I received a newsletter recently that reminded me of something that can be easily forgotten – the auto-preview option. For those of you who may not know, the auto-preview in your email inbox allows you to see the first few lines of an email without necessarily opening it. And depending on how you design to this feature, it can prove to be a helping hand, or it could set your email efforts back a few notches.

There are many pieces of information that a marketer may display at the top of their email, for example:

• viewing the hosted email version
• adding the from address to the safe sender list
• unsubscribing
• changing profile preferences

By no means do I wish to discourage any of you from putting these items in your email messages, because they all have a purpose. But, if you choose to occupy the top-most real estate with these items, do note that they will be displayed in the auto-preview area. However, you can opt to move such information just a few rows lower, and replace that top-most real estate with preheader snippet text.

In order to engage someone to open your email, you’ve got to give them something compelling to look forward to. Call me crazy, but my definition of compelling isn’t knowing that I can add you to my safe senders list. I want to know what you’re offering me! And as someone who receives many marketing communications, you better make my eyes widen quickly, before I click "Select All" and "Delete".

Make your top real-estate something worthwhile and riveting. Something that explains your email in one quick sentence, and instantly pulls your readers in! For example, in the latest issue of Inside Lyris HQ, this is what I saw:

It entices me to open because it shows clear intent to offer me knowledge on how I can improve my marketing know-how. And in reading it, I feel as though I’d pass up something good if I didn’t click to open.

So if you haven’t already, take the preheader snippet text into consideration when designing your email campaigns, and ensure the copy provides substantial information in one punch. And if it’s something you’ve already got in place, then try doing A/B tests by varying verbiage.

Marketing is about finding ways to elicit a positive response from your target audience. And as small as something may seem, the impact on your efforts can be great.

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About the Author

Ghia Espino is an account manager at Lyris. She strategizes with clients to improve their online marketing performance and works as their Lyris advocate.

Related Resources:

• Subscribe to Inside Lyris HQ our monthly online-marketing newsletter.
• Download free online-marketing guides, tools and webinars in the Lyris Online-Marketing Resource Center.