110: Optimize your sender name so your emails get opened
Recently, I almost marked an email as spam—from someone I know and follow!
Why? Because her name wasn’t in the sender section.
I had no idea it was from her and thought it was spam, which could have hurt her deliverability.
I don’t want this to happen to you! In this episode of ill communication, I’m diving into the importance of putting thought and strategy into your Sender Name.
I’m sharing key do’s and don’ts to help you ensure your emails land where they belong—in your subscribers' inboxes with a Sender Name they know and trust.
Topics We Cover in This Episode:
The three levers that impact your open rates
When to change your Sender Name and when to use your business name
How you can customize your Sender Name to show your personality
One important “don’t” when creating your Sender Name
Remember, you're a human writing an email or a letter to another human. When someone sees your name in their inbox, you want them to open it because they know, like, and trust you. So send great emails, send them as often as you can, and make them high quality, delightful, and valuable.
If you need help with writing emails people want to open and read, reach out for help. DM me on social media, or contact me: https://www.kimkiel.com/contact-kim.
I'd love to know what your biggest copywriting or marketing questions are. What have you been struggling with? Or do you want to pick my brain about a copywriting strategy or a tactic? I'm starting a new Ask Me Anything segment here on the pod. If you have a burning question about business, copywriting, or marketing, or if you want to make an episode suggestion, I'm all ears. Here are two ways you can pick my brain:
Visit https://www.speakpipe.com/kimkiel to record a voice note with your question or suggestion. Include your name, email, and background info for context.
Send me a text. When you click this link, it’ll open up your text messenger, where you can text your question directly to me. Leave all the weird numbers that pop up and add your name and email or mobile number so I can keep in touch.
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[00:00:03] Speaker1: Welcome to ill communication, copywriting tips and sales strategies for small business. I'm your host, Kim Kiel. I'm a copy coach, sales strategist, and direct response copywriter. It's my mission to help women leaders and changemakers amplify their voices through copy. It's why I'm dishing out all the juicy tips, writing prompts, and sales formulas to help you generate more leads, book more calls, and get more high value clients on repeat. Sounds pretty good. It's time to ditch the overwhelm you might be feeling and find confidence in your copywriting so you can get your message out there and attract more soulmate clients. Let's get started. Hello, hello and welcome back to this episode of the Ill Communication Podcast. We are at episode 110 and I am officially back in the saddle recording fresh content for you. Over the next few weeks I had a great summer. It was honestly busier than I expected, so I was so glad that I had actually built in some of those replay episodes for you. If you have an opinion on those replay episodes, don't hold back. Feel free to share what you thought of them. But anyways, we are back at her now with episode 110 and I want to tell you about something so strange that happened in my inbox the other day. I opened my inbox and saw an email from a name I had never seen before, and it triggered a red flag. My internal spam alert went off. The sender name was tips desk tips, tips desk. I don't ever remember signing up for something from tips desk.
[00:01:59] Speaker1: I didn't even know what this was. And then I wondered, well, maybe. Was it some kind of help desk for a software service I subscribed to? So before I immediately unsubscribed and marked the email as spam, I decided to cautiously open the email to see what it was about. And then I got another red flag. The top of the email was formatted like a marketing newsletter. It had a header image with a newsletter name, but again, it was nothing I remember signing up for. And then I started to scroll and got another red flag and there was no personalized salutation, no Dear Kim or Hi Kim. And while I still couldn't tell who this email was from, I could tell it was a marketer. So my curiosity caused me to continue to scroll and scroll and scroll. And it wasn't until I got to the end of the email that I realized who the heck this email was from. And it turned out to be from a marketing expert I really admire. It's someone who I struck up a personal relationship with inside of a program we were both participants in, and I've even invited her into the Joy of Copy Club to provide a guest expert training on one of her areas of expertise. So I was so shocked to see her name and photo at the bottom of the email because her sender name tips desk in no way reflected her or her brand. I'm inclined to think it was a glitch or simple human error that replaced her sender name with tips desk.
[00:03:33] Speaker1: And here's the thing. I was seconds from marking her email as spam, which would have degraded her sender reputation, which in turn would damage her deliverability, especially if other people marked the email as spam or hit unsubscribe. And the scenario is a great reminder of the importance of putting thought and strategy into your email sender name. When you want to boost open rates and engagement rates, you have three levers from the inbox your subject line, your preview line, and your sender name. But in fact, your sender name is the most critical element, more so than your subject line. A study by litmus found that the first thing people look at in their inbox, when deciding whether or not they should open an email is not the subject line, it's the sender name. In fact, 42% of respondents said that the sender name was the most influential reason why they open an email, compared with 34% who said subject line and 24% who said preview line influences. They're opening an email, which underscores why you want to think critically about what name you put into the sender name or from line in the emails you send. So here are a few do's and don'ts for optimizing your email sender name. Do include your business name, especially if you have a popular brand like Apple or Disney or ConvertKit. Even if you're not a famous brand like that, use your business name. Because if we recognize and trust your business, we will open your emails.
