Have you ever viewed a press release with Auto Review enabled? If not, we strongly recommend that you do so. Most email recipients use some form of preview of their mailbox content.
Users rely on previews to decide which emails to open and which ones to delete. Therefore, the appearance of your message in this mode can decide its fate.
As a rule, no images appear in the prewiev format – the user sees only a few lines of text. If you are sending a simple text message, these will be the suggestions of your letter. But it is possible that you are sending an HTML message in MIME format. This means that HTML is accompanied by a text message for users who have disabled the ability to view HTML documents. In this case, the first lines of the MIME message text appear during autoview. Unfortunately, sometimes the technicians or automated email service that creates the text portion of the MIME does not take into account that some people can see it and just paste the code there.
Many senders – even the leading publishers of email newsletters – design their newsletters without thinking about automatic previews, let alone the needs of a mobile phone audience.
Filters
Modern mail programs use two features that complicate the task of PR professionals using mailing lists to distribute their releases. The first is the preview pane, a horizontal or vertical window that allows the user, without opening the letter itself, to see a small part of it in the form of a narrow strip or square. The second is the image blocking feature, which prevents images from being loaded without a specific user request.
A study by EmailLabs found that 9 out of 10 email readers have access to the preview pane, and 7 out of 10 admit they use it frequently or constantly.
Practical solution
1. Prefer horizontal format.
The same study found that 75% of users who have access to the preview pane use it in a horizontal format.
2. Start with text that grabs attention.
Instead of writing any administrative nonsense in the text version of the message, go straight to the point – a summary of the letter or article that the sender hopes to arouse interest in this letter. It is important to keep in mind that the most important part of an E-mail message is its upper left section, where the horizontal and vertical menu lines intersect.
3. Use CAPITAL LETTERS to grab the recipient’s attention.
At the same time, it is not recommended to write the subject line of letters in capital letters – this is due to the limitations existing in spam filters.
An example of correct prioritization:
SMS IN THE INSURANCE SERVICE
iNmotion Interactive has developed an interactive service for the clients of the insurance company “Standard-Reserve”
4. Use text symbols to draw attention.
Adding a character string is another way to grab the recipient’s attention and make a message stand out from many others.
Example:
***********************
Read in this issue
***********************
5. Review all your email templates for yourself.
6. Develop a sound imaging policy.
Use plain text and HTMl in your advertising updates, logos and brand messages; avoid using JPEG or GIF images that are downloaded from the Internet. This will allow you to convey key information even to those recipients whose email programs block images.