Comments on: Email Sender Lines: Getting Creative + Testing

By: Philip Wilkinson

Philip Wilkinson — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:58:29 +0000

We’re just about to start using our email channel with existing customer base – wish us luck!!

By: Amrendra

Amrendra — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 07:15:09 +0000

Ya you have a better idea, It might work more effectively.

By: Michael Straker

Michael Straker — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:27:16 +0000

I’d agree on the square braces, divider lines, or other fairly subtle visuals to make the information easier to scan. But restraint is necessary. Just one or two many such devices can result in a decided spammy appearance.

By: DJ Waldow

DJ Waldow — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:21:02 +0000

Linda -

Great post. Love the topic. To play devil’s advocate (one of my favorite stances), who the heck is Sarah? If I don’t know Sarah, but I know myShape am I really more likely to open? What if I don’t know Sarah OR myShape. Uh oh!

This reminds me a bit of what MoveOn.org does. See Kyle’s example here: http://doteduguru.com/id659-subject-line-customization-too-much-like-spam.html

A similar – and equally healthy – debate is brewing on a recent Bronto Blog post (First Name Personalization – The Debate Continues): http://blog.bronto.com/2008/09/24/first-name-personalization-the-debate-continues/ – time for you to weigh in with a comment….

Cheers
dj

By: Educational Toys

Educational Toys — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:31:34 +0000

Another of your articles had the named block off in square braces. I think the visual help a lot, perhaps more than a person’s name. I get so much marketing email; make it stand out so it catches my eye visually, when I scan my inbox.

By: ZK@WebTrafficROI

ZK@WebTrafficROI — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:38:23 +0000

I ve had great success using a persons name in the sender line , it gives a much better response to your opening rate. Also you can create a brand personality around the name you use.

Vicky@movies-download-here.com does much better than admin@movies-download-here.com or newoffers@movies-download-here.com

By: daniel

daniel — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:16:30 +0000

nice article, Linda.

This is something I have tested in the past, but only on a single brand a couple of years ago.

Summary was: including a person’s name gave an uptick on week 1, but dropped below the standard (‘Brand Name’) over the following weeks. My best guess was there was a ‘novelty’ factor the first time around.

“One caveat with testing sender lines is consistency. If an existing subscriber is part of your test group, you erode the trust and recognition of the first sender line (control)”

You can test that too: Pick out a control group of existing subscribers for a few weeks, change up the sender name each time, see whether opens are higher/lower/same as your main group.

Again – great stuff! Have loved the last few posts.

daniel

By: Audio Bible

Audio Bible — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:59:59 +0000

I would be curious if ‘Rick at Audio Bibles’ had a better opening rate than just ‘Audio Bibles’ in the from field of an email.

Has anyone done any testing to see?

By: Vinay

Vinay — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:24:54 +0000

| is also good way to set EMail Sender Lines! Something I and most of staff use. I find it more clear… the divider “|” separates name and brand.. so makes the viewer clear and stands out better than at ..!

Using a simple symbol will def. help stand out of other sender anmes.. imo!

My Sender Name: Vinay | Juretic Media

Just my view! Cheers!