The GOB Factor. Or how Netflix not only got me to open an email but inspired me to write a blog about it.

: Part 1 of our 3 part series on how to get your email opened. In this series we will go over the 5 factors that will capture the attention of your audience, and get your open rates soaring.

Enter the GOB Factor

Head’s up fellow Marketers,  we all know opt-in email lists are still one of the most cost effective tools available, and a powerful way to get your message directly in front of your target.This is why, in the US, spend on opt-in email marketing is expected to rise to $2.5 billion over the next 3 years, and why 67% of marketers rated email as the most effective marketing tool. But your email is only successful if it gets noticed, and as with any campaign the magic is in the detail.

When it comes to discerning trash from treasure, your audience is savvy. Scanning email for “spam” is second nature and I doubt that it’s done consciously anymore. In my case it would take something akin to a nuclear explosion to breakthrough this wall of automation. And that explosion, the email that actually made me do a double take, arrived in my inbox May 16th.

Now, I ignore virtually all email I get unless I recognize the sender. Sadly, I don’t even scan subject lines anymore. What I’m looking for is the who: Who is trying to contact me? So if Marketing @ Netflix emails me, it goes right to the trash. However when my eyes stumbled across the words Gob @Netflix, I was jerked to attention.

*(Gob) is the name of a delightfully self-absorbed and (mediocre magician) on Arrested Development. His name is pronounced Job but spelled Gob. This is just one small aspect of his hilarious character.