You know, up until yesterday, I was 100% sure of the answer to this question. However, after the conversation that took place over at the good old Warrior Forum (my home away from home) I am not as 100% sure as I used to be. I think ultimately what it will come down to is testing and seeing what works better for YOUR list. But I digress. The question is, should you personally address your list members in your emails or not? Good question. Let’s take a look at some of the opinions.

There are two sides to this coin, and both are pretty fuzzy now that I’m looking at them in a new light. The one side is where you want to get as personal as you can with the prospect so that they feel like they know you. Personally, I hate getting those emails that say “Dear Sir or Madam” or “Dear Subscriber.” They make me feel like I’m a number. I much more prefer to be addressed by my first name. I don’t even like “Mr. Wagenheim” as that is way too formal for me.

But then there are those folks who don’t look at it like that. They see their name in the address of the email, such as “Hi Steve” and the first thing they think is, “Oh please, I’m not stupid. I know this is an autoresponder and that’s just some code. You don’t know who I am, nor do you care. Don’t insult me by trying to make me think this is a personal email.” Yes, it’s true. Some people get offended by these emails. If you don’t believe me, go read that Warrior Forum post.

Okay, so the question is, what’s the answer? If you have people that feel both ways about it, you’re not going to please both camps. You’ll make one happy, but you’ll tick off the other. If you’re thinking that there is an easy answer to this dilemma, forget it. There isn’t. One thing you can try doing, something one marketer I now has always done, is use no greeting at all. Just get right into what you want to say. You won’t be offending those who hate the phony “Hi Steve” and you won’t totally tick off those who hate the “Dear Subscriber” nonsense. They’ll be so caught up in the message being given to them straight that they won’t notice.

Personally, I have always addressed people by their first name because I like to get as personal as I can. I haven’t had any direct complaints but who knows? Maybe I’m ticking off a lot of people and don’t even know it. Ultimately, I’m going to have to start split testing a personal address with none at all and see which works better. I may find out there is no difference at all.

But I won’t know until I give it a whirl.

I suggest you do the same.

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