Lead Generation Via Direct Mail Marketing: Ambiguous VS Unambiguous Email Subject line (advantages & disadvantages)

So you are planning to go for direct mail lead generation campaign, you have the lists but you are wondering about the email subject line, should it be clear or should it be ambiguous. 

You have two options when it comes to email subject lines

1. Ambiguous/Puzzling Subject Line (Option one) 
2. Unambiguous Subject Line (Option Two)

And here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of ambiguous and unambiguous subject lines that can make the email subject line selection job a bit easy for you (hopefully).

Fact: Direct marketing produces more sales on each dollar spent compared to mass advertising (1).

Ambiguous/Puzzling Subject Line (Option One)

Well if you go for puzzling subject line then you will have the following advantages/disadvantages

1.      Increase in open rate/response rate
2.      Increase in complaints/spam reports
3.      More leads
4.      More Time/Other resource waste compared to option two
5.      More relationships, word of mouth, increase in customer insight, enhanced market understanding

With ambiguous/puzzling subject line you will have response from interested prospects along with uninterested individuals/businesses thus resulting in increase in response rate, likewise you know, most of the uninterested guys will report you as spammer or put you in spam box, complain about it.

Fact: According to a research, out of all marketing techniques, approaches direct sales is the most effective way to increase sales, to deal effectively with customers (2).

Similarly you will have great number of leads compared to option two because there will be interested prospects along with the uninterested or those who would just want to know more or just curious and on having more information are more likely to decline the offer later on.

And that would result in more time, other resource waste since you will be dealing with both interested prospects (quality leads) and uninterested prospects (quantity leads) with almost the same effort, resources because you are a human and being a human you need to probe things, analyze things to come to certainty plus any lead gets you super excited because you think you are dealing with a potential client though it may not be the case.

You may like How to generate Quality/Quantity Leads via Direct Mail

Now the bright side is, that resource “waste” isn’t really a waste if you build up relationships with the uninterested individuals/businesses that may result in quality leads in the future or at least would get the word out about your brand, similarly you can gain better insight about customer and market dynamics thus making you more market oriented.

Clear (unambiguous) Subject Line (Option Two)

Unambiguous subject line advantages/disadvantages are

1.      Less open rate/ response rate compared to option one
2.      Less or no complaints/spam reports compared to option one
3.      Only quality leads (Leads that will convert into sales)
4.      Less time/other resources waste compared to option one
5.      Fewer relationships, lower insight, little word of mouth, lesser market understanding compared to option one

That’s it, over to you guys!

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References:

1.       Yorgey, L.A. (1995), “Putting your database to work”, Target Marketing, January, pp. 20-21
2.       “The Event Marketing Mix” page 86; Promoting & Marketing Events 1^st edition by Nigel Jackson.