At Blings, we focus on getting your campaigns to convert better, faster, and more consistently. The secret to our success is that we help you create compelling, engaging, and relevant video content that drives your message home and stimulates your audience to respond quicker because of the personalized content you can deliver to them.
If you aren’t yet using personalized videos, here’s information that should help you understand what personalized videos can do for your company in today’s marketplace:
- According to a Vidyard report, personalized videos can increase click-through rates by up to 10 times.
- Adweek found that personalized video ads had a 37% higher view-through rate than non-personalized ads.
- Research from Demand Metric found that personalized videos have a conversion rate that is six times higher than non-personalized video.
And we’ve seen this happen over and over again with the campaigns that our customers are running.
A large, international, online sports betting website was interested in using the opportunity of the World Cup to increase revenue on its site. They looked at two segments, first-time betters and return betters who they could encourage to make an additional deposit.
They sent the interactive video by email just moments before the World Cup kickoff. It included a teaser that asked the reader to guess who would win a specific game, and who would win The World Cup. The company also included a financial incentive to place the bet before the match began. By asking questions and making room to have those questions answered, they put their clients into the mindset of betting and the results showed it. Both segments saw a 5 times increase in online deposits directly resulting from the campaign, thereby making the video ROI positive on the very first send.
DOS AND DON’TS
So now that it’s clear that personalized video will help you convert once your audience has opened your emails, I thought to take the opportunity to share some “do’s” and “don’ts” for creating the best email subjects based on Bling’s findings over the past few years. If you can increase your open rates but just a few points, and you’ve got the content of your campaign handled with an impactful personalized video, you’ve got yourself the holy grail of campaigns.
And to sweeten the pot, I’ll also provide some examples of effective subject lines that you can use to grab your audience’s attention and encourage them to take the next step in their customer journey.
Subject line DOS
- Insert the recipient’s first name in the subject line. This can help grab their attention and stop them from scrolling past your email. According to a recent LinkedIn report, personalization is the first step to increasing open rates by up to 26%.
- Make sure your subject line is between 6-10 words. Subject lines that are too long or too short can be less effective. After analyzing more than 260 million emails across 540 retail email marketing campaigns, marketing analytics firm Retention Science found email subject lines kept at 6 to 10 words resulted in a 21 percent open rate.
- Create a sense of urgency in the subject line. Using words like “limited time,” “exclusive,” “now is the time,” “your competition knows” or “act now” can increase open rates by up to 22%, according to recent research. This can help motivate your subscribers to open and read your email right away.
- Use the word “free” in the subject line. Offering something for free can be a powerful motivator for your subscribers. Research shows that using the word “free” in the subject line can increase open rates by up to 10%.
- Consider using the phrase “personalized video” in the subject line. Globoplay, a Brazilian subscription video-on-demand streaming service with over 20 million registered users, found that using this phrase in the subject line increased open rates by up to 150%. Personalized videos, especially interactive personalized videos, can be a great way to engage your subscribers and make your email more compelling.
- Send your emails at the right time of day. Marketing leader, HubSpot, surveyed over 300 U.S. email marketers and found the majority reported the highest engagement for their marketing emails occurred between 9 AM to 12 PM and 12 PM to 3 PM. For higher visibility, send emails with promotions or sales during the times when your audience tends to take their lunch breaks. Data suggests this is when they are most active.
Subject line DON’Ts:
Now you know what it takes to get your subject line noticed. Here are a few subject line “don’ts” to keep in mind:
- Don’t include “fw” in the subject line. A report released by LinkedIn partner Sidekick, released a study with 19 stats to optimize open rates including that emails with “fw” in the subject line are 17% less likely to be opened.
- Avoid sending from a “do-not-reply” email account. This sends the message that you don’t value your subscribers and aren’t interested in hearing from them. Instead, use a personalized email address that shows you value your relationship with your subscribers.
- Don’t waste your time including the word “update” or “newsletter” in the subject line. Some studies even suggest these words can decrease the message’s open rate since it tells readers the email is associated with a series, and therefore they can catch the next one.
- Don’t overdo it with emojis. If part of your brand voice is using emojis, make sure not to use more than 3 in the subject line. Using too many emojis can make your subject line look cluttered and unprofessional.
- It is generally best to avoid mentioning your company or product in the subject line unless you are offering a discount or special offer, or if your company name and product name are the same. The subject line should focus on the topic of the email, not your brand or product.
To ensure the success of your email campaign, consider following these guidelines and using a high-quality product, a deep understanding of your market, and an engaging personalized video to convey your message. These elements, combined with a well-crafted email, can help make your company a thriving success.
