AM Inbox: My problem w/ abbreviations

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

Lillian Vernon, 4/18 — Get Everything Kids Need w/ 3.98 Flat Rate Shipping
It’s quiet out there in retail email land today, so forgive me if this seems like a little bit of a rant, but I think marketers have to be very careful with their choice of abbreviations, especially in subject lines, where they might be tempted to sacrifice readability in order to hit a particular character count. I know that temptation well; I wrote hundreds of headlines while at Dow Jones and Fairchild Publications and often wrestled with space issues. In this email from Lillian Vernon, they use “w/” as an abbreviation for “with” (in addition to pretty clearly forgetting to put a dollar sign in front of 3.98). While it’s an accepted abbreviation, I do think it’s a rarely used one and one that people should avoid. They’ve used it three other times this year:

March 18 — Shop Easter Bunnies & Celebrate w/ $3.98 Shipping
March 7 — Entertaining for Easter? Wow them w/ Dishes & Decor up to 20% Off
Jan. 21 — Simplify Your Life w/ Time-Saving, Gorgeous New Kitchen Gadgets

Using symbols in the place of words in subject lines is much less problematic in my eyes. Plenty of retailers—including Saks Fifth Avenue, Banana Republic, Petco and Spiegel—use plus signs (+) in their subject lines to save three characters; and many use ampersands (&) to save two characters. Heck, Cabela’s even likes to use the at symbol (@) in its subject lines to save one character. But I think all of those are symbols that consumers are extremely familiar with.

That said, even symbols can be abused. For proof you only have to look at this subject line from an April 10 Buy.com email:

Creative Webcam = $4.99 AR, ViewSonic 40" = $899.95 AR, eSATA External Hard Drive,..

First, they use the equal sign standing in for “a _____ for.” Second, they use “AR” for “after rebate,” which is definitely not your garden variety abbreviation. Third, they cut the series short by not including a price for the eSATA External Hard Drive. And finally, they use two periods at the end of the series instead of an ellipsis. While your average subscriber will not notice all of these things, I do believe that they will perceive the grammatical chaos and on some level will be put off by it.

If you’re looking to have a complex series with prices in your subject line, it’s better to follow the lead of TigerDirect. This is how they handled it in an April 17 email:

LCD Blowout: 19" Wide $149...Acer 20" $179...Samsung 22" $259...Ends 4/19

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Victoria’s Secret, 4/18 — Pretty Summer Pajamas. Plus, Save Up to $75. Details Inside.
Crutchfield, 4/18 — HD camcorders: capture the moment in widescreen detail
Saks Fifth Avenue, 4/18 — All the best from BURBERRY
Diamond.com, 4/18 — Diamonds For A Lifetime. Save up to $250. [promoting wedding rings and bands]