Everybody knows putting "free" in a subject line is an automatic trip to filter hell, and HTML beats text format for responses, right? Absolutely, but not necessarily, according to speakers at the DMA conference.

Michelle Feit of e-Post Direct (http://www.epostdirect.com) said a test campaign that put "free offer" in the subject line (without funky punctuation, either) did better than one whose subject line emphasized a benefit. It was a B2B campaign, which might test differently from a consumer campaign, and there were no delivery or filtering stats reported.

She also said HTML does better than text, but Jeff Moriarty, sales and marketing director for business-list firm DM2 Moriarty, said text might be poised for a comeback.

"We're seeing text coming back into play more," he said. "This is being led by the people who led us to HTML in the first place, IT people, because of the speed with which recipients can read them."

Text emails also stand out in a sea of HTML, said Moriarty, who also advocates putting a benefit in the subject line to lift open rates.

All the contradictory advice just spotlights one strategy that seems to underlie everything: Test, test and test. One size, format or subject-line style does not fit all campaigns or newsletters. Posted by: DTB at 8:46 PM  |  Permalink