Analytics, In An Email Subject Line

Before Facebook was a “thing” here in Ireland, we were all addicted to Bebo. Today, Bebo is still dead in the water and Facebook is… still Facebook.

One early “feature” of Facebook that caught my eye was the usefulness of their email notifications.

Bebo had a habit of sending you an email anytime anything changed. Somebody sent you a message? You’d get an email about it. Someone made you a “Top Friend” (yes, that was a thing). You’d get an email about it. Someone “Shared the Luv” (I know, I know). You’d get an email about it.

The annoying thing about these emails - other than the frequency of them - was the lack of content and context. This was as much information as you got:

Please click below to read the message:
http://www.bebo.com/newmail

In contrast, Facebook’s email notifications were packed full of information. If someone sent you a Facebook message, the full message would be included in the email. Someone invited you to an event? It’d include information and handy buttons to quickly RSVP. Infinitely more useful than Bebo.

No wonder Facebook won that war.

Every Monday I receive an email from Simple Analytics for each of my websites. Sometimes I open the emails, sometimes I don’t. The content in the email is useful. A chart, a sentence or two describing what’s in the chart, the use of green and red to highlight the good and the not so good.

But the email subject line is where the magic really is. Check it out:

No nonsense, no fluff. Information that’s useful whether or not I open the email.

Sometimes the best user experiences - with any Product or Platform - are through the interfaces we already spend most of our day in.