# First-article headline as email preheader: -12% clicks

- Outcome: Lost
- Page type: Email (Lead-gen)
- Elements: Preheader
- Date shared: 2015-01
- Test run by: [MarketingExperiments](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/marketingexperiments/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingexperiments.com/email-marketing/preheaders-tested
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/me-newsletter-preheader-headline-teaser/

Using the newsletter's first article headline as the preheader cut clicks by 12% relative to the control, a statistically significant drop, with no significant change in opens. MarketingExperiments (MECLABS) ran and published the test on one of its email newsletters.

## Result

**-12% clicks**

- Clicks: -12% relative to the control, and the drop was statistically significant.
- Opens: no statistically significant difference.
- Verdict: a loss. The preheader did not change who opened, but it lowered how many acted on the email.

## Control

The preheader, the preview line shown under the subject line, pulled in general link text from the email template.

## Variant

The preheader used the headline of the newsletter's first article as a teaser.

## Why it likely lost (our reading)

- A single headline can narrow how readers see the email. The post suggests this headline framed the newsletter around one topic that didn't appeal to many readers.
- When the preheader promises one story, readers who don't care about it may skim past the rest of the issue.
- In the same post, a different preheader that spelled out value lifted clicks by 104%, which suggests the wording, not the presence of text, drives the effect.

## Caveats

The newsletter was not named and sample size and duration were not shared. The test dates from 2015, and how email apps show preheaders has changed since.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we write a preheader that sums up the value of the whole issue instead of teasing one article, then more readers will click because they see more reasons to engage.
- Primary metric: Click rate from delivered emails
- Guardrail: Open rate
- Guardrail: Unsubscribe rate
- Who should test it: Newsletters with several articles per issue and a mostly mobile audience, where the preheader is shown prominently. Single-topic emails may see little difference.

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Credit: MarketingExperiments ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/me-newsletter-preheader-headline-teaser/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.