Mobile, AI Trends Impact E-mail Marketing

E-mail marketers can expect to ride some positive trends into 2020, according to e-mail pros. While continuing to top other channels in terms of ROI, e-mail marketing in 2019 also showed improved delivery rates, rising open rates and increasing click-through-rates, per UK-based Data and Marketing Association. Digital marketing platform Smart Insights recently turned to several experts to find top strategies to help leverage the positives this year. The impact of mobile usage on e-mail can't be underestimated. In 2019, mobile browsing (53% of traffic) surpassed desktop/tablet browsing (47% of traffic), notes Smart Insights. And while mobile still lags in terms of purchase revenue (32%) versus desktop/tablet (68%), it's growing fast, with a 23% year-over-year increase that has helped accelerate mobile optimization across digital channels. Data from Litmus shows that mobile devices also led in e-mail opens (41.9%) compared with desktop opens (18.2%) by Q1 of 2019. Coding e-mail creative for a mobile-viewing format is only the beginning. Changes to copy, images and overall layout can boost click-through by streamlining presentation to place the focus on quick engagement and CTA links, note experts. Concise copy with enough white space for easy reading is a first goal. Other tips include using image dimensions that are small enough to render well and placing images on the "first fold" to encourage scrolling. Using e-mail design with short copy not only leads to quick scanning but also allows the call-to-action (CTA) to be seen early and avoids excess scrolling that loses click-throughs. Finally, make sure that e-mails are rendering correctly across all types of devices, a testing option offered by most e-mail service providers. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is coming of age in marketing, including e-mail campaigns, with 87% of current AI users say they are planning on using it for sales forecasting and e-mail campaign enhancement, per Statista. Connext Digital foresees seven ways that AI will begin to influence e-mail marketing: 1) applying algorithms and data insights for predictive personalization; 2) analyzing demographics, purchasing patterns and online behavior for smarter segmentation; 3) automating workflow for e-mail triggering, tailored messaging and lead nurturing; 4) using natural language technology to find the best words for response optimization of subject lines and CTAs; 5) improving e-mail timing and frequency by specific recipient;6) A/B and multivariate testing to quickly identify trends and develop predictive results; and 7) developing data to enhance broader analyses, for example to predict potential churn. Privacy regulation is another factor for e-mail. Cold e-mailing, spamming and phishing have tainted e-mail’s reputation among consumers (and marketers), but recent privacy regulations, including the European Union's GDPR and California's CCPA, have spurred the e-mail marketing world to go beyond CAN SPAM to focus on privacy, compliance and subscriber trust. See our full website post at https://www.acculist.com/mobile-ai-highlight-e-mail-marketing-trends-for-2020/

These E-mail Tactics Make Holidays Merry for Retail

The holiday buying season is around the corner, and e-mail is more important than ever in the retail marketing mix for both existing customer lists and prospecting lists. Marketers planning for fourth quarter success may want to check plans against the "Ultimate Guide to Holiday E-mail Marketing" post offered by Campaign Monitor for some basic strategies and examples. Targeted e-mail marketing is positioned to capitalize on three big retail marketing trends: online buying, mobile commerce, and personalization. Four out of five Americans are now online shoppers, per Pew Research, so marketers will want to join the 41% of retailers that use “Buy Now” buttons in their e-mail marketing to link shoppers directly and quickly to online purchase pages. Mobile-optimized e-mails (linked to mobile-optimized landing pages) will also deliver more dollars because half of those online buyers make purchases using a mobile device. Sales on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2018 surpassed $2 billion, breaking the previous record set in 2017, and, according to Movable Ink, 76% of Black Friday e-mails and 63% of Cyber Monday e-mails are opened on a mobile device. Finally, now that personalization is demanded by consumers across channels, quality e-mail list data and segmentation can create the personalized e-mail messaging that delivers six times higher e-mail transaction rates, that converts 202% better than default e-mail calls to action (per HubSpot), and that generates a median e-mail ROI of 122% (per Instapage research). And don't forget that personalized e-mail subject lines generate an average of 50% higher open rates (per Oberlo data)! Indeed, the subject line is the first step in getting an e-mail noticed and opened, and Campaign Monitor has distilled some tips. As noted, personalize the subject line to boost open rates, using list data such as first name, for example, as well as purchase history, geography, site actions, etc. Keep the subject line short but pack in "power words" that tap emotions and drive action, including sales-driven words (deal, promotion, discount, savings, free shipping); time-urgency words (order now, limited time, today only, last minute, exclusive); holiday references (12 Deals of Christmas, Season's Greetings); and gratitude expressions (Thank you, appreciation, your support). Try engaging with a question (Need gift ideas?) or an eye-catching emoji. Brands using an emoji in their subject lines report a 45% increase in unique open rates, per Experian. Including an enticing offer in the subject line can help grab opens, too. For example, a mention of free shipping gains the interest of 74% of consumers, per UPS. For more tips and links to e-mail examples, go to our blog post at https://www.acculist.com/the-right-e-mail-marketing-tactics-can-make-holidays-merry-for-retailers/

