Executive Summary
Preheader text is HTML text that appears before or sometimes within the header of an email. It's important and growing in popularity because of the prevalence of image blocking by email subscribers and the increasing use of image-unfriendly mobile devices to view email. Those two trends make preheader text vital as both a promotional and functional tactic.
As of July, more than 97% of the top online retailers tracked by the Retail Email Blog used at least some preheader text. That's up from 94% in March 2008. But while adoption is high, many top retailers have failed to optimize their preheader text, not including the right elements and not minimizing the number of lines that their preheader text takes up. Because it occupies prime real estate at the top of emails, all marketers should be extremely mindful of their preheader text.
This 10-page reportlet discusses preheader text elements and their popularity, with particular focus on the most widely used and fastest growing elements. It also talks about opportunities to optimize preheader text, including minimizing the amount of space it takes up.
As of July, more than 97% of the top online retailers tracked by the Retail Email Blog used at least some preheader text. That's up from 94% in March 2008. But while adoption is high, many top retailers have failed to optimize their preheader text, not including the right elements and not minimizing the number of lines that their preheader text takes up. Because it occupies prime real estate at the top of emails, all marketers should be extremely mindful of their preheader text.
This 10-page reportlet discusses preheader text elements and their popularity, with particular focus on the most widely used and fastest growing elements. It also talks about opportunities to optimize preheader text, including minimizing the amount of space it takes up.