[00:05:15] Speaker1: Do include a first name with your business name if it makes sense. Like Caitlin from ConvertKit. My emails are sent from Kim Kilcup. It has my name and also my business name. Amy Porterfield sends her emails from Amy Porterfield. Do change your sender name. If you have a bigger brand and you're sending different kinds of emails. For example, Thrive Cart sends educational emails filled with tips and how tos, and they send transactional emails and software update emails. The educational tip emails come from Aaron at Thrive Cart and software updates come from Thrive Cart Team. So when I get those emails in my inbox, I know what to expect when I'm opening those emails. If you have more complex marketing, a bigger brand and send different kinds of emails, then it might make sense to have some emails coming from you and others coming from your team or even your business name support. But depending on the context of your email, you can even switch up your name for a promo or simply to let your personality shine. One of my favorite voice copywriters and a mentor of mine, Justin Blackmon, does this in his emails. He has updated his sender name to Justin Kwakman and Justin Go Black Montoyo, which was a play on Princess Bride, which he referenced in the email. And it was super fun and delightful. I think professional services like dentists and law offices or financial advisors advisers could be a lot more friendly and creative with their sender name.
[00:06:55] Speaker1: If I get an email from investors Group Financial Partners, womp womp. I'm probably not going to be too excited to open that. But if it showed up in my inbox as Bruce, your financial guy, guess what? I'm going to get a little burst of delight in connection just by seeing that name in my inbox, and I'd probably also be more likely to open an email from Debbie, your favorite dentist, if it popped in. Another marketer I love is Ash Abbajay. She has a very bold and rebellious brand, and her sender name for the longest time has been yo! It's ash, which matches her personality perfectly, but she recently changed her sender name and included emojis in it, so it really stands out in the inbox. Her sender name is now ash Amber rainbow emoji skull emoji at the middle Finger project. I'm curious about why she changed her sender name, but maybe it was just time for a refresh. But this leads me to an important. Don't with your sender name. Don't change your sender name too often, as this could trigger spam warnings and weaken your deliverability. Another. Don't. Don't use your email as the sender name. That's a major red flag for the spam filters. If you look inside your spam folder, you'll see what I mean, which leaves me with a final do do look at your inbox and pay attention to your email behaviors. What do you notice first when you receive an email? Which sender names stand out in your inbox and which ones land in your spam folder? Pay attention to how the bigger brands and names handle their sender name.
[00:08:37] Speaker1: Those brands are constantly testing open rates and engagement, so if you see a bigger brand doing something new or different, you should probably pay attention. I'm also going to drop a link to two podcast episodes into the show. Notes. These are part one and part two episodes, all about boosting your open rates and engagement. Because once you've nailed your sender name, you'll want to optimize your subject and preview line too. And finally, do remember you're a human writing an email or a letter to another human. When your reader sees dozens and dozens or even hundreds of emails in their inbox every day, you want your email to stand out like a friendly handwritten letter in an inbox full of bills. You want to associate your name and your brand with delightful, helpful and enjoyable emails. When someone sees your name in their inbox, you want them to open it because they know, like, and trust you. So send great emails, send them as often as you can, and make them high quality, delightful, and valuable. And if you need help with that, Hit me up! I have so many resources, templates, prompts, and ways to support you to write and send incredible emails. People want to open, want to read, and want to buy from. That's it for this episode of the Ill Communication podcast. I will see you right back here next week.
[00:10:08] Speaker1: Hey my sweet friend, I want to thank you for joining me today. I just love creating and sharing content to make your business, and especially writing for your business, a little bit easier. So I'd love to know what your biggest copywriting or marketing questions are. What have you been struggling with? Or do you want to pick my brain about a copywriting strategy or a tactic? I'm starting a new Ask Me Anything segment here on the pod. If you have a burning question about business, copywriting or marketing, or if you want to make an episode suggestion, I'm all ears. You can participate in two ways. Number one visit speakpipe.com/kim Keel. There you'll be able to record a voice note with your question or suggestion. Make sure you include your name and your email and maybe a little background info for context. Number two, you can send me a text in the show notes of this episode. You'll see a link to text me a question or comment. When you click that link, it'll open up your text messenger where you can text me your question directly. Make sure you leave all the weird numbers that pop up, and please add your name and email address or mobile number so I can keep in touch. I can't wait to create these. Ask me anything or pick my brain episode so please play along. I can't wait to help you solve whatever's blocking you from getting your message out there. Find the links to ask me your questions in the show notes.
Resources Mentioned
Episode 10 & 11: Increase your email open rates with these proven strategies:
Additional Resources
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