Most marketers put little thought into what “from address” they should use for their email campaigns. Crazy isn’t it? That would be like a direct mail marketer sending a catalog with no visible brand or address on the outside of the catalog.
Whereas much thought has been put into the “right side” of the from address (the part after the @ sign), not enough thought seems to go into the “left side” of the @ sign. This isn’t surprising, however, since the right side of the email is the domain name, which is the focus of email authentication. Maybe the whole issue here is that the “from address” is typically driven by the tech team and the marketer needs to pick his battles. However, I think its worth your time -- I’ve seen just a few tweaks to a “from address” make a big impact on response.
So how do you pick the best “from address” for your email campaigns? There is no hard and fast rule here, but there are some things to think about.
1. Match the brand, subsidiary or publication (e.g. - stockpicks@, dailynews@, tripspecials@). All of those are friendlier and more recognizable than a non-descriptive “info@” or a no-no “no-reply@”.
Take it from ExactTarget Senior Strategist, Nate Romance, who says “From what I've seen, most companies do well when the left side of the from address is as specific to the publication as possible, even getting down to the type of communication, like ealerts@, estatements@, balancenotification@.” Thanks Nate.
2. Echo the source or domain from where the address was captured. If it is for a specific opt-in or contest, consider communicating that in the “from address.” For example, if you captured opt-ins via a super-bowl contest you might try: superbowl@brand.com.
3. Consider repeating the domain exactly. That certainly helps remove any ambiguity as to whom the message is from. For example, brand@brand.com.
This may seem silly, but we tested on a few occasions and found it had a higher open rate and lower complaint rate than "info@."
Remember, this is your outside of the envelope. Use the space wisely.
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