Email Preheader: Tiny Feature, Huge Impact

Preheader text

• The preheader text is the snippet of text that follows the subject line in an email and provides additional context about the content.
• It is typically visible in the recipient’s inbox, right after or below the subject line, depending on the email client.
• The preheader text offers a brief preview of the email content, helping recipients understand what the email is about before opening it.
• Well-crafted preheaders can spike open rates by providing additional information and enticing recipients to open the email. It’s an opportunity for marketers to deliver a compelling message and set expectations.

Preview Text

• Preview text, also known as snippet text or preview snippet, is a broader term that encompasses any text snippet from the email that may be displayed in the recipient’s inbox preview.
• It can include not only the preheader text but also the beginning of the email body content or any other text visible in the inbox preview.
• The preview text, like preheader text, gives recipients an idea of the email content before opening it.
• Marketers need to also consider the overall content visible in the preview area. This includes the importance of having a captivating opening sentence or content that encourages recipients to open the email.

Here are the benefits of adding preheader text:

1. Increased open rates: Including a preheader text gives you an extra opportunity to capture the recipient’s attention. A compelling preheader can entice users to open the email, thereby increasing your open rates.
2. Added clarity: Preheader text provides additional context about the email’s content, helping recipients understand what the email is about before they open it.
3. Better branding: Crafting a consistent and engaging preheader text reinforces your brand identity. It allows recipients to quickly recognize your emails in their inbox, fostering trust and familiarity with your brand.
4. Superior mobile experience: With the prevalence of mobile email usage, preheaders play a crucial role in optimizing the mobile experience. They provide valuable information even when the subject line gets truncated on smaller screens, ensuring your message is communicated effectively.
5. CTA opportunity: A well-crafted preheader can include a compelling call-to-action, encouraging recipients to take the desired action without even opening the email. This can drive higher conversions.
6. Segmentation and personalization: Preheader text can be tailored to specific audience segments or personalized based on recipient data. 
7. Search engine optimization/SEO: Including relevant keywords in your preheader text can improve the SEO of your emails. It helps your emails appear more prominently in search results, driving organic traffic to your website or landing pages.
8. Compliance and transparency: Including preheader text that accurately reflects the email content enhances transparency and compliance with email marketing regulations. It sets clear expectations for recipients and fosters trust in your brand’s communication practices.

Email preheader text can contribute to boosting your open rates in these ways:

• A well-crafted preheader text provides recipients with additional context about the email content beyond the subject line alone. It sets correct expectations plus the clarity can intrigue recipients and increase the likelihood of them opening the email.
• Email preheaders effectively extend the impact of your subject line. It allows you to convey more information, highlight key points, or create a sense of urgency that might not fit within the character limit of the subject line alone. Result? Better open rates.
• A compelling preheader text can make your email stand out in a crowded inbox. By providing valuable information or clever teasers, you differentiate your email from others and entice recipients to prioritize opening it over other emails.
• This feature enables you to set clear expectations for recipients regarding the content of the email.
• With the prevalence of mobile email usage, preheader text becomes even more critical. Mobile email clients often display both the subject line and preheader text prominently, giving you an opportunity to capture recipients’ attention.
• A strategically crafted preheader text can include a CTA or a compelling reason to motivate recipients to take immediate action, which helps open rates.
• With A/B testing, you can try out different preheader texts to determine which content resonates best with your audience to drive higher open rates. 

Here are 6 reasons why you must be considerate and respectful when writing preheader text:

1. Builds trust and credibility: Ethical behavior builds trust and credibility with your audience. When recipients feel that your emails are transparent and respectful of their attention, they are more likely to engage positively with your business.
2. Better for long-term relationships: Building an email list and finding engaged subscribers is challenging. By demonstrating respect for recipients’ preferences, you encourage engagement and create loyalty that lasts.
3. Compliance with regulations: Many regions have strict regulations governing email marketing practices, such as the CAN-SPAM Act and the GDPR. Ethical use of preheader text ensures compliance with these regulations, protecting your brand from potential legal consequences and reputational damage.
4. Demonstrates respect for recipients’ time: Considerate use of preheader text respects recipients’ time and attention by providing clear, relevant, and valuable information about the email content.
5. Reduced unsubscribes and complaints: Ethical use of preheader text helps minimize unsubscribes and complaints from recipients who feel misled, overwhelmed, or annoyed by deceptive or irrelevant messaging.
6. Great for brand image: Ethical behavior aligns with your brand values and corporate social responsibility initiatives. By being consistent with preheader text, you demonstrate your commitment to integrity and customer-centricity.

