# '13 world-class speakers' beat one star name in event emails

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Email (Lead-gen)
- Elements: Subject line, Headline
- Date shared: 2017
- Test run by: [The Global Leadership Summit](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/the-global-leadership-summit/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/global-leadership-summit-value-proposition-testing
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/global-leadership-summit-subject-line-breadth-vs-star/

Subject lines that stressed the size of the speaker lineup, such as 'Come See 13 World-Class Speakers', beat ones that featured a single famous name. The Global Leadership Summit ran these tests, and they were published as a MarketingSherpa case study. The team says the breadth version won again and again, but shared no figures.

## Result

**Winner**

- The breadth version won, and the team says it kept winning over repeated tests.
- No open rates, click rates or registration figures were shared, so we can't size the gain.
- The team had expected the star-speaker version to win, so this result went against their guess.

## Control

The subject line or email headline featured one high-profile speaker, for example 'Come See Sheryl Sandberg'.

## Variant

The subject line stressed the breadth of the lineup instead, for example 'Come See 13 World-Class Speakers'.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- A single name only pulls in people who care about that person. A full lineup gives everyone a reason to come.
- For a multi-day training event, value comes from many sessions. '13 speakers' signals more value for the ticket price.
- A star name can read like a celebrity pitch. A strong lineup reads like a serious learning event.

## Caveats

The source shares no numbers, sample sizes or confidence levels. It also does not say clearly whether wins were judged on opens, clicks or registrations.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If our subject line stresses how many expert speakers are on the lineup instead of one famous name, then more recipients will open and register because the event will seem to offer more value for everyone.
- Primary metric: Registrations per email sent
- Guardrail: Open rate
- Guardrail: Click rate
- Guardrail: Unsubscribe rate
- Who should test it: Conferences, summits and webinar series with several credible speakers. If one headliner is the main reason people attend, a star name may still win.

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Credit: The Global Leadership Summit ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/global-leadership-summit-subject-line-breadth-vs-star/).
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.