Under 60 Character Email Subject Lines Increases Open Rate

From the Center for Media Research comes the following post:

According to eROI's latest email marketing survey, The Elements of Email, email marketers are missing opportunities to increase their deliverability, opens, clicks and conversions. The study examines several elements of an Email, recommending that readers test their positions to compare to prevailing practices.

50% of the respondents say they use the company name as the best "from" name choice, while a third say it's based on the campaign. Responses are based on the question: How do you address your "from" line?

The Company... 50.89%
Depends on the Campaign... 31.95%
Individual... 17.16%

Email authentication verifies messages, allowing recipients to automatically recognize the nature of each incoming communication. About 60% of marketers do not know how they authenticate email. Of those that do, Sender ID is the type of authentication used by the majority, with Domain up about one-third. Based on "How do you authenticate your email?" the response is:

Don't Know... 55.07%
SenderID... 32.16%
PF... 28.19%
DomainKeys... 24.67%
DKIM... 10.13%

Many companies avoid blacklists by verifying senders and certifying the email they send. These services are growing, but are still used by only about 25% of marketers. With the majority of email marketers not currently doing this, a large opportunity is presented. Methods of certification include:

None... 70.09%
Sender Score... 10.28%
Other... 10.33%
GoodMail... 7.94%
Habeas... 7.01%

Email marketers seem to be paying close attention to the content of their subject lines, finds the study. 75% say they try to ensure subject line relevance to the content of the email and 50% focus on keeping it concise.

Studies have shown that using a subject line with 72 characters or more gives added relevance, with click through and conversion tending to increase. By going with a 60 character or less subject line, the open rate will tend to increase. The area between 60 and 72 has been shown to be a "dead zone," according to the report.
Respondents report subject lines as follows:

Relevant content... 72.57%
Short and to the point... 50.44%
Testing subject lines... 28.32%
Personalized... 19.03%
Other... 2.21%

Nearly 30% of marketers duplicate their site navigation in email. Of those, 15% find it more effective than the main content in driving clicks, while 11% of marketers find their navigation converts better than the main content of their email.