Commentary

Monday Mistakes And Misery Are Costing Email Marketers Dearly

Some lighthearted research to take us away from all those legal ramifications of GDPR for a moment finds that email marketers are as human as the next person. Boomerang number-crunching has show two very revealing findings that could make all involved in the industry check what they're saying, and, crucially how they're saying it and on what day.

First, if you're sending an email today, stand easy. We're more focussed on weekends and the start and the end of the week. Mistakes in headlines are obviously distracting for consumers and as such, it will not come as a huge surprise that they receive 14% lower engagement levels. It's human nature, particularly for this signed-up member of the Grammar Police, that if a brand makes mistakes in the subject line that you know is out to hook you, then you won't take them very seriously.

It's not a massive leap, but it's worth keeping in mind that Monday is the biggest day for email header mistakes, followed by Friday. Could it just be that email marketers are experiencing that Monday and Friday feeling? The first day of the week is traditionally the low point for any office, and perhaps that is reflected in rushed work or mistakes and then, come Friday, maybe the average marketer has bigger things on their mind, like tomorrow's game, the big date tonight or how long it will be until they can binge all weekend on Netflix.

This may sound crass, but it's actually born out by a second set of figures from Boomerang research which shows that positive sentiment is on an upward trajectory from Monday's nadir right up to the high point of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Between Sunday and Monday, there is a clear drop until the cycle begins again and email marketers become more cheery with their subject lines throughout the week. 

So it's a bit of fun to check out the charts, but there could be a serious point there too. It may well be worth double-checking any Monday morning headers for mistakes. Comparing the jolly sentiments encapsulated in subject lines by the day of the week might well be worthwhile too.

It may be completely unintentional, but when the Boomerang researchers checked a quarter of a million campaigns last year, they found clear evidence that mistakes are at their highest when execs are back to work on a Monday or thinking about the weekend on a Friday, and positive vibes grow throughout the week. 

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