Who do you set as the sender of emails?

[Anonymous]

We go back and forth on how we feel about who the sender should be on marketing emails. Here's what we've run into:

Marketing emails (new content, etc) with LEAD OWNER (usually sales rep or BDR) as the sender:

Pros

• All replies go straight to the rep
• More likely to be opened since email recipient is familiar with sender

Cons

• Sometimes awkward timing if an automated marketing email is sent out right after the sales rep just spoke to the prospect (this is a big one)
• Employee churn often makes this tricky, as we need to shift ownership each time

Marketing emails with MARKETING CONTACT (usually me) as the sender:

Pros

• Streamlines/simplifies the process
• No awkward timing issue!

Cons

• Replies all go to me, time-consuming to reply

I'd also like to note that the content of the emails are usually text-based, with no graphics, so it looks like a person wrote it. What do you guys usually do in these instances? Who is the main sender of your marketing emails? Lead/account owner? Specific user? Generic email inbox (marketing@company.com)?

[Joe_Reitz]

You could still have the replies go back to the lead owner. From address is an independent field.

That said, ours all come from a super interesting mailbox (company name), and replies for marketing emails go into the same box in case there are required follow up actions.

[Anonymous]

I've found that emails from a person have a better open rate than those with a company mailbox. So regardless of your approach, the From: field should have a person's name--ideally the lead or account owner.

However, being responsible for data quality, I want all the bounce backs, because they're likely to contain unsubscribes and other "I no longer work here" messages.  But I also don't want them going to my personal inbox, either, for the reason you cite. 

My solution is to use tokens for the From field, but the general email address in the From Email and Reply To Email fields.

Instead of:

From: Dholakia Dance Studios
From Email:  email@sanjaycantdance.com

Reply to Email: email@sanjaycantdance.com

Use something like this:

From: {{lead.Lead Owner First Name}} {{lead.Lead Owner Last Name}}

From Email:  email@sanjaycantdance.com

Reply to Email: email@sanjaycantdance.com

I think this is what Joe was suggesting.

The other approach is to invent a name and have your email admin create an account for that name.

Whatever you do, check the email inbox frequently and take action on the messages that require it--departed employees, unsubscribe requests, forward to the rep, etc.

As a bonus, you can use something like Lead Gnome to grab new leads out of the bouncebacks--easy if you collect them all in one email box.

[Joe_Reitz]

Wow, that's cold, Steve. But an excellent illustration, nonetheless! (and I agree completely, esp. on the higher open rates for emails that appear to be from humans).

I loved it.

Unless you're reading, Sanjay. In which case, wow, that guy's got some nerve, amiright?

[Anonymous]

To be fair, he did challenge us to use hashtag #sanjaycantdance during his

Day 2 keynote.

So I should get points for both paying attention and creativity by using it

as a URL.

--

*Steve Susina : *Marketing Director

*T: *312.564.3196 *M: *630.660.3595

ssusina@lyonscg.com

LYONSCG

eCommerce Realized!

20 North Wacker Drive, Suite 1750

Chicago, IL 60606

http://www.lyonscg.com

On Tue, May 17, 2016 at 4:59 PM, Joe Reitz <marketingnation@marketo.com>

[Geoff_Krajeski1]

And that domain is actually still available?!  I'm amazed.