Diving headlong into the world of email creative is tough if you don’t have all the lingo down. Here’s a handy cheat sheet for those who are still polishing their grasp on the glossaries, and a brush up on definitions and best practices for those who already know their stuff:
(1) The Preheader
These small and subdued text blurbs at the top of your emails are getting more play these days. Particularly as more folks browse their inboxes from mobile devices, this first glimpse of the main message becomes your crucial chance to grab their interest. A preheader informs a recipient of what the email is about, how to view it with images and/or from a mobile device, and how to ensure future delivery via content teaser snippet(s), the “view with images” prompt and/or the “add to address book” prompt. Think about what text snippet you want customers to see first. Probably something a little more engaging than “If you are having trouble viewing this email with images...”
(2) Header and Navigation
This often takes the form of a colored banner and encompasses anything that lies between your preheader and main message. It’s the space for your company logo, and—depending on the message content—it may also include menu items that link to other pages of your site, just in case the main message doesn’t quite strike the fancy of the viewer.
(3) Primary Message
Your email’s big push deserves a lot of attention from you since you’re looking to earn the attention of your subscribers. A harmonious balance of headline, body copy and supporting images delivers maximum impact. This should include a prominent primary call-to-action (ideally in the form of a big, beautiful, “bulletproof” button!) and a link to a landing page with a cohesive look and message that will maintain enough interest to turn that clickthrough into a conversion.
(4) Table of Contents
These come in handy for longer, newsletter-form emails that contain tons of content, allowing customers to skip right to what interests them rather than having to scroll all the way down. The TOC works most effectively as a bulleted list at the top of your email that is anchor tagged to hotlink directly to content. Fitting this into your preview pane, along with your primary message and call-to-actions, will also help it gain enough attention to earn its keep.
(5) Submessage(s)
Adding secondary and tertiary messages to your email gives you the opportunity to present another story or two. Just make sure you don't lose your viewers in a maze of information. Keep it clean with visual prompts like color, strong headlines, imagery and graphics. Submessages are usually organized in a siderail or layer-caked below the primary message.
(6) Recovery Module
This is your final outpost, your last chance to capture the clickthrough of anyone who may have sailed through your main message or submessages. The recovery module is often a bar at the bottom of the email that includes a list of links to your site, or potentially an incentive to grab your subscribers’ interest before they slip back to their inboxes.
(7) Footer
Using the same sort of subdued, “legalese” text that comprises the header, this is another place to include the essential nuts-and-bolts info. The unsubscribe link is tucked away here along with company contact details, “forward to friend” and customer service links. And of course, make sure it’s CAN-SPAM compliant!
Now that you know all the lingo, can you identify all seven message components across these two REI emails?
--> REI Triathalon
--> REI Paddling Newsletter
Talk the talk; walk the walk!
As ever,
Lisa Harmon of Smith-Harmon
Comments (6)
Lisa -
Great post, as always. I'm not sold on a TOC (#4). I always tell clients...
"If you need a table of contents, your message is probably too long."
What do you think?
dj at bronto
Posted by DJ Waldow | July 27, 2008 11:11 AM
Posted on July 27, 2008 11:11
Hi Lisa - enjoy your posts as always. Just a note on mobile - The "Preheader" is unfortunately not 'small & subdued' in BlackBerry & Symbian (the market share leaders in the USA and outside the USA respectively). Both of these mobile platforms do not render different font sizes as specified in the email...rather what the marketer hopes will show up as small & lighter shaded text, shows up in the same size font as everything else in the message on these 2 mobile platforms. Thus, if you have mobile readers - what you put in the preheader is likely take up the entire 1st screen and warrents special consideration. If you are going to include a link to 'view this on a mobile device' (which just means the customer has to now load the message in their mobile browser which is not a guarantee the rendering will be any better), it's always a good idea to make it a full URL or else Symbian (>70% market share outside the USA) users will not be able to click on it.
Posted by Deirdre Baird | July 28, 2008 7:51 AM
Posted on July 28, 2008 07:51
Hi you two :)!
DJ - Not so much for retail promotions or other short-form messages, but for newsletter-form messages or more content-heavy emails, a TOC makes sense. What do you think?
Deirdre - Thanks so much for the mobile note. We really enjoyed your Mobile Rendering Preso at the EIS; this is a great follow-up nugget :)!
Posted by Lisa Harmon | July 28, 2008 11:00 AM
Posted on July 28, 2008 11:00
@Dierdre: I'm still trying to wrap my head around this mobile rendering thing. Agree with Lisa - your preso at EIS was great. I just can't figure out how to design for both email clients, ISPs AND mobile. Ahhhh...
@Lisa: I see what you are saying for newsletters. I think the traditional "e-newsletter" (hate that term) is on the way out and therefore the TOC will soon be not as important.
Keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming Bronto Blog - blog.bronto.com - post that references THIS post. I actually review a "e-newsletter" using your 7 message components.
dj at bronto
Posted by DJ Waldow | July 29, 2008 2:58 PM
Posted on July 29, 2008 14:58
The terms "header" and "message" have been well-defined (and defined differently than you mention above) for 20+ years now (see RFC 768, amongst others).
Attempting to redefine terms that are already well-established and in common use cannot fail to result in confusion.
electronic mail differs in very important ways from traditional print or electronic documents, and it's important, for the sake of clarity, to respect those differences rather than redefining terms at-will.
cheers,
/sf
Posted by Scott Francis | August 7, 2008 6:10 PM
Posted on August 7, 2008 18:10
Great post, @Lisa.
Reminder that everyone's favorite, Lotus Notes, can't do anchors in email. (The table of contents.) Agree with @DJ, a TOC might indicate too much content.
We do use space in our sidebar to repeat the headlines of the stories that appear lower down in our long-form newsletter. Down lower they have a photo and intro paragraph. At the top, it's just the headlines. In both cases, they just link to story instead of using anchors within emails.
@Scott - I think context is important to keep in mind. I know there's an RFC that defines a key but when I'm talking about keys, I'll consider my audience, where I'm discussing it and what else we're talking about to know whether we're talking about deliverability or access to my car.
Posted by James | August 22, 2008 7:39 PM
Posted on August 22, 2008 19:39