Matt McGee says, “You won’t believe it! (Actually, I think you will.) Clickbait headlines often work on social networks and across the web, but they’re not a good idea for your marketing emails.

That’s according to “The Art and Science of Effective Subject Lines,” a new study out today from Return Path. The company looked at more than nine million emails sent by “prominent global brands” to more than two million consumers between January 1 and February 28 of this year.

Return Path found that emails with clickbait-like words in the Subject line had lower read rates when compared to similar emails sent with less clickbait-like subject lines. For example, emails using the phrase “secret of” performed well below average (almost nine percent) and the word “shocking” led to a 1.22 percent drop in read rate. On the other hand, when the wording used more tame language like “get rid of” and “what you need to know,” read rates performed a little above average“.

Shocking! Clickbait Headlines May Be Ruining Your Email Marketing

Marketing Land

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