Care Net
Does using the word “can” instead of the word “should” in Subject Lines increase open rates?
Experiment ID: #14158
Care Net
Experiment Summary
Timeframe: 06/01/2019 - 06/05/2019
We tested this in our weekly “weekend update” email. The control was the name of the article, but I knew that the wording would seem like it was “talking down” to a great portion of the target audience, so I wanted to test a slightly different approach.
Research Question
When you know your audience agrees with you, is it better to tell them what they “should” do or what they “can” do (in this context “have a right to do”)?
Design
C: Why "old white ladies" should care about abortion
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T1: Why "old white ladies" can have a say about abortion
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Results
This experiment has a required sample size of
413 in order to be valid. Since the experiment had a total sample size of
33,931, and
the level of confidence is above 95%
the experiment results are
valid.
Flux Metrics Affected
The Flux Metrics analyze the three primary metrics that affect revenue (traffic, conversion rate, and average
gift).
This experiment produced the following results:
21.9% increase in traffic
× 0% increase in conversion rate
× 0% increase in average gift
Key Learnings
We saw a HUGE lift in open rates. People were much more excited to read about what they had a right to do, rather than what they should do - since they already cared about the issue.