You’re probably familiar with the little text at the top of email messages directing people to “Click here to view this email as a web page”. Here are common phrases that I’ve seen lately:
- Trouble viewing this message? Click here to see it as a web page.
- If you’re having trouble reading this message, read the online version.
- Are you having difficulty viewing our HTML email? View the online version.
- (Many of them add “Do not reply to this message”, which I find to be rather unfriendly.)
Do you notice a theme with all of the above? They start out with a negative: trouble, difficulty, do not.
This is your first impression, especially on a Blackberry or similar device, why not use this tiny little text to put your best foot forward? Today I received a wonderfully different option in my personal email from KnitPicks: “Can’t see our gorgeous images? Click here.”
What a great tone! And guess what… it worked!
So here’s your Friday Quick Tip: Why not take a little time today and update your current email headers or create some new ones with an intriguing, welcoming, fun tone? These headers are often your very first impression to recipients, so get creative and use this valuable real estate wisely.
Posted in: Email Marketing
Excellent tip! However, using “click here” is not a best practice I believe. Perhaps another suggestion would be “View this e-mail with our gorgeous images”. I would suggest Eloqua’s marketing team do an A/B test.
@chadhorenfeldt
Chad – you’re absolutely right… “click here” is not a best practice. I like your example much better – it’s more action-oriented. And I really like the idea of an A/B test!
Was just wondering how long you have been online and doing this sort of stuff? and what else do you do?