I admit it, I’m horrible with names. To make matters worse, I attend a lot of conferences and trade shows where I meet a lot of people. To help people like me, event attendee’s are usually required to wear lanyards with a badge displaying the name of the person and company they work for in large print so I can read it at a glance.  Then, for each person I meet, I go through the drill of repeating their name over and over in my mind (or out loud if I can work it into a conversation without sounding too strange) so I won’t forget it. Five minutes later, I’m speaking with somebody new and the whole drill starts over again.

Next up, emails start coming in from people I just met and I’m trying to remember who they are and why I’m getting emails from them. So right now you’re asking yourself, "What does this have to do with my email program?"  Well, studies of how people manage their cluttered inboxes vary, but the results are the same: The first decision readers make is, “do I know this sender?”, and all other actions come next - whether to open, read, or mark the message as spam. Odds are, new subscribers to your emails haven’t taken the time to say your company name 10 times until it is drilled into their memory.  That's why it's important to help them remember you.

Five Places to Insert Your Brand

1) A friendly "from" address and email alias [ This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ]

The brand should exist in both places. Should you personalize the friendly from address with real names vs. the brand? User studies disagree whether this effectively increases open rates. My advice: test it on your own audience. But, first ask yourself, "Will my recipient more readily recognize a person's name or the brand name?"

"Lyris: Stefan Pollard" would be one way for me to send a prospecting email with this tactic. Notice how it follows the same tactic of the tradeshow lanyard badge.

2) Subject line

Put your brand name in the subject line whenever you can. You can't rely solely on the friendly "from" address tactics to help you get recognized in an overcrowded inbox. Read your subject line aloud, or write it on a blank page. Do you know whom the subject is promoting?

3) Value Statement

This is the first line of text (also called snippet text) readers see in some email clients, such as Gmail. A correctly worded snippet builds on your subject line and helps the reader decide whether to save the message or to read it immediately, but should also include your brand name for recognition benefits.

4) View-online link

Put your brand name here if you still haven't incorporated a value statement or table of contents as a preview-pane-friendly strategy. Here's a link makeover using an example from my own inbox:

• Before: If you can't see the images in this email, please click here to view this email through your Internet browser.
  
• After: If you can't see the images in this edition of Browning eBlast, please click here.

5) Brand name in text copy

Weave your brand name into the message copy in the first two or three sentences, and remind the reader how you know each other or where you met (i.e. at the tradeshow). Build on the connection you have with them to drive brand recognition and overcome the twitchy delete finger.

Ok, now that I’ve highlighted all the different places you can place your brand name in an email, take a quick peek at your last message and see how many times the reader would have repeated your name. Is it enough to remember you for next week?

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