Two emails, both alike in subject line

[Posted by Julie Katz]

If I didn't subscribe to so many different email programs as part of my research on email marketing, I probably wouldn't have noticed two very similar messages that made it to my Yahoo! and Outlook inboxes. Both emails were headed by the subject line, "By Invitation Only," a bizarre and cryptic header. Intrigued, I opened the first email, which I received two days ago from Delta Air Lines and found an invitation to join an online panel in return for miles. Well, I looked in my Outlook junk folder this afternoon and found an eerily similar email from GameStop.

   

I'm familiar enough with consumer research panels from my days analyzing Forrester's Consumer Technographics data (and signing up for as many research panels as I could stomach - reminiscent of my penchant for email programs today. While certainly an opportunity for consumers to build more loyalty points with each of the companies sponsoring the email messages, the subject lines should have been more descriptive, informative, and different for each company.