Making Subject Lines Relevant -- Today

Joseph Burch at the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra alerted me to an interesting article today. It's about subject lines and the gist is that if you can relate your subject line to something that's in the news today, you'll get a better open rate. Their example links Brittany Spears to drunk driving and was sent by MADD.

http://www.ephilanthropy.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6372

The parallel for the arts is a little harder. I mean, something like, "Hear the Next Pavarotti" is probably in bad taste. But what about something as simple as "Fed Lowers Interest Rates -- Come Celebrate with a Concert."  Again, maybe not so swift, but you get the idea.

I think the point that's entirely valid here is that a lot of what people focus their time on when they are online is breaking news. And if your subject line can in some way relate to something that happened yesterday, and you can do it in a smart & sophisticated way, it's worth a try.

Of course, I'm an advocate of A/B tests. So if any of you try this, let me know.