Shocking!

50% of American BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) workers send and receive work email in bed!

The big news in email this week is that 61% of mobile phone users get email daily on their phone. In fact, it’s the #1 activity. Getting news is the distant second at 36%. 

Email also tops tablet users’ activities at 44% of all users…daily!

No question, email is a big part of daily life. Whether it should be part of your night life is another thing altogether. 

Wherever you read email, though…you have competition in the inbox. 

For the marketer, it’s bad enough that the latest viral cat meme could cause your email to be passed over. Now come to find you’re also competing with whomever shares the bed of your subscribers!? Too much!

I have a couple solutions: 

1. Send email first thing in the morning. Not after 7 at night. If your customers are in a different time zone, set up your email service for appropriate send times. The people in this survey hail from theUS, the UK and Australia, so it’s not just an American issue.

2. Start writing kick-butt, fall-out-of-bed subject lines.

Let me tell you about subject lines.

 

When I write an email sometimes I start with a subject line, and sometimes I write the body of the email first. It really depends. More often, the subject line comes LAST.

Case in point: As I write this I haven’t come up with a good title yet.

Titles, subject lines…they’re the same. For email or blog posts, writing them is almost the same process, which for me goes something like this:

Inevitably as I wrap up writing the email I start focusing on the subject line and how it fits with the body. A back and forth dance takes place between the subject line and the first paragraph of the email content. I tweak the two until they work together. Sometimes the first paragraph of the email or post will broaden or expand the meaning of the subject line. Sometimes it jumps off the track and the body of the email must work to bring it back in line.

In spite of that effort, (here’s the ugly truth) there’s always the chance the whole thing bombs and the open rate stinks for whatever reason. That’s life. Rather, that’s email.

Reading email in bed — when you should be doing (ahem) other things — is life. So you need to get noticed!

I’ve been studying subject lines for years now and there are no strict rules.

Here’s a short list of the subject line “rules” email experts can’t agree on. By the way, if I forget something I will continue to add to this list until I exhaust it.

• One study shows people like to see their names in subject lines, another says it’s taboo. 
• Ask a question/ Don’t ask a question. The use of question marks is questionable.
• Use a  long subject line and make use of every last character. OR…keep your subject line to five or six words.
• Don’t use special characters/ strange characters are eye-catching.
• Stick to a regular format as in: “[MyteamConnects Newsletter] Oct. 2012.” OR…Rivet readers with an emotional and personal subject line: “What was I thinking!” “Did you see that debate last night?!”

I’ll be adding to this list as I go. Feel free to let me know if I’ve missed any in the comments below.

Finally, Two bits:

1. You can always test your subject lines. They are just about the easiest thing on the planet to split test.

2. Get a life; Keep your tablets and gadgets out of your bed. It’s tacky. Please tell me if I’m wrong, but coming from an email fanatic like me, that ought to count for something.