Ran 1,200 outreach emails with three different subject line styles — full results

Did this properly for once. Same list, randomised into three groups of 400, same body copy, only the subject line changed.

Group A — question subject ("Quick question about your resources page")
Open 41%, reply 9.2%, placement 1.8%

Group B — direct subject ("Broken link on /resources")
Open 38%, reply 14.6%, placement 4.1%

Group C — compliment subject ("Loved your guide on X")
Open 46%, reply 4.8%, placement 0.9%

The compliment opens best and converts worst, which tells you everything about what people do after they open. Direct and specific wins. Stop writing "quick question".

Group C performing like that is funny and completely predictable. Open rate is a vanity metric in outreach.

The direct subject sets an expectation the body can actually satisfy. The compliment subject promises a conversation nobody wants to have.

Did you control for send time, or was that randomised across the groups too?

Randomised across all three, same five-day window. Not perfect but not stacked either.

This is the kind of post that makes the forum worth reading. Thank you for the raw numbers.

4.1% placement on cold outreach is strong. What was the list source?