How a more specific subject line increased clicks in a nurture email
NextAfter
Experiment Summary
Timeframe: 04/05/2018 - 04/16/2018
In this experiment, the email we were sending was a round up of fundraising content that Brady had read over the course of the previous week. The goal was to drive recipients to click and engage with other content as ongoing nurture of our house file. The original subject line was related to the content of the email and a specific reference made within the body copy.
We wondered if a subject line that was more specific to what kind of content the reader would find within the email would prime the reader and drive more clicks.
Research Question
Will a more specific subject line increase clicks?
Design
Results
| Treatment Name | Click Rate | Relative Difference | Confidence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C: | An Email Unlike Any Other… | 3.5% | ||
| T1: | The best stuff I've read this week | 4.5% | 26.0% | 95.7% |
This experiment has a required sample size of 3,480 in order to be valid. Since the experiment had a total sample size of 7,422, 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:
26.0% increase in traffic
× 0% increase in conversion rate
× 0% increase in average gift
Key Learnings
Although the treatment saw a slight decrease in open rate, it saw a 26% increase in overall clicks. This shows that a subject focused on the specifics of the email content effectively primes the user, driving a greater interest in clicking and engaging.