How to Change Your E-Mail From Line for Each Marketing Campaign

Changing your e-mail From line is usually a matter of typing sender information in your e-mail application’s account options, but e-mail marketing providers (EMPs) allow you to create unique header information for each specific e-mail campaign during the campaign-creation process.

Credit: Courtesy of Constant Contact

Ask yourself how your audience is most likely to recognize you, and then craft your From line to include that information.

Including the following information in your headers keeps your e-mails familiar to your audience:

• Your name: If you’re the only employee for your business or if your audience is most likely to identify with you personally rather than with your business name, use your name.

• The name of your business: If your audience is likely to recognize the name of your business but won’t necessarily know you by name, use your business name. If your business commonly uses initials instead of spelling out the entire business name, make sure that your audience recognizes the abbreviation.

  For example, if your business is Acme Balloon Consultants, Inc., don’t place ABCI in your From line unless you are sure that your audience can identify you by your company’s initials.

• Your name and your business name: If you’re a personal representative of a larger well-known business or franchise, use your name along with your business name. For example, you might use your first name followed by your business name, as in

  Steve – Sunset Travel

• Representative name: If you have multiple representatives in your business who your customers and prospects know by name, divide your e-mail addresses into separate lists by representative and use the most familiar representative’s name for each e-mail list.

• Your location: If you’re part of a large franchise or have multiple locations and your audience isn’t likely to recognize the names of individuals within your organization, use geography.

• Your website domain: If your audience is more likely to recognize your website domain name over your name or your business name, use your domain name. If your domain uses an abbreviation, initials, or an alternate spelling of your entire business name, you might still want to use your business’s full name in the From line for brand clarity.

• Your e-mail address: In addition to making sure that your From line identifies you and your business, you can create an e-mail address that serves as your From address. Create an e-mail address that identifies who you are and what you’re sending. Here are some examples:

  • If you’re sending a newsletter and your audience recognizes your personal name: Send your e-mail newsletter by using

        [email protected]

  • If you’re sending coupons and your audience recognizes your business name: Send your e-mail coupons by using

        [email protected]

  • If you’re sending an event invitation and your audience recognizes a personal representative as well as your business name: Send your e-mail invitation by using

        event_invitation@<i>repname</i>.<i>businessname</i>.com

  • If you’re sending an announcement and your audience recognizes your website’s domain name: Send your e-mail announcement by using

        announcement@<i>yourdomain</i>.com

Current CAN-SPAM laws prohibit you from misrepresenting your From line and your From address. Make sure that the information in your From line honestly represents you and your business, and also make sure that you send your e-mails from a real, working e-mail address. Reputable EMPs require you to send e-mails from a verified e-mail address to ensure that your e-mails are CAN-SPAM–compliant.