The Email Wars

Recipients of business-to-business emails rarely open their messages - they use a preview pane - and don’t download images in emails, according to a new survey by email technology firm EmailLabs, which reports that 69 percent of B2B email newsletter subscribers frequently or always use a small preview pane, 49 percent look only at the first few lines of the preview pane to decide whether to continue reading the message; and 19 percent delete the email if insufficient information is displayed in the pane, reports DM News.

Now almost all of us that use a email client like Outlook, Lotus Notes, etc have a preview pane. This study is not bad news to me, or really new news. It actually helps me to know that I need to make sure that the call the action is above the fold, clear and compelling to take action. If done right, this is actally a good thing.