How B2B Marketers Can Boost E-mail Leads

It's no surprise that close to 90% of B2B marketers use e-mail to generate new leads when the latest data from the DMA shows e-mail marketing delivers an average $43 return for every $1 spent. But that doesn't mean B2B e-mails are a guaranteed success. B2B e-mailers may want to benchmark their efforts against a recent infographic from EmailMonks that offers proven ways to help boost those all-important open and click rates. Start with personalization. Marketers personalize e-mails because 91% get better open and click rates when they do, and that means going beyond using a first name to targeted, personalized content based on demographics, purchase and browsing history, subscriber interests, etc. Achieving that quality targeted personalization requires good list segmentation; blasting a one-size-fits-all message to the whole e-mail list is a recipe for low response. Segmenting by age, gender, preferences, purchase history and more delivers 14.31% higher opens and 100.95% higher clicks than non-segmented list campaigns, notes the EmailMonks infographic. Executing that personal touch also means permission-based e-mail that respects recipient preferences and lets them manage frequency and timing of contacts. Then, as the infographic points out, 35% of e-mails are opened based on the subject line alone. What makes up a winning subject line? Brevity is the soul of subject line wit; with 54% of e-mails opened on a mobile device, a subject line of around three words scores higher since most mobile devices can show only four to seven words across the screen. Personalization counts big, too; personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened than general ones. Once the e-mail is opened, the crafting of a good call-to-action (CTA) will drive more click-throughs. The CTA should be noticeable and "above-the fold"; in fact most brands prefer to place a CTA in the top third of an e-mail, and 48% match the CTA colors to their brand logos. Oh, and make sure the CTA links to an effective, mobile-optmized landing page, too. Looking for specific examples? Go to our onsite blog post for a link to 17 B2B e-mail templates based on actual successful e-mails: http://www.acculistusa.com/how-to-boost-e-mail-lead-gen-for-b2b-publishers-marketers/

E-Mail Marketing Success Relies on These Basics

E-mail is a key part of most omnichannel marketing strategies, Yet dodging spam filters and reeling in responses from crowded inboxes is an ongoing challenge. A recent Direct Marketing News article laid out some basic tips on how to get the most out of e-mail marketing. First, data matters. Even the most well-crafted e-mail will end up in spam folders if delivered to an e-mail list with too many duplicates, outdated addresses, missing permission hygiene, spam traps, etc. Quality e-mail data is essential to deliverability, which means regular cleaning and updating of house lists, or carefully vetted rental lists (sponsored e-mails) for prospecting. Quality data is also key to the targeting that maximizes response, using segmentation and personalization to tailor offers and messaging to specific audiences and individuals. Once an e-mail lands in the inbox, the subject line, a brand's first impression, impacts open rates. While there are few absolute guidelines, be aware that 50-70 characters in length is the "sweet spot" for readability, per the article. In those few characters, the subject line needs to quickly convey an offer/value and tone that intrigue the audience. Beyond avoiding words and symbols likely to trigger spam filters, A/B testing is usually the best way to find which subject line leads to higher open and click rates, as the article advises. While focusing on a first impression, too many e-mail marketers forget the importance of a closing impression. For example, after gaining response and conversion, marketers can use transactional e-mails (e-mails acknowledging a purchase, donation, sign-up, etc.) to expand customer/donor value by offering a reward (discount on next purchase as an example), a loyalty program, a newsletter, social links and more. When it comes to design, the key to success today is the ability to translate across desktop, tablet and mobile devices. Remember, research shows that more than two-thirds of consumers access e-mail through their smartphones! Plus, e-mail isn't usually the only method for connecting with an audience, or necessarily the channel preference of all recipients. That's why e-mails also should highlight social media buttons, invite readers to share content, or urge them to visit appropriate social pages and profiles, as the article notes. For more tips, see http://www.acculistusa.com/want-e-mail-marketing-success-here-are-some-basics/

