Two companies recently released studies on e-mail marketing that recommend using short subject lines and sending messages early in the work week.

Ryan Moss
Media Coordinator

eMarketer predicts that the amount of money spent on e-mail marketing will continue to increase during the next five years. About $472 million was spent on e-mail in 2008 and eMarketer expects that amount to reach around $630 million by 2013. As e-mail marketing continues to become more popular, companies have allocated more money to analyze the tactic and determine some best practices.

Two companies, Smith-Harmon and Epsilon, both recently conducted studies on e-mail marketing and came away with some fascinating results.

As seen in the chart below from Smith-Harmon’s study, Monday and Tuesday were the most popular days to send retail e-mail during 2008. As expected Saturday and Sunday were the two least popular days.

Epsilon’s study examined the relationship between the length of the subject line and the response rate. The study showed that shorter subject lines typically perform better with regards to open and click rates, although the correlation isn’t as strong as predicted. Other factors to consider are the order of words in the subject line, word choice and brand/audience awareness.

When sending out an e-mail campaign it is extremely important to pay attention to the minor details. As mentioned above this includes the length of the subject line and what words you use. Also, consider that if there is a high volume of e-mails on certain days, then other days might be better suited for your e-mail campaign.