Practical ideas to test in the often neglected preheader

The small kid with glasses that gets picked last for the football team? That was me. And that's the email preheader, too... At least that's what it often feels like: it's there to tick the box on the "what goes in an email?" checklist, but it doesn't get much copywriting love. In case you're wondering, the preheader is the line or two of text, usually in a smaller font, right up the top of an email. Here's the preheader at the top of a National Express mail: It's one of the elements I cover in the email module of the Smart Insights online copywriting course, and its potential value stems from two plausible marketing roles. First, while an inbox display typically focuses on the from name and subject line of each email, it may also include the first…