Outside of your subject line, your Preheader is one of the most important elements within a eMail. The Preheader should be a nice compliment to your subject line and it will also provide the opportunity to provide more details about the eMail your customer is receiving.

I still see many promotional emails where the Preheader is not living up to what it could be.

A quick refresher – The Preheader is the little text that you see following the subject line. You will see this on mobile devices and email clients, such as Gmail. With the Preheader, it is your chance to reinforce and compliment your subject line – this can help you WIN the open which then leads to more transactions and sales. The Preheader gives you one more chance to get someone to open your email. Provide information or text that gets people to act on! The Preheader is also important for when images are turned off, this could be the only thing an email subscriber will see.

The Preheader also helps you compete with other brands in a stuffed eMail box that also contains spam and eMails from friends and family. With Mobile and how eMail is displayed on Mobile clients, the becomes a bigger part of the email.

My six quick tips for a better Preheader…
1 – Get to the point, keep it short
2 – Use action (use shopping dates or coupon codes)
3 – A/B test your Preheader
4 – Complement your subject line
5 – Give a reason to open
6 – Do not repeat yourself – Preheader should not be the same as the subject line.

Keep in mind that you are competing against all the other email in the inbox – take every necessary step to stand out!

About Bernie

With more than 23 years of experience in marketing, Bernie is the Director of Digital Marketing at Papa John’s International, based in Louisville, KY. His current focus is building and scaling a progressive digital marketing foundation that balances the needs of both consumers and national/local stakeholders —  all while delivering measurable ROI to the business.

Additionally, Bernie oversees brand representation for Papa John’s digital properties and manages direct-to-consumer channels including email, SMS and push messaging. Recent initiatives have centered around bringing together larger promotional efforts with targeted campaigns to engage the consumer at the precise moment of interest.

Follow Bernie on Twitter @B2the7 or @B7_Design