Does including a recipient's name in the 'To' field of an email improve deliverability?
Summary
What email marketers say8Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Reddit shares that while personalization is good, it's more about the content and subject line. Deliverability is more dependent on whether your IP/domain is blacklisted, you're properly authenticated, and people aren't marking you as spam.
Email marketer from Litmus explains that personalization beyond the name in the 'To' field can improve engagement. However, engagement indirectly helps with deliverability, but factors like authentication protocols, list hygiene, and sender reputation are more critical.
Email marketer from Sendinblue Blog responds that focusing on sender reputation and authentication methods will have the biggest impact on deliverability. Personalized content is more about boosting engagement, which indirectly helps deliverability, but the 'To' field name isn't key.
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that personalization and segmentation are effective ways to improve email marketing results, deliverability relies heavily on authentication, sender reputation, and clean email lists.
Email marketer from StackOverflow mentions that focusing on authentication, avoiding spam words, and maintaining a good sender reputation will help more with deliverability than using names in the 'To' field.
Email marketer from HubSpot Blog shares that including the recipient's name in the 'To' field is a basic personalization tactic. While it can make the email feel more personal, its direct impact on deliverability is minimal. Better deliverability comes from maintaining a clean email list and sending relevant content.
Email marketer from Email on Acid shares that sender authentication (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC) and maintaining a clean email list are more important for deliverability than adding a name to the 'To' field.
Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog explains that personalization, including using the recipient's name, can improve engagement, but it doesn't directly impact deliverability. Deliverability depends on factors like sender reputation, authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and avoiding spam triggers.
What the experts say3Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks shares his opinion that adding recipient names will probably not affect delivery decisions directly (rather than via possible engagement changes), at any relevant recipients ISP.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that including the full name in the To: header likely won't significantly benefit deliverability but is unlikely to hurt it either. He suggests that A/B testing could be done to determine if there is an impact on your audience.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that including the name in the To: field is a marketing decision and does not directly affect deliverability as much as authentication and engagement do. Deliverability is improved by proper sender authentication practices, good list hygiene, and sending content that recipients want.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Microsoft shares that authentication, sender reputation, list hygiene, and content quality are critical for deliverability to Outlook.com. Personalization is mentioned as a way to increase engagement, but not as a direct factor in reaching the inbox.
Documentation from SparkPost explains that Authentication records such as SPF and DKIM help to reduce spam and improve deliverability rates
Documentation from Google explains that focusing on authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), maintaining a good sender reputation, and avoiding spam complaints are key. Including the recipient's name in the 'To' field is not mentioned as a significant factor in deliverability.
Documentation from RFC Editor explains the technicalities of email header syntax, noting that while the 'To' field can contain a display name (e.g., "John Doe <john.doe@example.com>"), its primary purpose is for routing. Deliverability is influenced by other factors managed by mail servers.