With the amount of emails being people receive in any given day, it’s hard to stand out. That’s why a person needs to be creative to make sure their recipients will open and read their emails. While a subject line gives the recipient the email’s intent, the preheader allows the recipient to see more information and content that will be found within the body of the email. This is a good place to really entice the viewer to open up the rest of the email and read the whole thing through.
What is an Email Preheader?
An email preheader is the short summary of text that follows the subject line when viewing an email from the inbox. Many places where you can view your emails, such as mobile, desktop, or web, will provide you with an email preheader to give you a tip of what the email contains without having to open it first. Many times, an email preheader is the difference between someone opening your email, or just deleting it right away.
Based off of a study, 49 percent of users view their emails on their smartphones or mobile devices where the preheader is displayed most prominently. If a person decides not to include a subject line at all, then the entire preheader will show in the recipient’s inbox. You can give the viewer even more information that you want them to know.
How to Write the Best Email Preheader
Make sure that you focus your most important content on the first half of the preheader. While the preheader is usually about 100 characters long, the first 35 are where the most important information should be. For example, if you have a flash sale that you want to highlight, include the word “flash sale” within first 35 characters of the preheader. Keep your preheader fun and creative, this is what often will keep the recipient’s attention.
An email address has its own reputation, and people often can determine right away whether or not it’s going to be an important message or just spam. A good email preheader isn’t only a courtesy to the viewers, but also allows them to see what you have to offer. People receive a lot of spam everyday. This is an easy way to ensure that your email appears legitimate and beneficial for the recipient.
