It should come to you as no surprise to you that we’re advocates for a personal touch.
Wherever possible we advise all our clients that personal connections are the best way to do business. Large-scale marketing has its place and is important, but the more personal it is, the better.
But how do you get the very best response to your marketing emails?
The great Drayton Bird once ran a marketing campaign for a well-known department store in the Kensington area of London. It was in the days before the store’s owner had been revealed to be a deeply unpleasant person – but that’s a different story for another time.
Through the Roof
To improve marketing response rates for that business, Mr Bird composed an email to be sent from ‘mohammed.al-fayed@harrods.com’. The replies wouldn’t go direct from the owner of course, but as far as anyone could tell, they did.
The response rate was through the roof.
We’ve seen a few emails lately from organisations purporting to come from their directors or founders, but the email is from a ‘no reply’ address. Nothing says ‘I don’t care about you’ more than, “no-reply@company.com” in your email marketing.
Doing The Bare Minimum…
Occasionally clients say to us, “oh just send it from admin@…” to which we always respond with a polite ‘no’. At the very least, have a reply-to address that’s an actual person. Even if it’s not the person sending the email.
But to get the absolute best response, make the email look and feel as though it’s coming from someone recognisable at the company. Make it so that your prospect can contact that person by reply.
We all know most people don’t write their own marketing content. However, if you make a little more effort than the next person, you’re far more likely to see success.
In a competitive market we’re bombarded by faceless messages on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, email, etc all the time. So it’s crucial that your email is as personal as possible.
When I Were Young
Back in the good old days, marketing was done by post. In those crazy days, it was well documented that the personalised letters would get the best response. 2026 is no different, in fact if anything, it’s even more important to be personal now than it was in 1997 when I first started working in the world of marketing.
And of course, if you need help getting your message right, get in touch!