Getting away with using the word “free” in an email subject line
You know, I once used the word “kick-ass” in a subject line to describe hiring “great” editors. Even though we got a 30% boost in open rates, we also got a few complaints. So here when I’m talking about the F-bomb, we’re alluding to the word FREE, not that other four-letter word. Promise.
The word “free” is not your enemy. Smart email marketing professionals will never tell you to avoid it, because dropping the f-bomb in your subject line on occasion is almost always worth the risk of being filtered in exchange for the above average open rate you’ll get out of it.
Yes, you’ll be missed by a percentage of your readers with aggressive spam filters, but the ones who see it are more likely to open it. In fact, they’re a lot more likely to open it.
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If you do use it though, make sure to adhere to these rules:
- Don’t make it the first word in your subject line
- Don’t capitalize it
- Don’t use it with an exclamation point
- Don’t add an asterisk (filters are catching on to this – it could only increase your risk of getting blocked)
- Don’t use it in a subject line more than once a month, and monitor your delivery rates
Considering that there are words that won’t trip spam filters, but will simply decrease open rates (Help, Percent off, and Reminder according to MailChimp), why not waste a day’s worth of spam filtering on a word that can increase open rates by 25-50%?
In case you weren’t aware, the way spam filters work is that they assign ratings to your email newsletter. Using the word “free” in the subject line with an otherwise perfectly harmless email might slide you through to home plate if you have a good delivery record.
However, do it again the next day or combine that subject line with an ALL CAPS subject line and use a * to disguise another trigger word within your email, it’s off to the garbage can for you.
