Email Marketing Headers
How many personal emails would you guess you read a week if you are honest with yourself? Five? Ten? Two Hundred? Maybe you go out of your way to avoid emails unless they are specifically directed toward your email address. Super Office reports that in 2018, the average open rate for email was generally 24% globally across all email types. However, in 2020, the average available rate dropped to 21.3%, a notable decrease. Nonetheless, consider this: What makes an email fall in the clickable range for your audience?
The culprit? It’s the email header. Here are 5 need to know items about Email Marketing Headers.
1. What Is An Email Header?
An email header is the first thing your readers see when they open your scheduled email. A good title helps grab the highly valued attention of the reader and helps set the tone of your email. In this quick blurb, you can address the reader, introduce the subject, and present your visual identity/branding to the consumer.
2. How Does This Apply To Marketing?
The header of your email invites the reader into your organization’s world- a little window into what’s happening around the organization’s sphere, important events, and recent news. These can all be communicated while promoting your key messaging through branding; think of your brand guidelines.
Naturally, you would expect these banners to be as flashy and eye-catching as possible, but keep in mind what voice you’re using within the body of the email.
Get creative and have fun with bold letters! But keep in mind what fonts fall within your brand guidelines. It would be best to grab the reader’s attention quickly while their cursor hovers over the back button.
3. How To Create An Email Header
The purpose of an email header is to specify where the email came from and to who it is directed. These are the mandatory aspects of an email header. You can build and include snippets of important information in the email form here. Remember: you want the reader to read the email entirely to get all of the information you’re presenting- so be cautious with how much you divulge at the start.
4. Take It To The Next Level
This is where the Full Email Header comes in as an introduction to Journalism class; it’s crucial to hook the readers’ attention in the first ten seconds of a body of text and express why this text, or email, in this case, is worthy of the readers’ time. Think, would you read this email?
An important keynote to keep in mind is that you cannot distort your email’s critical messaging and contents by increasing the ‘click-ability’ of your email and setting that hook. Where gaudy numbers and urgent messages could get a reader’s attention, it would only lead to frustration and a loss of trust if your contents fall short of the expectations.
5. Using Tools You Might Already Have
The logistics of creating an email header are much more accessible than you might think. Many email or newsletter curating programs like MailChimp, Constant Contact, or Campaign Monitor already have built-in methods to create a flashy header within the boundaries of the program. Canva or InDesign allows you to follow templates and apply your brand colours/fonts to professionally designed headings for more creative freedom.
From here, you’re ready to tackle the body of the text and create a dialogue between your organization and your audience.
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