By Anne Holland, Publisher

I've always wondered what works best in the battle to get noticed in the in-box, haven't you?

So I was psyched when Sherpa reader Ben Chestnut, Partner at RocketScienceGroup contacted me about a quick study his team just conducted. They sorted 40 million email messages sent to house lists by hundreds of their clients over the past 12 months by open rate.

Then they reviewed 20 messages from the top -- ones with the highest open rates, ranging from 60-87%. Typical subject lines (I've put "company name" instead of an actual company name) for these extreme winners:

- Eye on Company Name Update
- Company Name Newsletter February 2006
- Invitation from Company Name
- Company Name May 2005 News Bulletin!

Overall, 17 of the 20 included the company or brand name of the sender. Also, 10 had the word "newsletter," "News" or a synonym such as "update." None of them featured an overt promotional offer, although three were invitations.

Most of all, almost none appeared to be written by a "marketer." They were fairly bland, factual, and even boring.

Chestnut's team also looked at the subject lines for the 20 worst performing campaigns, which ranged from 1%-14% opens. Typical subject lines in the bad pool included:

- Last Minute Gift - We Have the Answer
- Valentine's Day Salon & Spa Specials!
- Company Name Pioneers in XYZ Technology
- You asked for more...

Overall, only 10 of these featured a company name. Only one contained the word "news," and nine were pretty obviously promotional offers. The rest were press-release-style headlines ("Now offering company name services!"), or brochure-style headlines ("True automation of your company name research").

In other words, the worst performing were all clearly written "by marketing."

One thing I found interesting: if you say the email has news that's open-worthy, but if you feature the news as the subject line, that's not interesting enough to open.

Caveat: Loads of factors beyond subject line influence open rates, including how the house list was gathered, the sender's brand strength, the average age (length of opt-in) of a typical recipient, deliverability, etc. Also, we in email all know open rates are not a highly precise measurement tool.

That said, I still think this quick study is worth considering, if only as an idea generator for your own in-house tests this year. Consider testing "boring" subject lines.

Also, as this study reminds us, email newsletters have a big place in your email mix. Recipients tend to prefer newsletters to promotions (and who can blame them?)

If you're interested in learning more, here's a link to Ben's info on his study:
http://www.mailchimp.com/resources/subject-line-comparison.phtml

By the way -- have you done any studies? Let me know. Our research team is always interested in reviewing third party data!

Anne Holland - Publisher
Feedback(at)marketingSherpa(dot)com
MarketingSherpa, Inc

P.S. As always, our Case Studies and articles are open access for about 10 days. Then they go into SherpaLibrary where you can research for a small fee. The links always remain the same.

#2. Get Site Visitors on the Phone (So You Can Convert Them)

As hair product (think help for baldness) maker Kevis discovered last year, radio ads drive a lot of traffic to your Web site. But what if you absolutely need to get consumers on the phone to close the deal?

Driving site traffic to the phone is not so easy. Discover how Kevis cracked the challenge with live chat offers that are aggressive, without being annoying. Yes, includes results data:
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=3240
(Open access until May 6th)

#3. How to Sell 32% More Ads on Wikis, Blogs and Discussion Groups

Community Web sites featuring user-generated content have become hot commodities, as evidenced by the press around MySpace.com recently. But cashing in on community isn't easy.

Despite the buzz factor, many publishers running community sites still go to sleep asking themselves, "How can I convince more sponsors to come on board?"

Read on for a look at how one community site - packed with blogs, wikis, and discussion groups - has revamped its ad offerings to thrill the "Google Generation" of b-to-b media buyers:
http://www.contentbiz.com/sample.cfm?contentID=3241
(Open access until May 7th)

#4. SPECIAL: MarketingSherpa's Email Marketing Award Winners 2006 (38 Creative Samples to Steal Ideas From)

Save this issue in your "swipe file" for inspiration for your next email campaign or strategy meeting. Worth noting -- every campaign is being honored based on real-life *results* (not just creative). Includes:

-> 12 B-to-B email campaigns
-> 6 Best email newsletters
-> Campaigns from Blockbuster, Intercontinental Hotels, Ghiradelli, IBM, CareerBuilder & Canadian Blood Services.

Plus, find out which brand won four awards (a record achievement) and which little-known ad agency won three for itself and clients.

Here are creative samples and background details on 38 of the very best email campaigns ever:
http://www.MarketingSherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=3242
(Open access *forever* - yes, you can add this link to your blog)

#5. EXCLUSIVE: New Study Reveals How to Market to Engineers Around the World (US vs Europe & Asia)

RSS feeds and podcasts are hot, but do electronics engineers pay any attention to them?

Which is more important: improving your Web site to appeal to engineers or exhibiting at more trade shows?

And, what sorts of webinars would engineers around the world be extremely interested in attending?

CMP Electronics Group released the results of its 2006 Global Media Usage 2006 study exclusively to MarketingSherpa's reporters. Here are our top five lessons learned that could (and should) affect your marketing:
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=3243
(Open access until May 7th)

#6. Top Three Usability Tests for Web Site Redesign Decisions

In the insanely competitive world of financial services marketing, your Web design has to be really good (not to mention persuasive) to convert the traffic you worked so hard for.

Most marketers focus on Web analytics, a/b panels, and multivariate tests these days. However, these metrics only tell you what visitors did when they came to your site -- not *why* they did it.

Here are three usability tests a real-life marketer used recently to understand the whys and improve online conversions:
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=3239
(Open access until May 5th)

#7. Fame Briefs: New Awards Including Heavy Blog Politicking for Trade Show Awards

Here's a quick listing of the latest marketing, ad, and PR awards you can nominate yourself for.
http://www.MarketingSherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=2632
(Open access = permanent)

#8. Help Wanteds: 27 New Jobs & 1 Seeker Available

The past week's new posts including a job at Sherpa. Plus, learn how to post your own opening (complimentary service).
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=2522
(Open access = permanent)

#9. New Giveaway: 'Then We Set His Hair on Fire'

Author Phil Dusenberry

For those of you old enough to remember, that title refers to Michael Jackson's 1984 commercial for Pepsi-Cola... and the huge marketing bump Pepsi got because of the publicity surrounding the Gloved One's hair-on-fire incident.

Doing the reminiscing is ad industry legend Phil Dusenberry, former Chairman and Chief Creative Officer BBDO North America, who helped with the Pepsi account as well as such slogans as GE's "We Bring Good Things to Life," HBO's "It's Not TV, It's HBO" and Visa's "It's Everywhere You Want to Be." It's a fun read, especially to find out what went on behind the scenes to create these memorable lines.

In this 290-page hardcover, the 2002 Advertising Hall of Fame inductee looks back on his 40-plus years in the ad business, and he shares his thoughts on how to build a foolproof "insight creation machine." Note: The fact that the Sherpa staff includes two former BBDO execs did not influence the review of this book.

Phil donated five copies for Sherpa to give away. Toss your name into the hat here to try for one:
http://sherpa.bookoffer.sgizmo.com
(Ends 05/07/06)


+ Winners of last week's giveaway are...

These five lucky marketers will get their own copies of 'Clear Eye for Branding' by Tom Asacker.

• Sara Adams, CustomScoop, Concord, NH
• Marty Knight, OnPath, Ottawa, Canada
• Joseph Lemmer, Universal Audio, Santa Cruz, CA
• Michele Paled, Cumulus Radio Advertising, Nashville, TN
• Barbara Springer, The Crossings, Austin, TX