For the next few weeks, I’m writing a new series about how to structure and write emails that convert. I’ll go through each section of an email to show you how to make it stronger, so it gets your subscribers to take the next action you want them to take. Last week was all about writing a good subject line. Today, I’ll reveal the power of email preview text.
“What the heck is email preview text?” I hear you cry.
It’s an excellent way to extend your subject line and get people to open your emails.
And, it’s one of the most under-utilized sections of most emails.
So, if you start using it now, you’ll already be one step ahead of your competitors.
No Really, What the Heck is Email Preview Text?
When you look at your list of incoming emails in your inbox, you see the subject line in a bold font. Then you see a little more text in a standard font below or next to that.
That second line of text is the email preview text.
Look at the picture above for an example.
Also referred to as preheader text, the sole purpose of this text is to show up as a “preview” of what’s inside the email.
Here’s what it looks like on a mobile phone. The red arrow indicates the email preview text.
Most email clients show between 35 and 90 characters of email preview text. Some show up to 140.
You’re probably wondering why any of this matters.
It matters, because as a smart and savvy business owner and marketer, you can use email preview text as an additional “subject line” to persuade people to open your emails.
Here’s how you do that.
How Does Email Preview Text Work?
Normally, your email client pulls up text from the first line in the email. Which is why you’ll see “Dear So-and-so” or “View in Web Browser” in some of your inbox previews.
Most email service providers (ESPs) and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms include a field in their email builder where you can add your own email preview text.
In most email clients, this text isn’t shown inside the email itself. You can only see it within the inbox listing.
This gives you the ability to craft an extra sentence or two that will give your subscriber that extra little push to click on your subject line and open your email.
This is what that additional field looks like in Drip’s email builder:
And this is what it looks like in MailChimp’s email builder:
When you enter text into that additional field, it shows up in the preview line of your inbox.
Which lets you essentially extend your subject line, so you can give your subscribers even more reasons to open your email.
If your ESP doesn’t offer this additional field (or if you don’t want to use that field) put the text you want to show up in the email preview text at the very top of your email.
You can add that text in small print if you don’t want your subscribers to see it as soon as they open your email. Or, make it a great hook to get people to open up, then have it transition directly into your email.
How to Write Email Preview Text that Works
My last blog post in this series was all about how to write a good subject line. If you haven’t read that yet, I recommend taking a moment to do so.
You want your email preview text to tie into or be an extension of your subject line. These two sections need to complement each other.
Here are 4 best practices for writing your email preview text:
1. Add a Call to Action
The point of any CTA is to get your reader to take an action. You already do this in the body of your emails (or you should if you’re not). Why not add one to your email preview text?
I have used CTAs like, “Open up to get your copy of (Insert name of lead magnet here).”
Here’s another example from my former client, FunnelDash. They use their email preview text to persuade their subscribers to sign up for a new program they’re offering.
2. Build on the Curiosity in Your Subject Line
In the last post in this series, I mentioned using curiosity in your subject lines to get your subscribers to open your emails.
You can use your preheader text to build on that curiosity, so there’s even more reason for someone to open your emails.
Anna Sabino did this in one of her emails, as she was building anticipation for a new project.
3. Tell Your Readers Exactly What’s Going to Happen Next
Many subject lines are direct and clear in their intentions. Which sets you up perfectly to use your email preview text to give more information about what your subscribers will get if they open your email.
Here’s an example from an email I sent out the day after my birthday this year.
And another from Frank Kern.
4. Make Your Email Preview Text a Continuation of Your Subject Line
This is a great way to maximize your email preview text and make people want to read more. It’s especially helpful on mobile devices, as many of them give more space to email preview text than they do to the subject line.
I love this example from Breakthrough Email Marketing, because it uses a current event style subject line, then leads straight into the benefit of opening this email.
What Not to Do with Your Email Preview Text
There will always be “bad” ideas for email preview text. Obviously, don’t write anything you don’t want someone else to see. Because they will.
As mentioned above, the majority of email clients will pull whatever you have written in the first line or two of text in your email.
Which means whatever is at the top of your email will show up as preview text in your email client.
Sometimes that works out well.
Sometimes, it doesn’t.
I will point out that this particular email’s preview text showed up differently on mobile than it did on desktop (the version below).
However, you’ll notice that the example above still uses a boilerplate text line that does nothing to assist the subject line.
Take a serious look at what shows up at the top of your email so you can use this space to the best effect to get your email opened.
Another example of what not to do is to repeat the subject line.
This can be confusing at best, and show you don’t know what you’re doing, at worst.
Your goal should always be to get some sort of text into this space that works with your subject line to get your emails opened.
Do be aware that some email clients show quite a bit of text, so you may get part or all of the first sentence of your email showing up in your email preview text too. This is when you see the “Hi So-and-so” show up. Use all the space you’ve got, whenever you possibly can.
Up Your Email Preview Text Game
Use these tips to make the text that shows up in your subscribers’ preview panels persuade them to open and read your emails.
To make it even easier, click on the button below to download the Email Preview Text Cheat Sheet. You’ll have everything you need to write awesome email preview text at your fingertips.
Next week, I’ll show you how to write engaging email copy that persuades your subscribers to keep reading.