What a brand name is to a product, sender name is to an email. It helps with things like recognition, familiarity, and clarity. An email sender name can be a conversation starter or a spoiler for the content inside.
You might have often been forced to ponder about two things with regards to the email sender name.
- What name should I use?
- Why didn’t my user name work?
So let’s dive deep and learn about the best practices for crafting an efficient sender name.
Brand name: the first key to recognition
Your brand name should be the first and most obvious sender name that you choose. That’s because your subscribers will always identify the brand first, followed by the products and services being provided.
For example, suppose that Zylker is a brand that is known for food and beverages. All marketing emails from the company start off with Zylker as the sender name to make the clearest impression on the customer base.
Use the brand name as the sender name while sending out initial emails to new subscribers. After building some familiarity, you can increase brand identity by including the name of the person sending the email, along with the brand. This method will work well for followup emails.
Add the human name
Recipients usually take a second or two to decide whether to open an email or ignore it. Sometimes putting the sender’s name in the most obvious place can work wonders by creating an impression of trustworthiness.
You might often send emails to leads imported from your CRM, where you are the lead owner. The regularity of your emails has made your leads familiar with your name, so you can now provide your name along with the brand name while sending out emails to these leads.
In the example of Zylker, suppose that a sales rep, John, emails his contacts regularly about new promotions. The marketing emails that he sends out can have the sender name John from Zylker.
‘No reply’ can be trouble
Email is a medium of communication where you should always keep the door open for feedback or replies. Using ‘no reply’ as the sender name for your email will shut that door.
Recipients will typically engage with an email only when the content is relevant and there is a means for providing feedback. A proper sender name clarifies the email’s purpose for the recipient, while ‘no reply’ can quash the recipient’s interest. You’ll generate better engagement by allowing your recipients to open the email and decide for themselves if they wish to reply.
As an email marketer, you want to be identified and liked, not excluded from the recipients’ inbox. Stop using ‘no reply’ as your sender name and see the difference.
Create specificity based on email type
You can customize your sender name by clarifying the purpose of your email. Let your email recipient know whether it’s a sales followup, technical assistance, or a weekly newsletter by associating the sender name with the appropriate department.
For example, blog@zylker.com, support@zylker.com, and newsletter@zylker.com all tell the recipients what kind of email they’re getting before they even look at the subject line.
You can also bring customization into your email workflows using sender names. For instance, a welcome series for new subscribers might have the sender name welcome@zylker.com, while a cart abandonment workflow can have the sender name yourcart@zylker.com.
This will help your email recipients use mail filters to classify each email and treat it with the required degree of importance.
A trustworthy domain is necessary
It’s not just recipients who want to know who your message is from. ISPs also check incoming emails to make sure that they come from valid sources and aren’t malicious.
You don’t want to send out emails from domains other than the one where your recipients subscribed. Doing so not only creates confusion, but also gets in the way of building recognition and trustworthiness.
Always use the actual brand domain and create a sender name that is associated with the original domain. Use domain authentication processes like DKIM so that the recipients’ ISPs can cross-check and make sure that the email sender name is associated with the proper domain.
Test to find out the best version
The trial-and-error method works in some situations, but in email marketing you need to establish trust as soon as possible, without errors. Sender name, along with subject line and content, can be tested using A/B testing to find the best version. This will even help you understand the way your sender name looks across different platforms and devices.
Conclusion
Engagement with your email campaign begins with the first impression. Your email recipients will paint a picture in their head as soon as they see the sender name, so use one that’s easily identifiable, optimizable, personalized, and trusted. Focusing on this area can help you eliminate the reasons why your recipients might choose not to engage.
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