People often ask me if the “from” field and the signature line in their emails should be their company name or their personal name.

With a couple of notable exceptions, I believe that emails should always come from the individual and association with their company should be included but it should be “light touch”.

The notable exception is if you are a big, well-known brand such as…
Apple
Walmart
Sony
…where there is no single face to the company (Virgin Atlantic could be an exception here).

But for the majority of businesses, communication should appear to come directly from the point of contact or authority that is recognised by the recipient because at the end of the day,

People buy People!

The Internet can be impersonal and it can isolate communication between individuals when trying to contact a large base all at once. Social media is changing that, but it’s still impersonal.

So to personalise it, you need to have a “voice” and “character”. Both of these need to be associated with a person and aligned to your brand values.

If you want to get the most return from your email marketing, make sure that you’re establishing yourself as a resonant authority with a voice that people within your audience want to listen to and relate with.

Don’t force becoming a faceless company or brand. This is not what branding is about, try to align yourself as a real human being who people can connect with and learn from.

When they can connect to you as a person, you’ll get much higher results with your email marketing campaigns.

So the short answer is:

Your Emails Should Come From YOU!

People want to do business with people, so be “that person” within your market. An as a final closing note, always ask for a response. This proves that you care about your audience and want to hear their point of view and other problems. One of my best methods of customer research is in asking for responses. The more you ask the better your understanding will become.

Have you had a situation where this is true or opposite? I am interested in hearing your views on this and other topics. Please comment below.

Follow Onur Ibrahimon LinkedIn for more thoughts on brand strategy and communications.