How Can a Preheader Help Increase Email Conversion Rate?

How Can a Preheader Help Increase Email Conversion Rate?

Are you an eCommerce business? Or a marketer?

You must be familiar with email marketing.

Over thousands and millions of emails are exchanged all over the world on a daily basis.

According to Email Statistics Report, In 2016, the number of business and consumer emails sent and received per day will total over 215.3 billion.  

As soon as you open the inbox, you often see a bunch of emails crawling over the screen. Some social some promotional and minute percentage include spam emails too.

But which emails catch your attention at the very first place? Which emails you feel like are more “clickable” than others?

Email conversion rate can be dependent on various factors. But the first and foremost thing that catches the user’s eyes is the preheader text.

If an email has an effectively summarized preheader designed then half the battle is already won. Preheader text forms to be an important consideration in email marketing.

So exactly what is a preheader text? Is this the same as your subject line? Is it some sort of marketing campaign?

Well, relax as you will get all your answers in our next section.

Let’s shed some light on the importance of Preheader text in increasing the conversion rate of an email.

The First impression is the last impression!

You must have heard this phrase over a thousand times, right?

So this is what an email Preheader text is capable of, it creates a lasting impact on the user’s mind.

In simple words, a preheader text is a brief summary line followed just after the subject line. It acts like an extension of the subject line.

A preheader text plays an important role in email marketing as it happens to be the first thing that the user views, even if he doesn't open the email there are about 90% fair chance that at least he had a quick glance over preheader text.

It includes a preview of the entire email and use usually not more than 15-20 characters long. Although the format of preheader text can differ depending upon the business's need and client type.

Here’s a small snapshot depicting various email elements:

Image Source: Campaign Monitor

Preheader text in emails has become one growing evolution--especially since the boom of mobile devices.

It’s now proved out to be as important as an email subject line. Many businesses and marketers are now using preheader text as a promotional tool.

They boost user engagement and increase the readability of your email message.

Preheader text becomes the deciding factor for any email- whether the user will click on it or not.

The starting 2-3 seconds when a user reads the preheader text half of his mindset is already prepared whether he wants to read further or shut down the window.

If he gets enough tempted by those first few lines of your email then nothing can stop him from opening the message.

An effective preheader text simply drives your users towards your email message. Hence this is why marketers say that preheader plays a crucial role in increasing the engagement of your emails.

You’ll often notice that preheaders are basically device dependent. Each email client has different criteria and standards for deciding how many characters will be displayed as a preheader.

For example, Gmail and Yahoo display about 15-20 characters as a preview text, whereas if we talk about Apple iOS devices the preview text range is comparatively greater.

As you can see in the below-mentioned snapshot, In Gmail preheader text displays after the subject line.

Image Source: Litmus

A preheader text not only boosts the effectiveness of your emails, but help increase your conversion rate as well.
 

In a majority of cases, a preheader remarks a promotional sale activity, which is often not summarized by the subject line. Here’s an email from Lands’ End, this is how preheader works.
 

Hope this example made it clear about how crucial an email preheader is for e-commerce email marketing.

The subject line cannot say it all, and this is when preheaders play their charm. But usually, they are brief one liners because if you could read an entire email in one or two preview sentences, you probably wouldn’t even bother to open it or click on it to read further.
 

Preheaders act like supporting actors for emails as they can significantly boost the effectiveness of your email message.

As this blog post said, “Your email campaign is like the movie - and a preheader is a preview.”

Imagine you’re traveling on a highway and suddenly you see an advertisement banner of your favorite shopping brand which says, “Buy 1 get 1 free Offer exclusive on our factory outlet”.

This message will act as a driving force for which you’ll feel like stopping the car for once and check out their store. Email preheaders work in the exact same way!

Modcloth is master of creating creative preheader text. See how they do this:
 

Using effective preheaders can encourage your subscribers to stay in touch with your business & can convince them to keep returning.

Preheaders not only make your email campaigns intriguing, but they help in building a firm brand image as well. So start making it a practice to see improved results!