Marketing Digest

What is a preheader and why is it so important? This is a common question that we get in Customer Support!

First, let’s take a step back and start with the subject line. It’s displayed in the email recipient’s inbox. We all know its importance in stating the intent or essence of your email campaign. It gives a summary of the content and sparks the reader’s interest. Like a heading, a title or a topic.

A great subject line entices the recipient to open your email campaign and take action (and keeps your email out of the spam folder!) The three best practices when writing an effective subject line include: short and descriptive, avoids spam-like characteristics, and entices the recipient to read further.

Sounds great, right? But what if you could add even more value to the content of your email campaign?

This is where the preheader comes in. It’s an additional line of text that displays in the inbox after the subject line. It simply supports the subject line with a bit more detail. It can even help with brand recognition.

Most mobile devices and email clients automatically display it. Without a preheader, the recipient might see a URL or perhaps text that doesn’t entirely support the subject line. You’ll want to maximize this space to your benefit. Use it to create value and/or a sense of urgency. Here are some examples of preheader text: what you could use:

• Sign up now - limited time offer
• Read what they’re saying
• Keep reading to find out more
• Shop now and save
• Your feedback is important
• Check out our work
• Don’t miss out
• Join us

Remember, the subject line and preheader text work in tandem. Together they create a preview of the content to come, and provide you with a golden opportunity to engage your contacts before your email is even opened!

We make it easy for you to add this to your email campaign directly from the header block:

Have any questions about the above article? Let us know! We’d also love to hear your successes with including a preheader to your email campaign. In addition, if you’ve seen any great preheader text in your own inbox tell us about that too!

“Open Sesame:” It Starts With a Strong Subject Line

Many people focus all of their energy on creating the best email campaign (and that’s great, there is nothing wrong with that) but they stumble when it comes to what to put in the subject line.  This makes sense because there’s little space to write something compelling and the subject line is one of the most important parts of the email. I say this because it’s not only the first thing customers see before ever opening, but can also determine if your campaign gets to the inbox.

Things to Include

Keep it short and sweet – we recommend 5-8 words or 40 characters. This requires you to come up with a strong statement for your subject. Longer subject lines often get cut off after 60 characters.

Examples: “Last chance to save 20% on all back-to-school supplies” or “The 3 biggest income tax mistakes you're making”

One subject line that got me to open an email recently was “7 Things That Will Get You Promoted “

Adding numbers is useful in making your subject line compelling. It also sets an expectation up front for your readers.

Here are a few fun tips our Content Team came up with, in “12 Tips for Creating the Best Email Subject Lines (with Examples)”

Things to Avoid

You know those emails that you get that based solely off of the subject line, you click delete and don’t open it?  C’mon, you know the ones. Think about what made you pause before opening that email. Those trigger words that hinted to you that the email might be spam.

Words like free, guarantee, spam, etc. can often cause emails to end up in the spam or junk folder. But, be careful – even innocent things like using ALL CAPs, excessive explanation points, or dollar symbols can also cause trouble and make people avoid opening your emails.

Want more information? Check out Optimize the Subject Line in a Campaign Email.

P.S. Don’t Forget the Preheader!

Last but not least, remember to add some text to your preheader. Not all email clients will display a preheader when an email is received, but for the ones that do this can help improve the open rate too.

The preheader is essentially an item of text that display below the subject line when an email is received in your inbox. This is a chance to add an extra tag line, to give customers more of a preview as to what’s inside the email. Check out some preheader examples.

Continue the conversation with us. Let us know what kinds of subject lines you like most, or if you there’s something you’d like us to cover in a future post.