Here’s how the two elements work together to enhance the overall impact of your emails:

• The subject line is the first thing recipients see when they receive your email. It serves as the initial hook to capture their attention and entice them to open the email. However, subject lines are often limited in character count, making it challenging to convey the full message or capture the recipient’s interest effectively — preheaders help complete the picture.
• The email preheader gives you an opportunity to add context — it complements and extends the message conveyed by the subject line. It either provides additional information or intrigues recipients to open the email.
• When the subject line and preheader text work together seamlessly, they create continuity and coherence in your email messaging. They form a cohesive narrative that intrigues recipients and sets clear expectations about the email content.
• Email personalization is a powerful tool — you can add personalized elements to both the subject line and preheader text. This personalized approach increases engagement and encourages recipients to open and interact with your emails.
• Given the limited space on a smartphone screen, every word counts. This is why it’s best to create a powerful combo of subject line and preheader text by writing clever copy.
• The relationship between the subject line and preheader text also provides opportunities for A/B testing and optimization.

Here are the guidelines for running A/B tests for preheader text:

1. Divide your email list into two or more segments, with each segment receiving a different version of the preheader text.
2. Ensure the segments are randomly assigned to minimize bias and ensure accurate results.
3. Send out the email campaigns simultaneously to ensure consistency in timing and external factors.
4. Measure and compare key metrics, such as open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and overall engagement, for each variation of the preheader text.

Here are the steps to writing the best email preheaders:

1. Before adding a preheader text to your marketing emails, understand its purpose. A preheader text should provide additional context and entice recipients to open your email.
2. Write a concise preheader text that complements your subject line.
3. Keep the preheader text between 40-100 characters to ensure it’s fully visible on most email clients and devices. 
4. Use action-oriented language, highlight benefits, or create a sense of urgency to encourage recipients to open your email.
5. Mobile optimization is crucial since many recipients access emails on smartphones; ensure your preheader text is concise and impactful, as mobile email clients may truncate longer preheader texts. 
6. Test how your preheader text appears on different mobile devices and email clients to ensure optimal visibility and readability.
7. Personalize your preheader text whenever possible to make it more relevant and engaging for recipients.
8. Most importantly, ensure your preheader text aligns with your brand voice, style, and messaging guidelines — maintain consistency across your email campaigns to reinforce brand identity.

How Long Should an Email Preheader Be?

Different clients and devices display email preheaders differently, but the popular consensus is that the range varies between 30 to 100 characters. Sticking to this range ensures the preheader text is concise and fully visible across various email clients and devices, including desktops, smartphones, and tablets.

Many marketers write preheader text exclusively with mobile screens in mind, as shorter preheaders are less likely to be truncated or cut off, ensuring the message is effectively communicated to recipients — this restricts them to between 25-75 characters for smartphone users.

Here’s what it looks like in your source code:

<body>

<!– Preheader text goes here –>

<div style=”display: none; max-height: 0; overflow: hidden; mso-hide: all;”>

Your preheader text here.

</div>

Your email content, including the main message, images, links, and CTA, follows after the preheader text.

Important points to note:

• Insert your preheader text immediately after the opening <body> tag.
• Use a <div> element with inline styling to hide the preheader text visually while ensuring it’s accessible to email clients.
• Set the display, max-height, overflow, and mso-hide properties to hide the preheader text in most email clients.
• Include the preheader text within the <div> element.
• Use HTML tables for layout to ensure consistency across different email clients. 
• Use inline CSS styles for formatting and styling to ensure consistent rendering across email clients.

Here are the top 10 best practices you can implement while writing your preheaders:

1. Keep it concise: Limit your preheader text to 40-100 characters to ensure it’s fully visible in most email clients and devices.
2. Complement the subject line: Use the preheader to provide additional context and entice recipients to open the email.
3. Add details: Clearly communicate the value or benefit of opening the email in the preheader to capture recipients’ interest and encourage engagement.
4. Create urgency: Use action-oriented language or create a sense of urgency or curiosity to motivate recipients to open the email and learn more.
5. Avoid repetition: Ensure the preheader text offers new information or a different angle from the subject line to provide additional incentive for recipients to open the email.
6. Personalize when possible: Incorporate personalization elements, such as the recipient’s name or past interactions, in the preheader text to make it more relevant and engaging.
7. Optimize for mobile: Keep in mind that preheader text may appear differently on mobile devices, so ensure it’s concise, impactful, and renders well across various screen sizes.
8. Test variations: Conduct A/B testing to identify which preheaders resonate best with your audience.
9. Add a CTA: That clever line you saved for the end? Don’t be shy — add it to your preheader!
10. Maintain branding: Ensure the tone, style, and messaging of the preheader text align with your brand identity and voice to maintain consistency and reinforce brand recognition.