Latest / The Email Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Newsletters, Open Rates, and Subscriber Growth / How Email List Preheaders Drive Higher Open Rates
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, have you ever opened an email, glanced at the top, and immediately seen the subject line repeated verbatim in gray text right below it? Luna: All the time. And it always feels like a missed opportunity. Lucas: That gray text is the preheader. Also called the preview text or Johnson box. And depending on the email client — Gmail, Apple Mail, Outlook — it's the second-most-visible element in your subscriber's inbox after the subject line. Yet I'd bet fewer than half of marketers treat it with the same care as the subject. Luna: So what's the actual impact? Like, if you ignore the preheader, does it really hurt open rates? Lucas: It can, significantly. There's a well-known test from a mid-size e-commerce brand — I think it might have been a DirectIQ client — where they rewrote preheaders from generic fallback text like 'View this email in your browser' to something that complemented the subject line. They saw a 14 percent lift in open rates. That's not a trivial gain for zero additional send cost. Luna: Fourteen percent just from changing a few words. That's the kind of ROI marketers dream about. Lucas: Exactly. And the worst part is, if you don't set a custom preheader, most email service providers will auto-populate the first few lines of your email body. So you might end up with something like 'If you are having trouble viewing this email...' or 'To ensure delivery, add us to your address book.' That's not exactly compelling. Luna: Right, it's basically telling the subscriber 'This is spam.' Or at least 'This is a mailing list, not a personal note.' Lucas: Precisely. So the first rule is: always set a custom preheader. Every major ESP from Mailchimp to Klaviyo to HubSpot lets you do it. The second rule is: make it work with the subject line. They should read as one coherent thought, not two separate messages. Luna: Can you give an example of what that looks like in practice? Lucas: Sure. Say your subject line is 'Your summer sale starts now.' A bad preheader would be 'View in browser' or even repeating 'Your summer sale starts now.' A good preheader might be 'Shop 30% off — but only for the next 48 hours.' Now the subject and preheader together tell a complete story: there's a sale, it's limited time, and here's the incentive. Luna: That makes sense. And on mobile, where the subject and preheader are often shown together in a single line, that coherence is even more important. Lucas: Absolutely. On mobile Gmail, the preheader gets truncated after about 35 to 45 characters. So you want the most critical information — the urgency, the value prop — right at the start. A preheader like 'Your order is on its way — track it here' works because even if it gets cut off, the subscriber gets the gist. Luna: What about length? I've heard varying numbers — 100 characters, 150, 200. Lucas: It depends on the email client, but a safe bet is to aim for 85 to 100 characters. That covers most desktop and mobile views. Apple Mail on iPhone shows about 90 characters before truncation. Gmail on Android is around 50. So if you keep it under 90, you're usually safe. But the key is: don't waste characters on filler like 'Click here to read more.' Use every character to reinforce the subject line. Luna: And what about using emojis in preheaders? I've seen some brands do that. Lucas: Emojis can work if they're relevant. A plane emoji for a travel deal, a fire emoji for a flash sale. But test them. Some clients render them as empty boxes or weird characters. Also, emojis count as characters, and they can be wider, so they eat into your visible space faster. Luna: Good point. So what's the biggest mistake you see brands make with preheaders? Lucas: Probably the 'iPad mini' problem. That's when a brand accidentally leaves the default text that says something like 'If you cannot read this email, view it on your iPad or iPhone.' It's a relic from old HTML email templates. And it looks terrible. It suggests the brand hasn't touched their template in years. Luna: Yeah, I've seen that. It's like a neon sign that says 'we're not paying attention.' Lucas: Another common mistake is using the preheader to cram in legal boilerplate like 'This email was sent to you because...' Put that stuff in the footer. The preheader is prime real estate. Luna: So if someone is listening and thinking 'I need to fix my preheaders,' what's the first step? Lucas: Audit your last ten sends. Open one on mobile and one on desktop. See what the preheader actually says. If it's not compelling, rewrite it. Then A/B test one of your next campaigns with an optimized preheader versus your current default. Track open rates. I'd bet you see a lift. Luna: And if you're using a platform that doesn't make preheader editing obvious, it might be hidden under 'email settings' or 'advanced options.' Worth digging for. Lucas: Exactly. And if you can't find it, check their help docs or support. Most modern ESPs have it. Luna: One thing I've noticed: some brands use the preheader to display a discount code, like 'Use code SUMMER20.' That seems smart. Lucas: It is, as long as the code is easy to remember and you're not sacrificing clarity. But if the code is something like 'X7Y9Z2', that's a lot of characters. Better to say 'Save 20% with code inside' or 'Your exclusive discount awaits.' Then the code can be in the body. Luna: Right. Make the preheader a teaser, not the full reveal. Lucas: Exactly. And remember: the preheader is also read by screen readers for visually impaired subscribers. So use plain language, avoid special characters, and consider accessibility. It's not just a nice to have; it's increasingly a best practice that can affect deliverability. Luna: Good call. Accessibility often gets overlooked in email design. Lucas: So to sum up: set a custom preheader every time. Make it complement the subject line. Keep it under 90 characters. Put the most important info first. Avoid spammy words like 'free' or 'act now' unless it's genuinely urgent. And test, test, test. Luna: I'd add: don't be afraid to get creative. One brand I saw used the preheader to ask a question, like 'Ready for your next adventure?' paired with a subject about travel deals. It felt more conversational. Lucas: That's a great example. Questions can work well because they engage curiosity. But again, test it. Luna: You know, these conversations we have on the show — they're the kind of practical, actionable tips that can genuinely improve a marketing campaign. And if you've found value in that, a couple of dollars a month is what keeps this show ad-free and independent. You can head to buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo to chip in. Lucas: Yeah, it really does make a difference. And it's not about big pledges — a few dollars helps us keep producing episodes like this one. Luna: Alright, back to preheaders. One last thing I want to touch on: how preheaders interact with dark mode. Lucas: Oh, that's a good one. In dark mode, the preheader text color can sometimes invert or become unreadable if you're using a specific color. Best practice is to stick with default text colors — black or dark gray on light backgrounds, white or light gray on dark. Most email clients handle that automatically. Luna: So no fancy hex codes for preheader text? Lucas: Not recommended. Keep it simple. The preheader is about content, not design. Luna: Fair enough. So final takeaway: preheaders are a free optimization that too many marketers leave on the table. Lucas: Absolutely. And with mobile opens accounting for over 60 percent of email opens, the preheader is more important than ever. Luna: Thanks, Lucas. Great discussion. Lucas: Thanks, Luna. See you next time.