• by Jess Nelson , February 8, 2017

Using the word "romance" in an email subject line can boost open rates by more than 71%, according to new data from GoDaddy Email Marketing.

Email marketers might want to consider adding a touch of romance into their campaigns this week, according to the GoDaddy email marketing team's analysis of more than half a billion emails sent by U.S. customers during the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day in 2016. Not only did the word "romance" increase email engagement, but incorporating other types of romantic terminology like “date,” “sweetheart,” and “crush” also boosted email engagement rates.

The GoDaddy customer study also suggests that using an ellipses at the end of a subject line leads to increased email engagement, enticing subscribers to open the email to peruse the omitted content. Examples provided by GoDaddy of 2016 email marketing messages that incorporate ellipses well include "Nothing Says "I LOVE YOU" Like…" and “The Way to a Person's Heart Is…"

Overall, creative seasonal content incorporating Valentine’s Day performed better and solicited higher email engagement rates during the run-up to the holiday than messages not alluding to the holiday.  

“Even if Valentine’s Day doesn’t seem like a natural fit for a business, we’ve seen lots of customers think creatively, find a connection to the holiday that’s relevant for customers, and reap the rewards,” states Eric Gilbert, director of product marketing at GoDaddy.

Adding romance to a marketing campaign doesn’t just tie into the holiday season, but also alludes to what both men and women want most on Valentine’s Day: something thoughtful. “Something thoughtful” was the second most desired gift selected by both genders in Ebates’ annual Valentine’s Day survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults, second only to a date night out at a nice restaurant.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) has been gauging Valentine’s Day spending since 2004 and expects consumers to spend $18.2 billion on Valentine’s Day this year -- a drop from the estimated $19.7 billion spent in 2016. The NRF estimates consumers will spend an average of $136.57 on Valentine’s Day, whereas the retail organization estimated consumers would spend an average of $147 on the holiday in 2016.

A slight majority of Americans plan to celebrate the occasion this year, according to the NRF survey conducted by Proper Insights, with 53.9% of respondents asserting plans to celebrate Valentine’s Day.