Why you need to pay attention to how your e-mail marketing messages look in "preview panes"
It's a basic rule of Internet marketing: The "first fold" of every sales web page is the most important part of your web site because your visitors will spend no more than 10 seconds deciding whether your page is what they're looking for...
That's why you need to pack in the benefits of your product or service and get straight to the point without wasting any space! And that's something you've probably heard before...
But did you know that this doesn't just apply to your web site? It also applies to your e-mail marketing...
Many e-mail programs have a "preview pane" that allows recipients to view the top two to four inches of your e-mail without actually opening it.
Business e-mail programs like Outlook and Lotus Notes have used these for years... but now, two of the most popular free e-mail providers -- Yahoo Mail and Hotmail -- plan to offer a preview pane feature to their users in 2006.
(I actually just received an invitation to test the beta version of Windows Live Mail -- Microsoft's Hotmail replacement -- and have been playing around with it.)
That means that now it's more important than ever to treat the preview pane of your e-mail messages like the first fold on your web pages. You need to get your reader's attention quickly -- and convince them to keep reading!
With that said, here are five tips for making the most of that critical top two to four inches of every e-mail you send:
- Avoid placing a large image or banner ad at the top
of your e-mail. Banners and images take up far too much space that
should be spent getting your message across and encouraging readers to read
the rest of your e-mail!
- Include a table of contents or a brief contents
summary. If your e-mail talks about more than one topic, include
a break down of what you plan to cover. For example, if you're sending a newsletter,
you may want to include an "In this issue..." section at the top
of your e-mail.
- Write a "teaser" paragraph or attention-grabbing
headline at the top of your e-mail that compels recipients to continue
reading it.
- Include the benefits that are most important to
your target audience in the top section of your e-mail. Answer the
question "What's in it for me" as quickly as possible.
- If you are including images, remember that some recipients may have their e-mail setting configured to block images... so include enough text that your message will make sense to them, too!
Yahoo Mail and Hotmail addresses make up large segments of many e-mail marketers' lists, so I recommend you sign up now to get access to Yahoo Mail Beta and Windows Live Mail Beta ... and start checking out what shows up in the preview panes!
