When you start learning more about email development and the HTML/CSS side of preheaders, things can get tricky. But they don’t have to be: there are easier ways to add preheaders to emails (and know what to write in them).
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What is an email preheader?
An email preheader text is a short line of text that appears after the subject line in your inbox. Preheaders provide a brief summary of the content of an email and may display differently in mobile and web-based email clients.
You can add preheaders (also called "email preview text") to your emails using HTML and CSS. Alternatively, you can choose an email software that allows you to customize your preheader text without programming .
Here's an example of what preheaders look like in Gmail.
Preheader for promotional emails in my inbox. Note that the text displays differently depending on the length of the subject line .
The preheader of an email appears differently in different email clients. Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and various mobile clients all have different ways of displaying previews. Here's an example of what the preview text might look like on mobile devices.
The sender name, subject, and preheader text may display afghanistan whatsapp number data 5 million differently in different clients. On mobile devices, the preheader text may not be cut off if the subject text is longer. (Source, Litmus ).
Preheaders are a modern version of the old “Johnson Box,” a technique used in direct response copywriting to preview the subject of a sales letter.
The Johnson Box, created by Frank H. Johnson, is a section at the top of a letter that summarizes key points—the goal is to get more people to read your letter.
In an article for AWAI , George Duncan of Duncan Direct Associates explained the purpose of a Johnson Box:
"Put a good chunk of your message before the opening, before the letter even begins, so people know what you're talking about. Then, if they continue reading the letter, you're almost guaranteed to say yes."
Similarly, the preheader is a short summary of your email and the goal is to convince people to open it.
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How to add a preheader text to an email campaign
You can add preheader text to an email by inserting it through your CRM software or by manually adding a hidden div style to your HTML code. If you do not add preheader text to an email campaign, email clients may insert the text for you based on the content of your email.
Sometimes, automatically generated preheaders are enough. But often, we recommend using the email preheader text as a "second subject" to create curiosity and get more email opens.
Here is an example of an incorrect preheader text.
"Having trouble" is the first text in the email in question, so that's what gets put in the preheader. Nothing against the Poetry Foundation, but a more descriptive preheader might increase their open rates. (It could be worse, sometimes the unsubscribe link appears.)
