Increase Opens with the Inbox Preview - Using Cheetah Messaging Preheaders

What is the Email Preview?

The email preview will always be the first text in the email. In a HTML email, the first text is relevant to the opened email, usually not the subject line.

What is an Email Preheader?

An email preheader is invisible text that is added to the top of an email’s HTML to become the preview, instead of the first email text. It does not appear in the actual email when it is opened.

Why Use a Preheader?

Often with HTML emails, the first text in the email is not the optimal inbox preview text for creating the response of opening the email. The first text in your email may be a link to view the email in a browser, or an unsubscribe option, for example. 

The preheader allows marketers to control what the recipient will see in their inbox client - building on the subject line using the preview text below it, for the purpose of increased interest and subsequent opens and clicks.

A preheader typically elaborates on the subject line or includes a Call-To-Action.

Use the preheader to:

• Entice the reader to click through
• Give users an incentive
• Increase open rates
• Increase conversion rates
• Increase website views (if you’ve included CTAs that lead to your site)

What are the Advantages of Using the Cheetah Messaging Preheader Field, Rather than Manually Embedding Preheader HTML in My Email?

1. Creating the preheader is as simple as entering a line of text into a field, which can include personalization. There is no need to manually edit HTML. The preheader will also appear in the preview in a later release, after the subject line.
2. Improved multivariate testing - When you use the preheader feature instead of manually creating a preheader in the HTML, the preheader text populates a reportable field, and in a future release this will be shown along with the subject line in the Comparisons report.
• By using the subject field, the preheader field, and the Projected Open Rate on the Comparisons report, you will then be able to do Subject Line / Preheader Pair Testing to quickly determine the pair that was most successful in creating opens, regardless of different ratios of recipients’ Apple MPP use or non-use per cell or campaign used in the test.

What Should the Preheader Not Be Used For?

It is not advisable to use your preheader to:

• Repeat your subject line
• Add your unsubscribe link
• Post long preheader text, as it may be cut off. Place the most valuable message at the beginning of the preheader.

How do I Add a Preheader?

After the January release, enter the pre-header text, and any personalization, into the optional preheader text field below the Subject Line field in the Envelope section. The counter to the right of the field will show you how many characters you have used, not including any personalization.

What is Subject Line / Preheader Pair Testing?

In an upcoming release, the Preheader will be supported for Cells and Splits campaigns, and will be included on the Comparisons report.

By using the Subject field, the Preheader field, and the Projected Open Rate on the Comparisons report, you will then be able to do Subject Line / Preheader Pair Testing to quickly determine the pair that was most successful in creating opens, regardless of different ratios of recipients’ Apple MPP use or non-use per cell or campaign used in the test.

How many characters long can a preheader be and still fully appear in the inbox preview?

Because you can’t know for sure how much text can appear, your preheader should have the most important information near the beginning in case it is cut off.

In general, between 80 to 120 characters will appear in the client preview area. To the right of the preheader field in Cheetah Messaging is a counter that shows how many characters you have typed into the field, minus any personalization text. 

However, a best practice is to have the header not be very long, make it short, impactful, and easy to read. We recommend between 30 and 80 characters with the most important message always within the first 30 characters. 

But, if the preheader is too short, your text will be followed with the first text on the page, reducing the impact. Some marketers get around this through padding by pasting repeated ͏ ‌   after the text to keep the space following the preheader empty. This is handled automatically by the feature in a future release. Because most previews in the inbox are as much text that can show from the email body, short previews stand out.

The amount of visible text depends on the device and email client your recipient is using, the magnification they have set for text, their screen resolution, and any other adjustments they have made. As mentioned above, if the preheader is too short, it will be followed by the first body text of the email, unless it is followed by padding.

On the native Mail app for Mac laptops for example, the user can change the width of the preview pane, and the number of lines of preview text. On the Gmail client running in the Chrome browser, the subject line and preview share a single line, the length available to the preview is the space the subject line has left for it.

See examples in the appendix below for how common email clients show different amounts of preview text.

How will support of Preheaders be rolled out?

1. January, 2023:
   • Supported ability to add preheaders to emails with personalization
2. Plan for February, 2023: 
   • Cells and splits will be supported
3. Also coming soon:
   • Automatic ability for short, more impactful preheaders to never be followed by email content in the preview through the automatic addition of padding
   • Addition of preheader after the subject line on the Comparisons report
     1. This will enable reporting open results of SL/Preheader Pair Testing, with no negative impact from Apple MPP (when the Projected Open Rate is used for the comparison)
     2. The Preheader will appear after the Subject Line in the Preview.
     3. You will be able to add the Preheader to the CSV file you may be using to upload Cells and Splits campaigns.

This document will be updated as the rollout progresses.

Appendix

More Resources: 

• 5 Examples of Excellent Email Headers (Campaign Monitor) 
• Email Preheader Text: 10 Examples and Ideas to Boost Opens and Clicks (Email on Acid)

Examples with screenshots of how many characters can appear, on common email clients

Example 1: The Gmail client in the Chrome browser, 1920x1080 resolution, set at 100% Zoom, on Windows. The subject line and preview appear on 1 line, sharing a combined space for 194 characters. If the browser is not full screen, is set at greater than 100% zoom, or if the monitor is a smaller resolution, fewer characters will appear. The longer the subject line, the shorter space available for the preview.

Example 2: The Mail app on an iPhone 12 Max, regular text size. By default, the preview has 2 lines, with space for approximately 111 characters.

Example 3: The Mail app on an iPhone 12 Max, large text activated, medium magnification. The preview now has space for approximately 76 characters. If your customers are likely to choose large text on their displays, use a smaller number of characters.

Example 4: The Gmail app on an iPhone 12 Max, regular text size. The subject line and preview appear on 2 lines, with space to show approximately 44 characters of the preview.

Remember, shorter preheaders can have a bigger impact. In a future release, padding will be automatically added to the end of preheaders to prevent the email body text from following short preheader text in the preview.