Is this small detail costing you email subscribers?

I’m a lifelong learner. I love finding new ways of doing things both for my business and for personal development. I subscribe to a lot of newsletters. I get a lot of email. And sometimes my inbox can get a little nutty. So when I get an email from “Jenny Smythe” with no company name, my reaction is often Who the heck is Jenny Smythe? Then I proceed to ignore or delete.

I’m seeing this a lot in my inbox lately. I don’t have an explanation for why businesses are choosing to omit their business names from the FROM line of their email campaigns. Maybe it’s to appear more friendly and informal, and I get that. But if this little detail is costing you email subscribers, maybe you should reconsider it.

Email Marketing Should Build Trust

The beauty of email marketing is that it’s the one medium you have complete control over. You can’t control who sees your Facebook posts, your Tweets or your Instagram post — those are all subject to complex algorithms. You can’t even control who finds your website on Google. But you can control who gets your email campaigns. They drop in the inbox of every single person who has chosen to subscribe to your mailing list. They have subscribed because they want to hear from you; something about what you have to offer has resonated with them. So this is the perfect opportunity to start building a relationship that could generate leads for your business down the line. And the first step is to be open and honest about who you are and where you come from.

Help Your Subscribers Get to Know You

I choose to send my emails from Tamara at Puzzle Box Communications because I know that my business name is probably more memorable than my name, at least until we get to know each other. This is my way of helping out my subscribers and reminding them why I’m in their precious inbox and that they invited me in there. I respect their time and I don’t want to trick them into thinking I’m a friend or a prospect or anything other than who I am. If we get to know each other, that’s fantastic.

So help your new subscribers out. Remind them who you are and why you’re in their inbox right in the From field of your email campaigns. Even if your business name is your name, add something descriptive to the field such as “consulting” to give them a clue. This little detail could make a big difference.