It’s that time of year again—retailers are pushing gift ideas for “dads and grads.” It feels like just yesterday we were “falling into great savings.”
As spring rolls in, inboxes begin filling with these seasonal subject lines. Curious about their popularity, I asked our data science team to take a closer look. Here’s what they found:
- In the previous year, 2,211 Mailchimp campaigns used “dads and grads” in the subject line.
- This year, users had already sent 2,005 such emails.
So, how did these campaigns perform? Emails with “dads and grads” in the subject line had an average open rate of 18% and a click rate of 1.5%. These numbers are decent but fall short of the top performers in our email marketing benchmarks. The real takeaway isn’t the phrase itself—it’s about knowing what your audience responds to. Some readers prefer catchy, sales-driven copy; others want a clear idea of what they’ll find inside.
Improving your open and click rates might be as simple as experimenting with subject lines. Mailchimp makes this easy with built-in A/B testing. And once you start tweaking your approach, keep a close eye on engagement metrics to see what resonates.
Thinking about using a subject line like “Gifts for Dads and Grads” or “Sizzling Summer Deals”? Go ahead—but test it against something more straightforward like “Our annual apparel sale starts now.” Not everyone is drawn to marketing slogans.
If your simpler subject line performs better, remember: you can still be creative within the email body itself. Or, try a hybrid—something descriptive but with a touch of personality. Mailchimp also supports emojis in subject lines for added flair.
For more data, explore our subject line comparison study or use our subject line researcher tool. When setting up your campaign, click “How do I write a good subject line” and enter the phrases you’re considering. We’ll analyze past performance and give each option a five-star score based on expected results.