Unique Preheader (Mis)use
Much has been written about the very-quickly-becoming-mainstream preheader.
- I first saw mention of it by Lisa Harmon in her MAKE IT POP!: The Preheader Express post.
- At Bronto, we first blogged about it in February, 2008 - The Underutilized Preheader / Snippet Text.
- Chad White at The Retail Email Blog has a label dedicated to preheaders and recently posted about the postheader.
- Additionally, in June 2008, we dedicated an entire episode of BrontoFire to the famous preheader.
*This post was originally going to be titled “Preheader FAIL” and focus on how TweetBeep misused the preheader space. However, after a lengthy, healthy conversation with Chad White of The Retail Email Blog, I’ve changed my tune.
Take a look at how TweetBeep (mis)used the oh-so-precious preheader space?
- TweetBeep email in “preview pane” of Gmail
- TweetBeep email in Gmail with images off
- TweetBeep email in Gmail with images on
I’d argue - as I did in the preheader episode of BrontoFire - that you need consistency with your subject line, preheader, and call-to-action. In the TweetBeep preheader example, they utilize the space to advertise an unrelated product (Netflix). I’m not sure I agree with this approach.
Chad told me yesterday that as the preheader begins to gain more momentum (as it clearly has over the past 8 months), email marketers will experiment with different uses of the space. Maybe that is what TweetBeep is doing? Maybe they are testing. Maybe not.
What do others think? Please comment below.
DJ Waldow
Director of Best Practices & Deliverability at Bronto


