Three Ways to Take Advantage of the Email Preview Pane

Do you have the preview pane enabled in your inbox? Many of your email recipients use this setting and some even read most of their emails this way.

The preview pane is important email real estate, and you can use it to your advantage. What readers see in this area can influence their decision to open your email to read more or to scroll down to see more.

If you're a business-to-business marketer, most of your audience uses the preview pane. It is not as important a factor for consumer marketers, but studies have shown that about 40 percent of consumers use a preview pane.

Of course, this function is user-controlled, and the size and horizontal or vertical orientation is in the control of the recipient. It is safe to assume that the top two inches of your email may be viewed and that the left-hand side is most visible. Here are thoughts on how to optimize your use of this important area.

1. Include a headline above the body of your email

Old-school email marketing advised that above the body of the email is where you include administrative notices such as "add us to your address book" and "click here to view online."

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Reggie Brady is president of Reggie Brady Marketing Solutions (www.reggiebrady.com), a direct and email marketing consultancy. She can be reached at (203) 838-8138 or reginabrady@att.net.