The hero section is the most important part of every email you send.

Most of your email is a waste of time. Only the top 20% matters, and here's why: assume nobody scrolls, because most people don't.

The hero is the top section of your email. It is the first thing that loads and the first thing people see before deciding whether to scroll at all. Most brands treat it as decoration, a pretty banner with a logo and a brand line. In reality it is the most important part of the entire email.

Here is the checklist we run for every single client. It is not complicated, and it generates multiple seven figures a year across our ecommerce clients.

1. One clear message, not three

It is easier for somebody to understand one point very well than to wade through three benefits crammed into one hero. Attention spans are TikTok-sized now: push three benefits and people remember none of them. One clear message in a digestible format sticks.

2. Nothing important below the fold

Headline, supporting line, and CTA all visible before any scrolling. If the offer or the hook of the email is hidden below the fold, your chances of earning the click go straight in the bin.

3. A reason to care, in their language

The benefit, not the feature. Or a controversial thought, or anything that gives them a reason to keep reading. If the hero only says what the product is, it has not given anyone a reason to care.

4. One obvious next step

One button, one action, and it should be the obvious next step after reading the headline. Two CTAs in a hero means neither one is the answer.

5. Text first, background second

Don't go crazy with background design. The text is the most important thing in the email and it has to be readable; the imagery is there to complete the text, not compete with it.

The ten-second audit

This is the first thing we rebuild for every brand we take on, because it moves revenue faster than anything else. You can see what that looks like across 77 real client emails in our design gallery, every one built hero-first.

Related: how we get AI to write hero copy that sounds like the brand, and the benchmark your whole program should be hitting.