Compared my old follow up email to a new one with a specific dollar amount reference...

I swapped out my generic 'checking in' email for one that mentioned a $350 missed opportunity we discussed on the call. Open rate went from 22% to 61% on the same list of 40 leads. Has anyone else tried putting exact numbers in their subject lines?

3 comments

3 Comments

rowanw9121h ago

Yeah that $350 number probably worked because it reminded them of actual money they could've had, I once got a 50% open rate just by saying "free coffee" in the subject line.

tarar3819h agoTop Commenter

Oh the "free coffee" thing is clever but it's not quite the same mechanic... People respond to free stuff differently than to money they think they lost. Your coffee subject line worked because it triggered the reward center, not the loss aversion one. The $350 thing taps into that feeling of "I coulda had that" which is way stronger than "I might get something." Actually there's behavioral econ stuff showing losses hurt about twice as much as gains feel good, so dangling a specific lost dollar amount hits harder than promising a freebie. Still, 50% open rate on free coffee is solid, you found a different short circuit in people's brains.

jana50921h ago

Tbh I read somewhere that putting a dollar amount in subject lines triggers a part of the brain that treats it like a real money opportunity. There was a study about how people react to numbers vs vague promises. The $350 thing worked because it was specific and tied to something they already knew about from your call. I saw another case where someone used "lost $500" instead of "missed opportunity" and open rates went up 30%. Numbers just make it feel more real than saying "checking in" or "following up.