Solus Mail Analysis
Solus mails are one of the most valuable pieces of communication we offer to partners, especially given that we provide the contact data that enables firms to use and establish relationships with the individuals that have clicked on them. Therefore it is important to keep sight of what works well and what doesn’t.
In March we performed some analysis around solus mails and layouts. We believe that the site reputation (Panacea’s), the day of the week, the subject title and the image all contribute to individuals opening an email and the content and layout will get people clicking. It is important to try and get all these elements right to optimise the number of individuals that both open and click.
Since launching the new look solus mails in September, we have sent 38 emails.
Best examples of opens/open rate
- FundsNetwork - Calculating Capital Gains(Best opens and open rate)
- Prudential - A new investment universe to explore (2nd best open)
- Rathbones research report - The value of DFM (3rd best open)
- Your Future SIPP, by Curtis Banks (2nd best open rate)
- FundsNetwork - Pension considerations at tax year end(3rd best open rate)
Titles here tend to be very directive, to the point and explain what the subject is about and what you need to do or know as the reader. There is nothing ambiguous and product names aren’t used.
Additionally the images used tend to be bold an eye-catching.
Day of the week
The days of the week that featured in the top ten most opened solus mails the most were Tuesdays and Wednesdays which would suggest these are the days when advisers are most receptive to this type of communication.
Best examples of clicks/click through rate
- Invesco Investment Intelligence Seminars (Best clicks and CTR)
- FundsNetwork - Calculating Capital Gains (2nd best clicks)
- Your Future SIPP, by Curtis Banks (2nd best CTR)
- Rathbones research report - The value of DFM (3rd best clicks and CTR)
Page layout
In terms of layout we offer the ability to use either one-column, two-column of four-box layouts on solus mails. The single column solus was used slightly more than the others but were definitely the more successful when looking at those featured more in the top 10 against those that featured in the lesser performing ‘bottom five’.
Page content
If you take a look at word count of the solus mails with the most clicks, the average number of words was 138.6. So we recommend a word count of around 140 words as prime.
We also looked at the number of clickable links within each solus and these best performing solus mails had one link early on in the copy then one larger one, or button towards the bottom of the page as a clear call- to action.
Those that didn’t perform so well seem to have the following in common:
- Centred paragraphs
- Contained compliance wording within the actual body of the email
- Either lots of words (over 200) or not enough words (less than 100)
- More than 2 links
Those that didn’t perform so well seem to have the following in common:
- Centred paragraphs
- Contained compliance wording within the actual body of the email
- Either lots of words (over 200) or not enough words (less than 100)
- More than 2 links
Additionally if you take a look at the subject matter you can see that the subjects that tend to work well are:
- events announcements
- new video announcements
- guides/white papers launches
- product launches
Additionally, if a subject matter is quite specific then it would be better to send out to quite a targeted group of individuals as apposed to the entire community.
Summary
This analysis would therefore seem to show that to create a high performing solus you need the following elements.
- Title to be very directive, to the point and explain the subject matter. Don’t use product name.
- Bold/strong imagery
- Send date on Tuesday or Wednesday
- One column, left hand aligned
- 2 clickable links, one of which is quite a bold CTA near the bottom of the screen
- Between 100-140 words
- Consider who the message should go to
- Finally have something fresh to say!