Marketing Pros Share Biggest Mistakes (and Fixes)

To err is human, even for the best direct marketers. So it is instructive to learn from marketing pros when they admit mistakes and then share corrections and prevention advice. A recent Direct Marketing News magazine article asked 13 experienced marketers to share their biggest goofs, how they fixed them and lessons learned. Here we'll share just their e-mail marketing stories since we have experience helping clients address the same issues via our e-mail list brokerage support and data services. For example, Guillaume Cabane, vice president of growth at Internet software firm Segment, relates how he failed to take segment crossover and duplication into account. He ended up e-mailing the same user five times in a week because the user appeared in multiple different data sets of people. The subscriber was not only irritated by the flood of e-mail but also confused by "similar but different" messages. The solution? Cabane notes that using data services to exclude recipients who have recently received other communications is one way to avoid the problem. Next the team at Return Path, a leading e-mail data solutions provider, cites several lessons from a failure to update an e-mailed webinar promotion post-testing so that the subject line "TEST" went to the entire subscriber list. To learn about their fix and how they made lemonade from their subject line lemon, as well as other cautionary marketing tales, go to http://www.acculistusa.com/cautionary-tales-marketing-pros-share-e-mail-mistakes-and-fixes/

Basic Tips Aid Even Small Firms in E-mail Success

E-mail marketing success doesn't have to be limited to big firms with big-data technology. A recent CIO.com article combined suggestions from e-mail experts to create 15 basic tips that put an effective e-mail campaign within reach of even small- to mid-sized businesses. Here are just the top seven as an example. Start out by segmenting e-mail lists to select the relevant content and offer by customer or subscriber group. If discounts are available for students or retirees, then segment by age as an example. Next, make sure the e-mail creative uses responsive design and is mobile-friendly. Research shows 68% of recipients open e-mail on a mobile device, and 71% of those will delete an e-mail immediately if it doesn't display properly. Consider testing text-only e-mails versus image-based e-mails to take into account the e-mail clients, such as Outlook, which automatically block images. Try to have a promotional e-mail come from a real person (not just noreply), realizing that 64% of subscribers open an e-mail based on who it is from. Then craft a subject line to maximize opens by keeping it short (lines with fewer than 50 characters have higher open rates) but at the same time compelling and urgent/time-sensitive. Avoid a mass-marketing approach and personalize the subject line and content to the target segment--going beyond first name to use other data, such as past purchase behavior, for the relevance that drives response. Finally, add a clear, visible call-to-action. Research shows that if the recipient can't understand what they're expected to do within just 5 seconds, the e-mail risks deletion! For eight more tips and resource suggestions from the experts, read http://www.cio.com/article/3057992/email/15-ways-to-improve-your-email-marketing-campaigns.html

Top NonProfit Subject Lines: Personal, Fun, Thankful

The most effective e-mail subject lines for nonprofit and association marketers in 2015 had some key lessons for any e-mail effort: The best were personal, fun and expressed gratitude for loyalty and support, according to digital-marketing agency Informz's study of 80 million A/B tested e-mails and 58 million e-mails with 40%+ open rates. As reported by NonProfit PRO magazine, the study found that personalization continues to prove its worth. For example, the subject line "FirstName, Your Membership is About to Expire" delivered a 13% better open rate than the impersonal "Your Membership is About to Expire." Subject lines that used humor and informality succeeded in punching up response to ordinary topics. For example "It's a trashy party, and you're invited!" got a 35% open rate, higher than the staid "Join Us at the Red Clay Valley Clean Up" (28%). Of course, caution is advised in this area, since there can be a fine line between lighthearted and unprofessional or offensive. Finally, the high open rates of simple thank-you subject lines proved that you can't overappreciate donors and members. "Thank you for making a real difference" earned a 66% open rate, for example. For more on subject line trends, go to http://www.nonprofitpro.com/article/the-best-nonprofit-email-subject-lines-of-2015/

