Thursday, December 17, 2015

Emotional E-mail Subject Lines Get More Opens

E-mail subject lines that spark certain emotions tend to earn more opens, according to a study of Black Friday e-mails by automated persuasive language generator Persado. Direct Marketing News magazine recently reported on Persado's results for five subject-line emotions--urgency, achievement, exclusivity, anxiety and excitement. For example, e-mail subject lines conveying a sense of urgency ("FREE SHIPPING Final Hours! Plus, $20 Online Bonus") generated an 11% average increase in open rates compared to the study's baseline e-mails (messages with subject lines containing no emotions and no mentions of Black Friday). E-mails that combined urgency with the words "Black Friday" did even better, with an average surge of 20% in opens. Subject lines rewarding achievement ("Shop our doorbusters TODAY—you've earned it") generated an 18% average uptick from baseline, and tacking on a Black Friday mention pushed open rates even higher, to a 20% rise. Subject lines with a sense of exclusivity ("Your exclusive $15 coupon is here!") earned the biggest response lift, a 28% average improvement in open rates over baseline. But adding Black Friday language to exclusivity dragged down open rates to just a 17% improvement. E-mails with subject lines sparking anxiety ("Don't Forget! $15 OFF $49 or $25 OFF $99") produced a 17% average bump in 2015, but combining anxiety with "Black Friday" backfired, cutting results to just a 10% average increase. Subject line excitement was the one emotional hook that did not deliver for marketers. According to Persado data, open rates for e-mail subject lines with an excited tone ("Two In-store Offers! Now That's Sweet") actually fell 11% below baseline opens in 2015. For the complete article, go to http://www.dmnews.com/email-marketing/how-consumers-really-feel-about-your-subject-lines/article/459681/

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Marketers Led Astray by Myopic Data Segmentation

Data segmentation is essential to today's personalized marketing, but it can also lead marketers astray if myopically focused. A recent Target Marketing magazine article by Matt Diehl, digital content writer for the Persio multichannel retailing platform, points out how segmentation based narrowly on recent purchase can go wrong, delivering misguided online ads and e-mails that erode customer response. As examples, Diehl cites promotions based on online purchases selected as gifts (that golf club bought for Uncle Bob doesn't mean non-golfer Susie wants to be bombarded by golf gear ads), promotions based on online purchases later returned in-store (if you didn't keep the gaming system, you don't need the accessories), and promotions remarketing one-time, big-ticket purchases (people rarely buy multiple HD TVs or dishwashers in a short time span). The solution is to develop a segmentation strategy based on multiple factors, adding demographics, location, interests, loyalty, and response behavior to purchase history. Data gathering for segmentation also needs to include both online and offline behavior. Finally, data targeting needs to incorporate sensible marketing triggers; rather than remarketing a big-ticket purchase, focus on complementary items, for example. For the complete article, read http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/when-data-segmentation-goes-wrong/