What are best practices for sender email addresses in email marketing?

Summary

Best practices for sender email addresses in email marketing involve a combination of branding, technical configuration, and ongoing monitoring. The chosen address should reflect your brand identity, be recognizable to recipients, and align with the email's purpose. Authenticating your sending domain using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is crucial to prevent spoofing and improve deliverability. Actively monitor your sender reputation, blocklist status, and inbox placement rates. Avoid 'no-reply' addresses to foster engagement and monitor feedback loops to quickly address issues reported by recipients. When introducing new IP addresses, warm them up gradually. Test your email configuration and preview your emails across different clients and devices.

Key findings

  • Branding and Recognition: Use recognizable sender names and consistent addresses that align with your brand identity.
  • Email Authentication: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to authenticate your sending domain and prevent spoofing.
  • Sender Reputation: Actively monitor sender reputation, blocklist status, and inbox placement.
  • Engagement and Feedback: Avoid 'no-reply' addresses, foster engagement, and monitor feedback loops.
  • IP Warm-up: Warm up new IP addresses gradually to prevent triggering spam filters.
  • Testing and Previewing: Test email configuration and preview emails across different clients and devices.
  • Personalisation: Personalise 'From' addresses for different email types and audience segments to improve engagement.

Key considerations

  • Technical Configuration: Properly configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records and ensure their ongoing maintenance.
  • Monitoring and Remediation: Implement robust monitoring systems for sender reputation, blocklists, and inbox placement, and develop a plan for prompt remediation.
  • Audience Segmentation: Consider audience segmentation when choosing 'From' addresses to personalize the experience.
  • Brand Alignment: Carefully align the chosen sender address with the overall brand strategy and messaging.
  • Deliverability Testing: Testing is vital before sending campaigns.

What email marketers say
10Marketer opinions

Best practices for sender email addresses involve a blend of branding, deliverability, and user experience considerations. Experts recommend using recognizable sender names and consistent addresses to build trust and familiarity. Personalization through segmentation is key, tailoring 'From' addresses to different email types or audience segments. Avoid 'no-reply' addresses to encourage engagement, and actively monitor sender reputation. Before sending, test email configurations to ensure proper authentication and display across various clients. When introducing new IP addresses, warm them up gradually to prevent triggering spam filters. Authenticate your sending domain with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to prove your legitimacy.

Key opinions

  • Branding & Recognition: Use recognizable sender names and consistent addresses to build trust and familiarity with recipients.
  • Personalization: Personalize 'From' addresses for different email types and audience segments to improve engagement.
  • Engagement: Avoid 'no-reply' addresses to encourage recipient replies and demonstrate a willingness to engage.
  • Deliverability: Authenticate sending domains with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, and monitor sender reputation to maintain deliverability.
  • Testing: Test email configurations to ensure proper authentication and display across various email clients.

Key considerations

  • Address Type: Consider the branding implications of different address types (e.g., name@, newsletter@, offers@) and choose addresses that align with your brand and communication style.
  • Reputation Monitoring: Implement systems for monitoring your sender reputation and address any issues promptly.
  • IP Warm-up: If using new IP addresses, gradually warm them up to establish a positive sending reputation.
  • Technical Setup: Ensure that SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are correctly configured to authenticate your sending domain.
  • Inbox Placement: Monitor where your email lands - spam vs inbox - to determine effectiveness of sending practices
Marketer view

Email marketer from Litmus explains previewing your emails in different email clients. Ensure your 'From' address and sender name display correctly across various email clients and devices.

July 2024 - Litmus Blog
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks explains it is more of a branding question than a deliverability one. Suggests using name@ to differentiate mail streams, or addresses that clearly state the purpose (newsletter@, pr@). Recommends avoiding role addresses and being creative to improve user experience, giving examples such as offers@, sale@, or even got5onit@ for a cannabis store.

January 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from MailerLite Blog explains using a recognizable sender name (e.g., your name or company name) helps recipients quickly identify who the email is from, building trust and increasing open rates.

July 2022 - MailerLite Blog
Marketer view

Email marketer from EmailGeek Forum explains monitoring your sender reputation. Regularly check your sender score and IP reputation using tools like Sender Score or Google Postmaster Tools to identify and address deliverability issues.

January 2025 - EmailGeek Forum
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit explains personalizing 'From' addresses for different email types. For example, using 'support@' for support inquiries and 'newsletter@' for newsletter campaigns helps segment communications.

March 2022 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from Neil Patel Blog explains avoiding 'no-reply' addresses. Using a valid, monitored email address allows recipients to reply, fostering engagement and showing you value their feedback.

November 2023 - Neil Patel Blog
Marketer view

Email marketer from SuperOffice Blog explains segmenting your email lists and using different 'From' addresses for different segments to personalize the experience and improve engagement.