E-mail Marketers Fail at Subject Line Split-Testing

E-mail marketers are surprisingly sloppy when it comes to optimizing subject lines, a key element in e-mail response, especially open rates, per a recent study. A minority of surveyed e-mail marketers report consistent use of subject line split-testing prior to campaign launch, according to a study by Phrasee cited in a recent KoMarketing Associates post. Phrasee's "State of Split Testing" report shows that an average 22% of respondents said they had done no split testing of subject lines in their last month's campaigns, and 49% admitted to split testing for only a few campaigns. About a third said they split-tested subject lines for most (about 21%) or all (about 7%) of their campaigns. The low investment in subject line success was also shown by the brief time spent on developing test-worthy subject lines, with nearly 46% saying they spent only a few minutes on the task! Plus, many e-mail marketers who do test then fail to leverage results data for further testing; 44% told Phrasee they "don't really do much" to analyze results for design of future split tests. For the whole post, go to http://www.komarketingassociates.com/industry-news/report-split-testing-is-still-uncommon-in-email-marketing-2912/

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/

Research Offers Five Clues to E-mail Success

While chasing the holy grail of e-mail response, marketers can get lost in a forest of subject line and offer gimmicks.  Here's some helpful guidance that Direct Marketing News shared from a recent study by Retention Science, a marketing platform provider. Based on Retention Science's analysis of one billion e-mails, the article can distill five tips for success. Tip No. 1 is that percent signs trump dollar signs: According to Retention Science, 38% of customers are more likely to click on e-mails containing percent-off offers than on dollar-off deals, and 47% are more likely to convert in response to percent-off. Tip No. 2 is that mystery is better than excitement in subject line punctuation: Subject lines containing question marks have a 44% higher open rate than those containing exclamation marks. Tip No. 3 is that brevity is the soul of response: Retention Science found that e-mails containing subject lines with six to 10 words generated the highest open rates, at 21%, compared with a 14% open rate for messages with 11- to 15-word subject lines. Tip No. 4 is that timing matters--depending on whether the goal is click-through, conversion or retention. While open rates are fairly consistent year-round, click-through rates jump during the early holiday months, rising to 30% in October and 27% in November, and conversion peaks in July, with a rate 21% higher than average. But then e-mail list retention hits its nadir in August, with unsubscribes at a 28% rate. And Tip No. 5 is that novelty may spur opens, but familiarity breeds clicks. A novelty item in the subject line yields a 6% lift in open rates, but necessities in the e-mail body (such as groceries) earn a 10% higher click-through rate than featuring specialty items, even if those special items won an open for the subject line. For more on the Retention Science study, read http://www.dmnews.com/email-marketing/how-to-send-the-almost-perfect-email/article/449482/

Subject Line 'Thank-you' Boosts E-mail Engagement

E-mail marketers are always looking for the magic subect line words to inspire opens. It turns out that a simple "thank you" has that engagement power, per a recent study from Adestra shared by Ragan's PR Daily. E-mails with "thank you" in the subject line have the highest above-average engagement levels (+62%), according to the Adestra study of 3 billion e-mail attempts by 125,000 global campaigns conducted by organizations in four industries (retail/B2C, conferences/events, media/publishing, and B2B). The open-sesame power of "thank you" may be because many automated, transactional messages include the phrase, such as e-mail receipts sent by brands after customers complete online purchases. But, at the other end of the specturm, other often-used subject line words hurt engagement levels, apparently by making the e-mail read sound like work, with the worst-performing words including "journal" (-50%), "forecast" (-47%), "training" (-47%), "whitepaper" (-40%), and "learn" (-36%). More engaging for e-mail recipients were words that suggest timeliness, such as "bulletin" (+32%), "breaking" (+27%), and "order today" (+27%). For the full story: http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/Study_These_words_will_make_or_break_your_subject_19472.aspx

