What to put in the "from" line?

Latest posts | Feed | By Mark Brownlow on July 25, 2007

Bryan Eisenberg just published an article on writing subject lines. Bryan and his colleagues are conversion and copywriting geniuses, so it's always worth reading their material.

It's great stuff, but his comment on from lines seems worthy of further analysis. Bryan writes:

...personalize the sender (you), too. How often do you see an email from "Company XYZ," and -- since you aren't ready to buy -- you just hit delete? However, that same message from "Fred Doolittle" makes it seem like it might be worthwhile reading.

I'd suggest it's more complicated than that.

First, if the recipient is discarding email just on seeing your company name, then you have worse problems than deciding what to put in your from line. Even if the recipient isn't ready to buy.

You should have built enough of a brand or email history to leave people at least curious as to what the email might contain. And the point does not apply, of course, to emails not designed to generate an immediate sale (such as most email newsletters.)

The decision to open an email is based on various factors but a real big one is recognition. Do they recognize the sender and/or email? And are the associations with that sender/email positive enough to elicit that open?

So ensuring that recognition is critical.

Here you have a choice. The sender could be the brand name, publication name, product name, service name, the business name or a real name.

In most cases, the first five are the ones most likely to be recognized. Not the real name. Email from strangers carries the scent of spam.

Now, Bryan's point about the personal connection is important. So how do you use a real name as the sender and get round the recognition problem?

If you're lucky, there may be a real name that works in terms of recognition.

It could be a brand-related personality, whether real or invented. So an NBA team could send email from the head coach.

Or it could be a contact within the business. Newsletters to B2B customers could come from their personal sales rep.

Where there's no recognized real name to use, you can also introduce one. Welcome messages and sign-up copy can prepare the recipient for the name...here's an example.

So far, so good. But let's take it a level further. If you use a real name, it has to make some kind of intrinsic sense to the recipient. Otherwise you set up an uncomfortable disconnect.

The contents need to match the sender.

If the sender is a brand name or business name, you have more or less carte blanche in terms of plausible content. If the sender is a real name, suggesting a personal connection, then there needs to be something human within the email, too.

An editorial note, a line of introduction. Anything that does not break the spell.

A single image of a product offer with a "buy now" link does not fit with a "personal" sender line.

So real names in the from line are great. Provided they are recognized and provided this is reflected in the email itself.

Let's remember, also, that from lines are not seen in isolation. Sure, some people make the "delete or open?" decision based mainly on the from line. But some do so using the subject line. And others take their cue from the combination of the two.

So the responsibility for ensuring recognition can be shared. If your subject line begins with the brand name, then you can more easily put an "unfamiliar" real name in the from line than if the subject line was not branded.

You will have to test some alternative subject/sender lines to find out the combination that works best for your audience. The results may be surprising.

In essence, this combination of subject and from line has to achieve three things...

It must let people recognize who the email is coming from
It must give them a reason to open
And it must match the contents of that email

If you have a powerful brand, promise or email history, recognition alone can drive the open. For the rest of us, it's the combination of recognition and good subject line copy that is needed.

More on writing subject lines | Tags: email marketing, subject lines, from lines, email copywriting

[This post brought to you by Campaigner Email Marketing]
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