Personalized Subject Lines: Beneficial or Bad?

In his latest ClickZ column, Stefan Pollard talks about personalizing subject lines. Here are the main takeaways:

clipped from www.clickz.com Probably because what works for one sender and one kind of message doesn't always work in other situations. Personalized subject lines do have a place in the e-mail world, but only if they have a logical use. Personalization when poorly done ("Another Great Deal for $'YourNameHere'$") looks spammy and unprofessional. personalization: It adds no value to the subject line's main goals. Names catch the reader's attention, no doubt about that. That's not enough to justify using personalization without a clear strategy, but it means the idea is worth exploring. big caveat: You need a reliable method of collecting data Consumer messages that lend themselves better to subject-line personalization are birthday greetings, reminders, surveys, and similar messages If you truly want to test first name personalization, think long and hard about who is talking to whom, and personalize the way you would speak.