Email is the most common form of electronic communication in the world today. It’s also a growing marketing tool used by corporations all over to send promotions, coupons, and product news and updates to their consumers. With so much traffic in your inbox, which emails do you decide to open?
Did you know?
- In 2008, the estimated number of emails sent per day was approximately 210 billion (Statistics, extrapolations and counting by Radicati Group from August 2008).
- More than 2 million emails are sent every second.
- About 70 percent to 72 percent of emails might be spam and/or viruses.
- The genuine emails are sent by around 1.3 billion email users.
Marketing messages are starting to lose their flare. Consumers are looking for email attempts that are genuine in their approach to reach them. Using a consumer’s first name to “hook” them to open is now being viewed as a fake attempt by many.
In a recent blog posted by MarketingProfs, DJ Waldow discusses a company called Spreadshirt. It caught his attention with a twist on the usual personalization email. Instead of using his name, Spreadshirt referenced his former place of residence with the subject line, “Durham Rocks!”
Inside, the copy reads, "You know that your hometown is awesome. But does everyone else? Now you can create your own customized hometown t-shirt and wear it proudly for the whole world to see."
According to Waldow, the email did two things well:
- The subject line intrigued him. "Why?" he notes. "Because—even though I don't still live there—I love Durham. It does rock."
- The copy got him to read the entire message. It was catchy, had a clear call-to-action and offered four ways to connect with the company on various social networks.
Aside from recognizing a few design issues, Waldow had only one minor criticism: He doesn't expect Spreadshirt to know he moved four months ago, but he does notice that an occasional email inviting subscribers to update preferences might have made the subject line even more relevant by mentioning his current location.
Consumers understand how corporations use their email addresses. If you are going to customize personal emails, use a detail in your subject line that subscribers aren’t expecting to see. Finally, reel them in with an appealing point that hooks them.
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