What a great essay (and Title)! It arrived to me here in Florida at 6:30 am EST. I'm reading it at 08:30 military time (Mickie's long hand is on the 6, and the short hand is halfway between the 7 and the 8)?
Now I will respond a 2nd time, now that I've listened to the essay I already read. Ha! It was not the "Headlines" part that caught me, it was really the "Timing". For 3 years, I was the primary instructor at Boeing in Everett of a Course titled "Work Measurement Time Study". Ten new Manufacturing Engrs each month were Certified to perform "time studies" (a total of about 300 students those 3 years). Click, click, click!
Two of the three options were: 'Headlines and Timing' and 'Timing and Headlines.' With an almost two point difference in open rates between the two. I find that fascinating!
The thing is, the way this works, and the time the tests run, all you folks on the Atlantic Coast are going to end up picking the headlines that stick, because almost all of us over here are still asleep!
Most of the time I'll read partway through the email I've received from Substack and if I'm interested in your lede, then I'll continue on Substack, in case I want to comment. But if your content is not immediately relevant to my experience of Masonry, I know it's there for me to go back to.
If you are curious, I've used this 'title picker' gizmo for two days and four essays. I've found that it really works!
As an example, for the post above, I wrote three different titles.
The winner, the title you see above was opened by 8% of recipients within one hour of receiving it. Sent at 2:30 AM, 8% had opened it by 3:30 AM.
The second choice was opened by 6.1% within that hour.
The final choice was opened by 5.4% within that hour.
That is a pretty stark difference in my mind, and shows the value of the tool.
Interestingly, when I woke up hours later, I see that I was included in the test group of subscribers this morning. I received the Title most disfavored.
The Curse Of Pearl Street was opened by 12.1% of recipients within one hour. The other choice, only 7.5% opened it in that same hour. Another stark difference.
I think that I'll really be able to learn to write better titles using this tool.
Hah, that's the well-known marketing technique known as the A / B split... except that we used to do it "manually" (kinda). E.g. setting up two landing pages for a product and measuring the 'clicks' leading to sales... and then deciding to use the winning version.
It's nice that the technology can do it now, and even making the final "decision"
I know that some folks on Substack were doing it manually (it is possible to segment your subscribers) but that was far too much work to do in my opinion. Pretty awesome that the computer can just handle it now!
What a great essay (and Title)! It arrived to me here in Florida at 6:30 am EST. I'm reading it at 08:30 military time (Mickie's long hand is on the 6, and the short hand is halfway between the 7 and the 8)?
Now I will respond a 2nd time, now that I've listened to the essay I already read. Ha! It was not the "Headlines" part that caught me, it was really the "Timing". For 3 years, I was the primary instructor at Boeing in Everett of a Course titled "Work Measurement Time Study". Ten new Manufacturing Engrs each month were Certified to perform "time studies" (a total of about 300 students those 3 years). Click, click, click!
Two of the three options were: 'Headlines and Timing' and 'Timing and Headlines.' With an almost two point difference in open rates between the two. I find that fascinating!
The thing is, the way this works, and the time the tests run, all you folks on the Atlantic Coast are going to end up picking the headlines that stick, because almost all of us over here are still asleep!
I worked for East Coast firms for 33 yrs (GE & Xerox), then 10 yrs West Coast (Boeing). So I'm happy that Eastern Standard Time often wins?
Most of the time I'll read partway through the email I've received from Substack and if I'm interested in your lede, then I'll continue on Substack, in case I want to comment. But if your content is not immediately relevant to my experience of Masonry, I know it's there for me to go back to.
Yes, I find that I read my own subscriptions, Masonic and otherwise in exactly the same way.
If you are curious, I've used this 'title picker' gizmo for two days and four essays. I've found that it really works!
As an example, for the post above, I wrote three different titles.
The winner, the title you see above was opened by 8% of recipients within one hour of receiving it. Sent at 2:30 AM, 8% had opened it by 3:30 AM.
The second choice was opened by 6.1% within that hour.
The final choice was opened by 5.4% within that hour.
That is a pretty stark difference in my mind, and shows the value of the tool.
Interestingly, when I woke up hours later, I see that I was included in the test group of subscribers this morning. I received the Title most disfavored.
Over on my personal site: https://cmbailey.substack.com/
I chose two headlines for this morning's essay:
Choice 1: "Has My Neighborhood Been Cursed"
Choice 2: "The Curse Of Pear Street"
The Curse Of Pearl Street was opened by 12.1% of recipients within one hour. The other choice, only 7.5% opened it in that same hour. Another stark difference.
I think that I'll really be able to learn to write better titles using this tool.
Hah, that's the well-known marketing technique known as the A / B split... except that we used to do it "manually" (kinda). E.g. setting up two landing pages for a product and measuring the 'clicks' leading to sales... and then deciding to use the winning version.
It's nice that the technology can do it now, and even making the final "decision"
I know that some folks on Substack were doing it manually (it is possible to segment your subscribers) but that was far too much work to do in my opinion. Pretty awesome that the computer can just handle it now!