Thank You For Taking Advantage Of These Subjet Line Tips- You'll Be Golden!!

We're all used to receiving tons of email- it seems like our inboxes fill up more and more each day with e-newsletters from companies we've recently purchased from or submitted some type of inquiry for. Sometimes we signed up to receive them, other times it happened automatically during the checkout process, and of course we've all experienced receiving emails we never agreed to as well.

Truthfully, whether we consciously decided to receive an email or not, it's the subject line that is the biggest factor in whether or not we will open it. And even when people choose NOT to open your email, they still read the subject line. In their minds, the language or topic is associated with your brand, and that contributes to the perception they have about your dealership.

So clearly the subject line of an email is important. Adestra recently released their 2015 Subject Line Report, detailing the most successful keywords and strategies used in widely opened emails, and there was a lot of valuable information to be shared!

According to Adestra, the top performing keywords included Thank you, Thanks, Monthly, Bulletin, Golden, Breaking, and Order Today. Interestingly enough, another top performer was a subject line with different topics divided by pipes - Example: This Week's Deals | New Inventory | Upcoming Events

The bottom performing keywords included Subscription, Early Bird, Industry, Learn, Forecast, Report, Intelligence, Whitepaper, Journal, and Training.

Additional findings included consumers' expectation for instantaneous information - for example, an immediate welcoming e-newsletter after signing up for weekly emails from a business. The use of exclamation points in subject lines also drive more opens and clicks.

In the retail industry, emails with offers and sales were found to be the most popular in opens and clicks, which isn't too surprising. High response rates came from emails that offered 10% or 25% off of a purchase. Larger percentages such as 50% actually brought in less response, likely because people find that promise too good to be true or perhaps even spam. High conversions did take place when those offers were clicked on, however. And even if people aren't always interested in your sales, regularly advertising them via email is one tactic to keep people subscribed as your contact. They don't want to miss out on future deals, so they'll usually stick around.

Subject line language isn't the only major factor to a successful email marketing campaign. The From name can have an effect on user perception and likelihood to engage with your communication - are your emails from Motorsports Mania, or Bob, the friendly dealership owner who greets all of his customers in person? This is something you'll have to test for best success rate. Day of the week and time of the day also have an impact on your emails, but this can be hard to control. Unpredictable things such as weather or traffic can play a role in how much your email is read. Adestra found that, statistically, emails sent on Tuesdays at 4 p.m. generated the best response. While it's a good theory to test out, you may find something completely different is ideal for your marketing efforts.

Data collection, or the way you build your email contact list, is another factor to consider. The cleaner your list is (meaning that everyone on it subscribed, and if everyone on the list engaging with your emails in some way that's even better), the more impressive results you can expect to see. But don't get too caught up looking at clicks and conversions - the vast majority of your contacts will not click on or engage with your email in any way. That doesn't mean that your marketing message didn't get through to them - maybe they'll even come in to your dealership this weekend because of that email - so don't underestimate the value of the subscribers you have.

To sum it up, there is a lot of information here that could potentially help your email marketing strategy. But remember that what works for one business won't necessarily work for another. Your email contacts are also people who are fans of your dealership, and likely your brand personality, so make your own best judgment to draw those people in. Take these tips for what they are - things to test out and assess for helpfulness. And if any of them prove successful for you, even better.