# 'Top 10 insights' email copy vs general copy: about -80% clicks

- Outcome: Lost
- Page type: Email (Lead-gen)
- Elements: Email copy, Subject line
- Date shared: 2012
- Test run by: [MECLABS](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/meclabs/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingexperiments.com/email-marketing/learn-from-decrease-clickthrough-rate
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/gap-meclabs-mobile-report-email-top10-copy/

Rewriting a report promo email as a list of the top 10 insights, with a matching subject line, cut clickthrough by about 80% against general copy. MECLABS ran the test on its own MarketingSherpa campaign for the 2012 Mobile Marketing Benchmark Report, and published it on MarketingExperiments in 2013. The team's view is that the 10-item list made the email too long.

## Result

**about -80% clicks**

- Clickthrough rate: about -80% for the top-10 email against the general copy. This is a loss.
- A side test swapped the full-name greeting for "Hi Marketer,". The top-10 email sent with the full name beat the general email sent without it.
- The team linked that side result to the full-name list being a more engaged segment, not just to personalisation.
- Send volume, list size and confidence level: not shared.

## Control

Subject line: "[Just Released] New Mobile Marketing Benchmark Report". The body used general copy about using mobile in the coming year's strategy and which mobile tactics were working.

## Variant

Subject line: "[Latest Research] 10 mobile marketing insights from brand-new research". The body listed the top 10 insights from the report.

## Why it likely lost (our reading)

- A list of 10 points turned into a long block that reads like a paragraph. The MECLABS team felt lists stop working past about five items.
- Giving away 10 insights in the email may have answered readers' curiosity, leaving less reason to click through to the report.
- The subject line and body changed together, so some of the drop could come from the subject line alone.

## Caveats

The subject line and body copy changed together, so the drop can't be pinned on one of them. The test is from the 2012 to 2013 period, and send volume and confidence are not shared.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we tease three to five specific findings from our report in the email instead of a general description, then more readers will click because they see concrete value without getting the whole answer.
- Primary metric: Clickthrough rate to the report landing page
- Guardrail: Open rate
- Guardrail: Unsubscribe rate
- Guardrail: Report downloads per send
- Who should test it: Lead-gen and B2B marketers promoting reports, guides or webinars by email. A long list probably won't help if the email already reads as text-heavy.

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Credit: MECLABS ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/gap-meclabs-mobile-report-email-top10-copy/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.