Hello fellow nerds,
It’s a common practice in marketing to use the lead’s first name in an email subject line. There have been older studies that have shown it works well.
But does it STILL work today?
A recent 2023 study put this tactic to the test, comparing first-name subject lines to more formal ones using a title and surname.
The study:
Researchers ran two experiments: one sent university students emails personalized with their first name, and another sent politicians emails personalized with their title and surname, then measured how often each group opened, clicked, or unsubscribed (Defau & Zauner, 2023)
🧪What they found:
First name only (“John, a successful start for your career”): No lift in opens or clicks. Slightly higher unsubscribes.
Title + surname (“Mr. Smith, how do you view digitalization in politics?”): Opens went up by almost 12 percent.
Why?
I suspect it’s because first names are so common in emails and texts that it’s not surprising anymore. Surname and title stand out because they are less expected.
Caveats
This study only tested first names with students and title + surname with politicians, so we don’t know how each audience would react to the other approach. The best subject line style likely depends on both your audience and the context.
But we do know that first names don’t work for students.
And last names work for politicians.
💡Takeaway
If you want better open rates, don’t use a first name for informal audiences. Try a title and surname.
Also, maybe test some other method of personalization, like a custom value from a question they answered in your lead form, especially if your audience is younger.
Stay awesome my friend,
Ksenia (the chief nerd)
P.S. Thank you, it means a lot that you are reading my newsletter.
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Source: Defau, L., & Zauner, A. (2023). Personalized subject lines in email marketing. Marketing Letters, 34, 727–733.