First Things First – What Are Preheaders?
A preheader is the short text snippet or summary text that directly follows the subject line when an email is previewed in an email client. Many desktop, web and mobile email clients provide them to give the recipient a little more information, before they open the email.
Below is an example from my Gmail spam folder. (FYI: Most spammers don’t use preheaders.)
You may have noticed that none of the emails above have preheaders, though some include extra text after the subject line. Usually, this extra text is the first part of the email body, shown only when preheaders are not present. If the email mainly consists of images without any text, only the subject line will appear. On mobile devices, especially smartphones, the preheader can be crucial in determining whether someone opens your email or deletes it. Including a summary of your offering or a short description of the email’s content in the preheader is a smart move. What’s the purpose of the text after your subject line saying “Not rendering correctly? View this email as a webpage here”? There isn’t one.
Most mobile users will scan their inbox to see what’s interesting and what emails should be trashed. You basically have about 3-4 seconds to entice a user to read your email. Adding a preheader will increase your chances of getting a recipient to open your email.
Using dynamic preheaders is also another option. This is where the text or preheader is custom tailored to the individual receiving the email. Don’t overload the preheader with too much information. Remember, you’re not selling in the subject line. All you are trying to do is entice a user to open your email and read what it is you’re trying to tell them or sell them.
You should test different scenarios using preheaders in your email marketing campaigns. Not everyone will use preheaders the same way. Strategically designing your preheader to entice opens and give your user a call to action, is the best plan of attack.
The Bottom Line
Preheaders are valuable real estate in a user’s inbox. Use this space wisely and it will have a huge impact on your opens rates and ROI. Also, consider that 66 percent of emails are opened on mobile devices and of that, 38 percent are opened on an iPhone, make sure you take the time to optimize your email ads for mobile users.
This article was originally published on Email Answers.