disqualify readers because not knowing part of the subject line is confusing…and the confused mind says “No”. A similar thing can be said for subject lines containing comfortable subject matter like wills and estate planning as it makes the user acknowledge a highly important aspect of their life. 

Thus, the combination of short, clear subject lines with compelling value propositions emerged as a key factor in driving email open rates and engagement! 

While subject line characteristics play a significant role in email open rates, it’s important to recognize that other factors can also contribute to success or lack thereof. For instance, the quality of leads, the trust established with recipients, and other external variables may influence engagement levels. 

However, understanding the impact of subject line clarity and value proposition provides a solid foundation for optimizing email campaigns. So, if you want to take your email marketing campaigns to the next level, continuously analyze and refine strategies based on these insights. That way, you can adapt to changing dynamics to gather more high-quality leads, ultimately growing your business. 

 

About the Author: Andrew graduated from Framingham State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing. He has professional as well as freelance experience with Digital Marketing, Social Media Management, Content Creation, and Web Design. In Andrew’s free time, he enjoys hanging with friends and family, golfing, ping pong, playing sports, and yard sale flipping.

 

About the Author: Marcus Roth is Simplicity Lone Beacon’s Senior Director of Email, Data, Automation & Content. Marcus has a unique experience in B2B and B2C start-up companies ranging from enterprise-level market research of Artificial Intelligence to self-defense eCommerce products. His experience in AI market research brought him, and his research, to INTERPOL, The United Nations, and Harvard University.

 

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