In this case study, I used data-driven tools to identify subject line words and phrases that increase opens% and clicks%. Likewise, these tools also identified words and phrases that produced a negative impact on opens% and clicks%. Combined with solid copywriting to put new subject lines in correct context, this project produced a minimum of 20-40% improvement in opens% and clicks%. We only optimized the subject lines and harmonized the lead headline in the body copy with the subject line. To test your email, call or email: Lee Stein Stein Writes, Inc. +1-707-843-5088 Lstein@SteinWrites.com © Stein Writes, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

1. Case Study:
Improving Email
Performance
Client: Major Technology Conference

2. Email opens and clicks
increased by 20 - 40%
Rules-Based, Data-Driven Method

3. Background: Baseline Emails vs. Improved Emails
● For the 2013 conference, the client sent 20 promotional emails.
● For the 2014 conference, the client sent 27 emails divided as follows:
○ The initial 17 emails in 2014 were sent prior to applying improvement
methods.
○ The final 10 emails in 2014 were improved using the methods
described in coming slides.
● The last 10 sent in 2013 and the first 17 sent in 2014 served as the
baselines for comparison.

4. Measures of Email Effectiveness
● Opens lead to clicks. Measure of the Subject Line’s
effectiveness.
● Clicks lead to downloads. Measures the effectiveness of
the content in the email.
● Clicks/Opens provides an additional measure of the
effectiveness of Subject Lines and email content.

5. Method to Improve Subject Lines
Method:
● One tool identifies “Good” Words and “Bad” Words in Subject Lines as
measured by open and click percentages.
● The second scores multiple variables for improvement, such as number of
characters, too much punctuation,etc.
● Then applied copywriting skills to use optimally performing words and
technical accuracy.

6. Rules to Improve Subject Lines
3 Simple Rules:
1. Insert one or more “Good” words that increase both Opens and Clicks.
1. Delete any “Bad” words that decrease Opens or Clicks.
1. Edit the subject line as suggested by the second tool.
Then edit subject line per rules above to include technical accuracy.

7. Email Groups Compared
Group of Improved emails = Last 10 in 2014
Against two unimproved groups of emails:
● 1st 17 emails in 2014
● 2nd 10 emails in 2013

8. Improved vs. 2014 Baseline = + 20%
Email Group % Opens
10 Improved Emails – 2014 11%
17 Baseline Emails 2014 9%
Improvement 20%+
● All 10 improved emails:
○ Outperformed the
overall 2014 Opens
average for all 27
emails.
○ Lowest improved
email was 10% vs.
6% for 2014
baseline.

9. Improved Emails vs. 2013 Baseline = +40% Opens
Email Group % Opens
10 Improved Emails – 2014 11%
Last 10 emails in 2013 8%
Improvement 40%
Comparison of Improved 2014
Opens to Opens for the last 10
emails in 2013.
● All 10 improved emails were 10% or
better.
● Lowest single email Opens in 2013
= 6%.

10. Before and After Applying Rules-Based Method:
3 out of 4 individual emails = +60% Opens
Email Title
Opens
Improvement %
Tech Subject #1 58%
Event Highlights 64%
Tech Subject #2 59%
Tech Subject #3 16%
The four email titles (at right) were sent in early
“unimproved” emails. The same titled emails
were re-sent following improvement in the last 10
emails.
Opens Comparison:
● 60% improvement for 3 of the 4 email titles.

11. Example of Rules-Based Method
1. Original Subject Line Sent on 9/24:
Get the scoop on (Tech subject #1)! Optical speeds at silicon prices!
1. Tool #1 - Identified “Good” and “Bad” Words
2. Tool #2 - Subject line was too long and two !!’s
3. Edited version based on rules:
(Tech subject #1) for 100 Gbps Plus
4. Result: (+60% in Opens)

12. Results of Rule-Based Method
#1: The tools worked well, were easy to use, and could be quickly applied.
Improved emails outperformed baseline Opens by 30%.
#2: All 10 of the improved emails performed above the overall 2014 average.

13. Click % Increases 16%-35%
Comparison of Improved
2014 emails to:
Improvement in
Click %
17 Baseline Emails
2014
16%
Last 10 emails in 2013 35%
● Clicks% is a measure of the quality of the
content in the body of the email.
● Content includes every element in the body
of the email (graphics, layout, headline,
copy, etc).
● Additional task: Also applied “Good/Bad”
word tool to improve headlines in the email
body copy.

14. 3 of 4 Emails Improved clicks by 120-300%
Comparison of Same-Topic Emails
Email Title
Clicks %
Improvement
Technical Topic #1 294%
Event Highlights 288%
Technical Topic #2 120%
Technical Topic #3
0%
Same four email topics as in the Opens
comparison:
● 120-300% improvement for 3 of the 4
emails.

15. Clicks/Opens Means Work on Content
● All three email groups averaged
approximately 5% in clicks to opens
(includes both baseline groups and improved
emails).
● Insight: Event emails need to improve the
quality of the body content to improve clicks.
(Includes graphics, body copy, registration
design, and “thought-flow” in the email.

16. Summary of 2014 Rule-Based Method:
● Opens improved 22 - 38% compared to two baseline groups.
● Direct comparison for same topic emails showed a big increase in both
clicks and opens.
● Clicks improved by 16% vs. 2014 baseline.
● Clicks/Opens for all three groups was about 5%.
See Next slide for Recommendations
* In-depth details on all data reported here available on request.

17. Next Steps....
Think about what a 10%, 20% or more increase in Clicks %
would mean to your marketing efforts. Learn More:
Phone: +1-707-843-5088
Email: Lstein@SteinWrites.com
Writing Samples
Thank you!