Always Use Juicy Snippet Text
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I already know what you may be thinking… what is snippet text? Well to put it simply, snippet text is the top line of an email which is displayed apart from the subject line.
Normally your email inbox displays the first line of an email message (the snippet). It is tiny but, a very significant part of the email message. This one line in an email message actually helps tilt the balance in the sender’s favor, when the recipient scans through their messages, searching for the most relevant ones and deleting the rest.
Because of this, it is just as important that you begin your marketing emails with a juicy “snippet” in order to truly optimize the email and make your marketing message stand out from the rest of the emails battling for your prospects reading pleasure.
Depending on what software or online provider your prospect is using will determine how your email will be shown in the display pane. Yahoo! Mail for example, displays the snippet in a pop-up text box when the cursor is brought over the subject line. Google Mail shows the snippet in a shaded area after the display of a subject line.
So are you ready for today’s golden nugget?
Online marketers that suck at email marketing always have a juicy headline and crap for a snippet!
In fact, most of them have great headlines but, fail miserably at the snippet game. I just opened my Google Mail account and it is loaded with failed email snippets. Here are some examples for your viewing pleasure.
- Hi, we sell replicated swiss watches with O…
- Newsletter removal instruction: If you no longer wish to receive our tips &…
- –Ads Axcel-GScope)~~Snuggie, the blanket with sleeves~~…
It doesn’t take a word wizard to understand how horrible these emails are right from the start. So what does a good snippet look like? Again, taken right now from my Google Mail account.
- Hey Troy, by now you’ve probably heard lots about our most popular…
- The message below applies to all Internet business owners…
- Hey Troy, I didn’t believe it at first but, until my good friend…
In the first set of examples, the writer either wrote about the product or service first or invited me to unsubscribe from their list! While the service or product might be valid to my interests (they are not by the way), they should never be mentioned in the first line of an email. Instead it must be used to generated interest, value and excitement like the second set of snippets above are doing.
Remember, a correctly framed snippet helps the reader, especially a busy, in deciding whether they should read the email immediately or delete it. Apart from the subject line alone, more words are available in the snippet or the top line of your email to build brand recognition. This top line facilitates the snap decision of the reader when he or she is in the middle of inbox triage. Furthermore, some providers preview panes block images by default, which again increases the importance of the top line.
If your emails are not conveying the offer or purpose of the email, the reader is left to rely on the subject line alone for a hint. And what do you think the chances are that they are even going to bother? My statistics prove they won’t!
To make your snippets Juicy always make a new one every time, even if a few extra minutes are required to complete the job, it will be worth it in the long run when you receive a better open rate for your marketing emails. This applies even if you are sending the exact same offer to someone who already received it previously.
So before you send out your next marketing email to your prospects make sure you take the time and write a juicy snippet and then send it to yourself at a couple of different places (Yahoo, Gmail, etc.) to make sure it appears like you would like.
Just like you probably already do with email subject lines you should test the variations of the snippet as well. Send your email list test pools different variations of the snippet to see which one is getting the best open and click rates.
The bottom line is that not even a single line of the email message should be wasted. The aim should be all business and no nonsense text.
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