Saturday, 30 June 2012, 8:27 PM

[MARKETING] – Do You Need That in the Headline of Your Newsletter?

Have you also noticed that some newsletters, especially those not coming from Sweden, start with [MARKETING] in the headline? Twice I´ve been asked about it, so I decided to put the question to MailChimp and Campaign Monitor. Their e-mail tools are used worldwide and they are very obliging when it comes to answering questions.

The reasons why some newsletters use this ”sign” in the headline are these:

  • In some regions, especially in the US, it´s either according to the law or is considered to be best practice – even appropriate – to use a prefix in the subject line.
  • In China, for example, there is a law stating that you must write [ADV] in the subject line when it´s a question of marketing or advertising in the newsletter.
  • In the US this ”sign” must mark any letter with an ”adult” content.

So should we start the headlines of our Scandinavian newsletters with [MARKETING] when they contain marketing? My personal stand point is: No. On the other hand I do think that we should be clear about informing our readers about the expected content – when they register. Why not let them read older newsletters as examples? And do tell them how often they can expect a newsletter from you.

I´ll soon be back and tell you my views on one vs. many letters. That will be a long post!