Prevalence Of Email Subject Line Testing, October 2014 [CHART]

All email marketers want opens, clicks and conversions, but to get there, they need something to draw in readers—that’s where subject lines come in. How can marketers make sure they’re using the best words to make a first impression—and avoid getting stuck in a subject line rut? Split-testing. But while marketers polled worldwide in October 2014 by Howling Mad ranked subject lines among the top elements that affected the response rate of an email campaign, few conducted split-testing.

According to the study, about one-quarter of marketers hadn’t tested any of their email campaign subject lines in the past month, and around half had only conducted subject line testing on a few of their campaigns. This left fewer than 30% of respondents who tested most or all.

When they do split-test, marketers aren’t going all out. Around 70% only tested A/B splits, compared with 14% who looked at three or four subject lines and just 2% who looked at more than five. While Howling Mad noted that this was still better than nothing, it also said marketers may not be making the most of their opportunity to split-test. Read the rest at eMarketer.