The Constant Contact Guide to Email Marketing

Email From Lines: Do I Know You?

It’s the first question people ask themselves when an email arrives in their inbox. The answer is a binary yes or no. The From line is all about getting recipients past that first critical step to email success: getting to “yes.” Getting to “yes” is essential for email marketing, since “no” is usually demonstrated by an instant delete.

Your From line has two parts:

Part one is the “From Name,” such as “Eric Groves.”

Part two is the “From Address”—the email address, including the “@” such as, “[e-mail].”

Your recipients may see just the From Name, just the From Address, or both depending on their email client or reader as shown in Figure 10.1.

In order to get your recipients to recognize you, your email From line has to be familiar. How can you make sure your From line is familiar? The following six tips should help.

1. Be consistent. Recipients become familiar with your communications and look for your specific From Name and/or Address in their email inboxes. Consistency in your From Name and

Figure 10.1 The From line is visible to email readers and needs to be familiar.

Address will ensure that your email is recognized and opened. Once you have trained your readers to recognize a specific email address as being from your business or organization, resist all urges to change it over time. Recipients typically view ...