Getting the Most Out of E-mail Fundraising

The season of intense fundraising activity is beginning, and we assume most nonprofits will be investing in e-mail. After all, e-mail has the highest ROI (21%-23%) of direct marketing media in the latest Direct Marketing Association stats. Plus, e-mail delivers a third of online fundraising revenue at a time when online giving is outpacing overall fundraising growth. For nonprofits who want to get the most from their investment in e-mail, we're passing along some handy guidelines to success, with examples, from a recent business2community article share of a Constant Contact blog post. "The Anatomy of a Successful Fundraising E-mail" highlights must-haves: First comes a subject line that entices opens by using both accuracy about the nature of the appeal and enough intrigue to make the recipient want to read more. Once the e-mail is opened, fundraisers must offer content that earns action/clicks by concisely and clearly explaining the program promoted, the impact of giving, and how to help, including a clear and visible call-to-action, such as a brightly colored button. We would add personalization to that content list, too. And last is an appealing design that brands professionally, uses easy-to-read text, and includes a powerful image to inspire action. For examples that illustrate each of these points, see the article at http://www.business2community.com/non-profit-marketing/the-anatomy-of-a-successful-fundraising-email-01318519#lEkbmm705yql01gl.97

'Choice' Is the New Magic Word for E-mail Opens

Putting the word "choice" or "choose" in an e-mail subject line can help a campaign generate 22% more revenue per e-mail and a 46% higher transaction rate on average, according to the latest analysis from Experian Marketing Services. As reported recently by a post for The Wall Street Journal's CMO Today blog, Experian data shows that a subject line such as "Choose your gift today" trumps even the personalization factor of putting the customer's first name in the subject line, which boosted open rates 20% on average. Why is appearing to offer a choice so important? The WSJ post quotes Spencer Kollas, Experian Marketing Services vice president of global deliverability services: "Marketers know that consumers are the ones in control of their relationship today. Consumers are responding to brands that explicitly given them that control." Today's e-mail campaigns definitely need to find some magic words for open rates in the increasingly crowded e-mail space. Experian data cited shows that while e-mail marketing campaigns rose 16% in the second quarter compared to a year earlier, unique open and click rates stagnated at 17% and 2% respectively. For the full post, go to http://blogs.wsj.com/cmo/2015/09/10/this-word-can-boost-the-performance-of-your-brands-email-campaign/

Caution: These Words Can Turn E-mail Into Spam

E-mail messaging is a tough balancing act, creating interest and urgency on a tightrope over the spam abyss--especially when writing the subject lines so critical to recipient opens. Our thanks to Geoffrey James, Inc. magazine contributing editor, for his recent article providing a whopping 401 words and phrases likely to raise spam flags and tip e-mail straight into spam folders instead of inboxes. His list starts with "$$$" and ends with "You've been selected." Along the way are many tempting and seemingly innocuous marketing words and phrases: 50% off, affordable, all new, bargain, bonus, call, compare, deal, discount, for you, hello, instant, member, no cost, no obligation, now, one time, only, opportunity, sale, save up to, subscribe, urgent. And, of course, beware almost any phrase beginning with the word "free." Other no-no words reflect the e-mail abuses found in certain industries: insurance, investment, mortgage, quote, prize, refinance, lose weight, search engines, vacation, Viagra. For his complete list of words to avoid, read http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/401-reasons-your-email-is-spam.html

Best and Worst Subject Lines for E-mail Opens

The goal of an e-mail subject line is straightforward: Get the recipient to notice and open your communication. But crafting a good subject line is trickier. With the wrong subject line, your e-mail gets ignored, deleted or, worse, declared spam. A recent Target Marketing magazine article by Jeff Molander, a digital sales trainer and author, provides helpful guidelines for effective subject lines. Basically, to get recipients to open an e-mail from someone they don't know, the subject line needs to do one of three things--indicate an anticipated message, scare/worry, or spark curiosity. But there are definitely right and wrong ways to achieve those goals. So Molander starts with subject line copy to avoid: a yes/no question (since half are likely to say no and delete); overly specific (why open when you know what's inside); too vague (interest disconnects lead to deletes); asks for a meeting or time (people don't waste limited time on a stranger); sounds like a newsletter (unsolicited newsletters get dumped); sounds unbelievable (spammy claims get trashed); sounds too familiar (familiarity breeds deletes, too). So much for subject line don'ts; what are the subject line dos? The best subject lines are appealing and relevant, useful and goal-oriented, specific yet not too specific, believable, provocative yet credible, and, most of all, short, per Molander. Translating that into actual copy, he shares the three most effective subject lines based on his years of consulting with sales reps: "Know this about X?" (and make X something the prospect wants to know); "Advantages of X" (where X is not your product but something unexpected or negative that your product addresses); and "Is this a fit for X?" (where X can be personalized to "you, John" to spark curiosity). For more tips, read http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/post/death-subject-line/

