Your email preheader text is the snippet of copy that follows your subject line and can be really powerful in ensuring the success of your email marketing campaign. Usually, this is pulled from the main text in your email, but now Movio Cinema allows you to craft your own preheader, exactly the way you like it.

Having an effective preheader text can help to capture your audience's attention, increase your open rates, and, therefore, increase sales.

In order to optimize the impact from your preheader text, I’ve put together the below tips to help you.

Reinforce your subject line, don’t repeat it

Think of something interesting that you can include in your preheader text that adds value to your subject line, and grabs the attention of your audience as they are scrolling through their inbox.

The preheader text provides a great opportunity for you to expand on your subject line, highlighting any key ideas that are in your email. In our blog '3 golden rules for successful email marketing' we wrote that the shorter the subject line  the better it performs, so preheader text allows you to add some context while keeping your subject line short and sweet.

Give a teaser to your email content

Your preheader text gives you the chance to expand on your subject line and let your audience know what they should expect when they open the email. Use it to highlight the main point of your email with some compelling, eye-catching copy. You can encourage your audience to scroll through your email and click on any special links that you mention in your preheader text. However, it is important to be honest with your loyalty members, don’t trick them just to get them to open your email.

Use personalization

A powerful way to optimize any communication is to personalize it to your members by using something specific to them, such as their first name. This increases both open rates and conversation rates between you and your audience.

Movio Cinema provides markers that you can include in your preheader text.

For example, in the above image you will see @@first_name@@ in the preheader text section. This will ensure the person's first name is included when you send your email.

Include a Call-to-Action and/or a special offer

Your preheader text is prime real estate over the ‘from name’ and ‘subject line’ so use this space to provide a strong call-to-action, and create a sense of urgency. This will encourage your audience to open your email before getting distracted by other emails in their inbox. For example, purchase opening weekend tickets for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and receive a free popcorn. You can also use your preheader text to highlight a special offer incentivizing them to open your email.

Be aware of character limits

Finally, the number of characters displayed for a preheader text differs from one email client to another. Therefore, it is important to keep it short and to the point. It’s also vital to take mobile into account. At Movio we consider that mobile is no longer a trend but a necessity, so you should be ensuring that you are optimized for mobile device. Emails are increasingly being opened on mobile device, over 50% of emails are now first opened on a mobile device.

We highly recommend that you limit your preheader to 100 characters or less, and include any crucial attention-grabbing information within the first 5 words.

Following these tips will help you get the most of this often-overlooked opportunity to engage with your email audience.