The preheader is the content that is in the top line of your email message. It is important when it comes to influencing your reader. It will enable them to decide what it is they are exactly going to do with the message- read, scan, delete? Here are some great tips for making your preheaders more efficient.
Many marketers are adding content to their preheaders, but that does not mean that they are using them to their best advantage. Here are eight effective tips to help you maximize the potential of your preheaders:
1. Don’t use administrative copy in your preheaders. This becomes easily overlooked after the first few messages you send to new subscribers. Of course the administrative copy information is needed, but it is much more practical to add a “view online/view mobile version” link as a secondary preheader. The add-to-address book request might get passed over when the subscriber either accepts or ignores the request.
2. Be Concise. A preheader should be kept to a single line for maximum results. Too many lines might add content but it’s too much of an overload.
3. Avoid repeating your subject line. Not only will repeating your subject present no benefits, it also might cause the recipient to delete the message. This is because it does not answer the questions that the recipient needs to know in order to continue on with the message. Your subject line, preheader and sender address should all be working together to answer three basic questions. Each of these three questions should be answered separately:
- Who is it that is sending me this message?
- What do I get out of this?
- What do you want me to do?
4. Don’t make things difficult- it should be very easy to read. A successful preheader provides key information and amplifies the message without distracting the recipients from the rest of the email content. Make sure that your preheader stands out. This means using a readable color such as black and using a font size that is 8-point type or larger. The call to action should be boldfaced and any links should be underlined. Underlines are the best way to let the recipient know that the content is clickable.
5. Unless there is testing to support the placement- Make sure not to put links such as “share with your network” or “forward to a friend” as your preheader.
It obviously would not be practical to ask readers to share your content if they have not even seen what the message has to say or decided what they are going to do with the message. You have not yet given the recipients a reason to scroll down or across (if on a mobile screen). So at this point your sharing links could be useless if they have not even properly taken in your message.Testing will provide you with the information to know where your sharing links will get the most action and visibility. This could be at the top, bottom, or inside the copy.
6. Different preheader objectives should be set to different content regions. The left content region should be used for your marketing preheader (such as call to action and secondary offer). This will enable it to show up on horizontal and vertical preview panes as well as on mobile screens. The right content region should be used for utility information (such as view online/mobile, contact phone numbers, and add to address book, etc.) This is not necessarily the most important information but should still be visible in the full screen.
7. Don’t forget to include the coupon code. This will make it easy for shoppers to find and copy/paste to the order form in case the clicking through from the email doesn’t do this automatically. It’s also easier for the discount to show up in the shopping cart this way.
8. Try and include shopping dates. This will remind customers that they only have a limited time to act. Highlight important end dates in your preheader. Oftentimes emails are not open and customers don’t shop on the day it arrives.
It’s a great idea to examine email messages and check out how others are using their preheader. But remember, what works for one doesn’t necessarily work for another. So use these tips and test out different preheader designs, links, placement, and copies. This is really an effective way to influence your subscribers!