January 2023 - SuperOffice Blog
Marketer view

Email marketer from Sendinblue explains warming up new IP addresses gradually. Sending emails from a new IP address suddenly can trigger spam filters; gradually increase sending volume to build a positive reputation.

May 2023 - Sendinblue Blog
Marketer view

Email marketer from StackOverflow explains testing your email configuration. Use tools like Mail-Tester to check your email's authentication and content before sending to your audience.

April 2023 - Stack Overflow
Marketer view

Email marketer from HubSpot Blog explains using a consistent sender address helps subscribers easily recognize your emails in their inbox. This builds familiarity and makes them more likely to open your messages.

May 2024 - HubSpot Blog

What the experts say
4Expert opinions

Best practices for sender email addresses encompass both presentation and technical authentication. The choice of sender address should align with brand identity, while proper authentication using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is crucial to prevent spoofing and ensure deliverability. Monitoring blocklists and focusing on inbox placement, rather than just delivery, are also essential for maintaining a positive sender reputation.

Key opinions

  • Brand Presentation: The sender email address should align with how the sender wants to present their brand.
  • Authentication: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are essential for authenticating the sending domain and preventing spoofing.
  • Blocklist Monitoring: Regularly check if sending IPs or domains are listed on blocklists to promptly address deliverability issues.
  • Inbox Placement: Focus on inbox placement as an indicator of sender reputation, not just whether the email was delivered.

Key considerations

  • Brand Alignment: Carefully consider the sender address's impact on brand perception.
  • Technical Expertise: Ensure sufficient technical expertise to properly configure and maintain SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records.
  • Proactive Monitoring: Implement proactive monitoring of blocklists and inbox placement to identify and address deliverability issues promptly.
  • Remediation: Develop a plan for promptly addressing any blocklist listings or inbox placement issues.
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks shares that the choice of sender email address is up to the sender and depends on how they want to present themselves.

October 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Spamresource.com explains you must authenticate your sending domain with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. This proves that you are who you say you are and helps to prevent spoofing.

July 2024 - Spamresource.com
Expert view

Expert from Spamresource.com explains regularly checking if your sending IPs or domains are listed on any blocklists. Promptly address any listings to minimize deliverability impact.

November 2021 - Spamresource.com
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that, beyond deliverability, focus on inbox placement. Not all delivered email reaches the inbox; some may land in the spam folder. Monitor inbox placement rates to gauge sender reputation.

November 2023 - Word to the Wise

What the documentation says
4Technical articles

Best practices for sender email addresses from a technical perspective center on implementing email authentication protocols and feedback mechanisms. Setting up DKIM helps prevent email spoofing and ensures trust from recipient mail servers. SPF records prevent spammers from forging 'From' addresses, improving deliverability. DMARC builds upon SPF and DKIM to provide a policy for handling authentication failures. Finally, feedback loops (FBLs) enable senders to receive reports when recipients mark emails as spam, aiding in identifying and addressing sending practice issues.

Key findings

  • DKIM: DKIM helps prevent email spoofing and ensures recipient mail servers trust messages from your domain.
  • SPF: SPF records prevent spammers from forging your domain in the 'From' address.
  • DMARC: DMARC provides a policy for how recipient mail servers should handle messages that fail authentication checks, building upon SPF and DKIM.
  • FBLs: Feedback loops (FBLs) allow you to receive reports when recipients mark your emails as spam, helping you identify and address issues.

Key considerations

  • Technical Expertise: Proper implementation of DKIM, SPF, and DMARC requires technical expertise.
  • Ongoing Monitoring: Regularly monitor feedback loops (FBLs) and sender reputation to identify and address deliverability issues promptly.
  • Policy Enforcement: Define a clear DMARC policy to instruct recipient mail servers on how to handle authentication failures.
  • Authentication Alignment: Ensure that your DKIM and SPF records are properly aligned with your sending domain.
Technical article

Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains setting up DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) properly. DKIM helps prevent email spoofing and ensures that recipient mail servers trust messages originating from your domain.

April 2024 - Google Workspace Admin Help
Technical article

Documentation from RFC document explains implementing DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance). DMARC builds upon SPF and DKIM to provide a policy for how recipient mail servers should handle messages that fail authentication checks.

February 2022 - RFC Document
Technical article

Documentation from ReturnPath explains setting up feedback loops (FBLs). FBLs allow you to receive reports when recipients mark your emails as spam, helping you identify and address issues in your sending practices.

March 2024 - ReturnPath Documentation
Technical article

Documentation from Microsoft Learn explains setting up SPF (Sender Policy Framework) records. SPF helps prevent spammers from forging your domain in the 'From' address, improving deliverability.

January 2025 - Microsoft Learn