The First Step to an A/B Test Win: An Open Mind

Although A/B testing is a marketing given, marketers often unknowingly limit their potential response results with preconceived notions about what audiences prefer. Approaching A/B testing with an open mind can yield the surprise wins that create market leaders. A recent DirectMarketingIQ article by Rohan Ayyar, of the E2M digital marketing agency, cited some telling A/B testing results for marketing efforts as diverse as mobile landing pages, e-mail subject lines and even product design. One example of a surprise test win comes from health insurer Anthem. For a mobile PPC campaign, Anthem A/B tested a landing page with no images and three different calls to action in a text-only format against a landing page with the image of a smiling woman, a single call to action and descriptive copy. Based on common assumptions about the digital conversion power of images, Anthem expected the version with the image to win--but they were wrong. On a mobile platform, the all-text version increased leads by 166% at a 95% confidence level. It turned out that mobile users scrolling small screens preferred multiple calls to action, including an easy call to customer care, to reading small soft-sell text. Another famous example of thinking out of the A/B testing box comes from President Obama's 2012 re-election e-mail fundraising. Politics is serious business, so the assumption was that e-mail appeals with formal subject lines would deliver more dollars. In reality, casual subject lines that even contained mild profanity ("Hell yeah, I Like Obama") or just the recipient's name did better, and the big winner was the famous "Hey" subject line series. The President's name as the sender combined with a friendly personal approach in the subject line to push winning e-mails $2.2 million ahead in revenue compared with the worst performing e-mail. For more on surprise A/B testing wins, see http://www.directmarketingiq.com/article/3-unexpected-wins-that-emerged-from-a-b-testing/1

Just 3 Lines Hold Key to Mobile E-mail Opens

Mobile e-mail optimization is essential now that the majority of e-mails are first opened on a mobile device. So what's the key to boosting mobile open rates?  Just three lines of type, points out a recent MarketingProfs article. A look at major mobile default e-mail displays finds that all automatically show only three vital lines: the subject line, the first line and the From line. When it comes to subject lines, only 20-30 characters are available, and the optimum number of words averages around eight to nine, per studies. But not just any words will do the trick. Marketers need to pull response triggers by making it personal (using first names, or "you" and "I," for example), emotional (using words that evoke the pleasure derived or the pain avoided by a key benefit) and on-trend (referencing pop culture icons will go further than a traditional pitch). Next create a first line that draws opens via continued personalization and a human, conversational tone. Then make the personal approach believable with a From line using a human being's name--not a brand name, "customerservice," "sales" or the robotic "auto." See the MarketingProfs article for real-world examples: http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2015/26925/increase-your-mobile-email-open-rates-how-to-optimize-the-only-three-lines-that-matter

How to Use Preheader Text to Boost E-mail Opens

With a crowded e-mail inbox and a few seconds of e-mail attention span, snaring opens is a struggle -- even with a good subject line. What if you could reinforce the opening power of your subject line? A recent Target Marketing magazine article explains how to do that with preheader text. Preheader text is the grayed-out text that shows up after the subject line when checking e-mail in your Gmail inbox or on your mobile device. If you don't put in your own preheader text, you send a default message like "If you're having trouble viewing this e-mail…" -- which wastes space that could pack real marketing punch. The Target Marketing piece suggests how to use preheader text as a second chance to capture reader attention. You can use it to expand on the subject line, add call-to-action language or add an incentive offer, for example. And you can personalize the preheader for a more subtle friendliness than the personalized subject line, which offends some. One thing the preheader should not do is merely repeat or recast the subject line; that's a reader-annoying waste of marketing real estate. Plus, you're writing for the e-mail inbox, so keep the preheader short but impactful at 75 characters or less. Finally, since the preheader should be audience-targeted marketing copy, you should do A/B testing of variations. For more tips, check out the article at http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/8-uses-preheader-text-improve-email-open-rates/1