Email pre-headers: why?

In this era of rapid development of Internet marketing in general and email marketing in particular, not everyone knows about concepts like the pre-header. However, this is an integral part of a high-quality, well-structured email. The pre-header is the text placed at the beginning of a letter; it comes right after a subject line. Typically, the pre-header is the first thing that the recipients see, and therefore it is a great opportunity to get their attention. Open rates of emails with pre-headers are much higher than opens of those without pre-headers. In order to support this claim, we have done a split-test mailing of the same letter. In the first variant, a letter was sent with a pre-header, and in the second variant, without one. As you can see from the screenshot, the open rate of the letter with a pre-header is higher. Neglecting the opportunity to garner additional views of your letters is just irrational.

Successful marketers use pre-header capabilities to the fullest. Below, we will review possible variants of pre-header usage to increase the effectiveness of your mailings.

The main message of a letter The pre-header contains the main message of your letter, whether it is a discount, promotion or otherwise; thus, recipients see what it is about. A pre-header can also be a logical continuation of the subject line. This would significantly expand the chances of creating successful subject line. Pre-header navigation This means that a pre-header contains key links that you can click on without having to download images and scroll down a letter. For example, if you received a letter from a well-known online store with a promotional subject line, wouldn’t it be more convenient if there were a possibility of going to the promotion details without scrolling down? Web version There is a reason why including a link to a web version in a pre-header is recommended. If there is a problem with displaying a letter, then recipients will have an additional opportunity to view it in a browser. Various email clients display HTML in different ways , so the ability to view a web version is extremely important. Unsubscribe link Placing an unsubscribe link in a pre-header can be an interesting tactic for companies that send a large scope of letters per day, and correspondingly deal with a high level of recipient dissatisfaction. This may apply to coupon sites such as Groupon. Including an unsubscribe link in a pre-header can prevent a letter from going to the spam folder. Add to address book This option allows you to add a sender to an address book to be sure that all of your letters go right to the inbox folder. Social network icons Placing social network icons in the pre-header is a perfect way to encourage recipients to share your emails with friends. But do not add more than two icons, as this may make your letter significantly “heavier”.