Email Labs reports some interesting research on email subject lines. Subject lines of 49 or fewer characters garnered a 75% higher click-through rate while achieving a 12.5% higher open rate than email messages with 50 characters or more in their subject lines.
They also found that the more hyperlinks the better with emails containing 25 or more links enjoying a 12% advantage in open rates and a whopping 29% edge in their click-through rates.
I can bear this out in my own experience as the link-rich ezines that I build for my customers generally pull significantly higher click-through rates than those with fewer links. For example, the April issue for one of my clients generated a phenomenal 22% click-through rate. This issue contained 62 links in the html version with 44 of the links generating clicks.
Why do shorter subject lines pull better than lengthy ones? I think, in part, because with a shorter subject line it’s more likely your reader will get the full story whereas longer subject lines may end up being truncated. In an age of email inundation from both legitimate and illegitmate sources; fewer people may be willing to take a risk on an unknown subject line. As far as links go – variety is the spice of life and apparently ezines as well. The more places available for your subscribers to go to, the more likely that you’ll tempt a broader spectrum to go there.
So shorten the subject lines and increase your links to boost your email open and click-through rates.
