Make your Subject Line and Preview Test REALLY Stand Out!
How many times have you put forth your creative effort and testing into crafting the 'best' subject line and or preview text for your email, just to have it look like this in the inbox?
Sure, your subject and preview are there, but it is drowned out by the first few lines of your email body and it is lost in the sea of similar emails… do not fret! There IS something you can do to change this!!
Enter - Act-On's Headers, and a little friendly HTML!
First, this is what we are shooting for - looks better, right?
Or how about this, does anything stand out in the crowd?
This is really simple to achieve and it works across most major Email clients!
How? We are going to use two simply bits of HTML:
- Non breaking space:
- Zero width non joiners: ‌
Here's what you do:
- In Act-On, navigate to your Email Headers (Content > Email Headers)
- Create a New Header
-
Edit the HTML
- Paste the following code into the HTML
- <div style='display: none; max-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;'> ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ </div> <div style='display: none; max-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;'> ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ </div> <div style='display: none; max-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;'> ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ </div> <div style='display: none; max-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;'> ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ </div> <div style='display: none; max-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;'> ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ </div>
- Put your cursor into the 'Text Version' and put in a single space - Save
- That's it! Use this Header in your message and Email Templates and watch your emails POP!!!
As always, please A/B test this, or any new addition to your emails.
Different providers will react to new code and features (like Emojis) differently, and there is no substitute for metrics based on your own A/B test.
------------------------------
Robert Kohnke
Marketing Operations Strategist, Act-On Software, Inc.
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3 comments
Hi Robert,
Thank you for posting this solution. However, I'm finding when I copy in the code provided into HTML and hit 'Update,' Act-on strips out a lot of the code so I end up having the email subject, preview text, a large space with 'zwnj;' and then the start of my header text.
Not sure if anyone else is having this issue.
Thanks,
-Ciara
------------------------------
Ciara Simiele
Senior Content Marketing Associate, True Digital Communications
------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 07-09-2018 17:50
From: Robert Kohnke
Subject: Make your Subject Line and Preview Test REALLY Stand Out!
Make your Subject Line and Preview Test REALLY Stand Out!
How many times have you put forth your creative effort and testing into crafting the 'best' subject line and or preview text for your email, just to have it look like this in the inbox?
Sure, your subject and preview are there, but it is drowned out by the first few lines of your email body and it is lost in the sea of similar emails… do not fret! There IS something you can do to change this!!
Enter - Act-On's Headers, and a little friendly HTML!
First, this is what we are shooting for - looks better, right?
Or how about this, does anything stand out in the crowd?
This is really simple to achieve and it works across most major Email clients!
How? We are going to use two simply bits of HTML:
Here's what you do:
------------------------------
Robert Kohnke
Marketing Operations Strategist, Act-On Software, Inc.
------------------------------
------------------------------
Richard Evans
Marketing Manager, Indigo Business Services Ltd
------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 07-10-2018 08:17
From: Ciara Simiele
Subject: Make your Subject Line and Preview Test REALLY Stand Out!
Hi Robert,
Thank you for posting this solution. However, I'm finding when I copy in the code provided into HTML and hit 'Update,' Act-on strips out a lot of the code so I end up having the email subject, preview text, a large space with 'zwnj;' and then the start of my header text.
Not sure if anyone else is having this issue.
Thanks,
-Ciara
------------------------------
Ciara Simiele
Senior Content Marketing Associate, True Digital Communications
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 07-09-2018 17:50
From: Robert Kohnke
Subject: Make your Subject Line and Preview Test REALLY Stand Out!
Make your Subject Line and Preview Test REALLY Stand Out!
How many times have you put forth your creative effort and testing into crafting the 'best' subject line and or preview text for your email, just to have it look like this in the inbox?
Sure, your subject and preview are there, but it is drowned out by the first few lines of your email body and it is lost in the sea of similar emails… do not fret! There IS something you can do to change this!!
Enter - Act-On's Headers, and a little friendly HTML!
First, this is what we are shooting for - looks better, right?
Or how about this, does anything stand out in the crowd?
This is really simple to achieve and it works across most major Email clients!
How? We are going to use two simply bits of HTML:
Here's what you do:
------------------------------
Robert Kohnke
Marketing Operations Strategist, Act-On Software, Inc.
------------------------------
When I first posted this article, there was a slight typo.
If you are seeing 'zwnj' in your preview/header, you have two options:
1. Re-copy the code from my original article (I have updated it to correct the typo)
2. Add an ampersand before the zwnj in your HTML code, here:
I apologize for the inconvenience and confusion!
Have a great day and Happy Marketing!
------------------------------
Robert Kohnke
Marketing Operations Strategist, Act-On Software, Inc.
------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 07-09-2018 17:50
From: Robert Kohnke
Subject: Make your Subject Line and Preview Test REALLY Stand Out!
Make your Subject Line and Preview Test REALLY Stand Out!
How many times have you put forth your creative effort and testing into crafting the 'best' subject line and or preview text for your email, just to have it look like this in the inbox?
Sure, your subject and preview are there, but it is drowned out by the first few lines of your email body and it is lost in the sea of similar emails… do not fret! There IS something you can do to change this!!
Enter - Act-On's Headers, and a little friendly HTML!
First, this is what we are shooting for - looks better, right?
Or how about this, does anything stand out in the crowd?
This is really simple to achieve and it works across most major Email clients!
How? We are going to use two simply bits of HTML:
Here's what you do:
------------------------------
Robert Kohnke
Marketing Operations Strategist, Act-On Software, Inc.
------------------------------
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