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The preview pane
The people who receive your emails are most likely to examine its contents through
a preview pane at the bottom of their inbox. So what should people see when you look at your
email in their preview pane? And how can you make sure that your content gets the message
across - however people choose to view it?
While the majority of readers using a preview pane will have it set up to appear at the bottom,
some subscribers on your list will have the preview pane on the right. Don't forget to check
how your messages look in all possible settings. Truncated text or images can
completely change your messages intended meaning.
The most common setting for viewing emails is with a preview pane at the bottom of the
inbox. To find out exactly which email clients your subscribers are reading your messages in, use the
Fingerprint application.
As a basic rule of thumb, however, what works in almost all situations is to make sure that your
content is accessible within the top of your message. Even if users are not using a preview pane
the top will still be the first - indeed, often the only - part of your message they will see.
So what should people see of your email in their preview pane? At the very least your preview pane should include:
- navigation bar
- links to email contents
- branding
To draw attention to the main content in each newsletter, Email-Worx now includes an animated gif showing our
navigation links. Whilst all the images will only render in some email clients, the links will be visible in
every email client, even with images turned off.
Don't forget to check Naked Email in our next issue to see whether this has increased our interaction.
The navigation bar will be similar to that on your website but optimized for your emails.
Your website nav bar is a good place to start - but to optimise this prime part of your message real estate,
make sure you keep an eye on your clicks and test different links and wording. As discussed in this month's
Talking Email,
these functional links will most likely generate a higher proportion of revenue than
other links in your messages.
Links to email contents: the most effective way to include as much content as possible
within your preview pane is to provide hyperlinks that showcase and give easy access to segments further down in your message.
Branding - one of the most overlooked and undervalued advantages of regularly contacting
your subscribers via email is the opportunity to reinforce your brand. Make sure your preview pane includes branding,
both with images on and off, and that the overall look and feel of your message reflects your brand image. Poorly
branded emails can adversely affect your reputation, both online and offline.
Images: many, many messages get sent out with large images at the top of the email. But with
images turned off - as many recipients do - a big blank box with a red cross in the corner will be all your
subscribers will see. Alt tags can help with this but even these will not be visible in some email clients.
(Do make sure you get a copywriter to write your alt tags, however, so that they are useful and meaningful
rather than simply "image 1" or "boy with dog".)
Always be sure to optimise the content of your preview pane for subscribers viewing your message with
images disabled. Include text behind images, or use collapsible images. These solutions may
cause other rendering problems, so make sure you test your rendering in all possible browser, application and client combinations.
Test, test and test again
You know your objectives, products and subscribers best. We've seen emails that completely go against all best practice get
good results, although this is generally the exception rather than the rule. The only way to know for sure what works for you is to test.
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