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Writer's pictureJohn Brandt

Big Brother’s deranged email copywriting “law” for ecom brands

“Big Brother is the guise in which the party chooses to exhibit itself to the world. His function is to act as a focusing point for love, fear, and reverence, emotions which are more easily felt toward an individual than an organization.”

— George Orwell, 1984


Without going all Ingsoc on you… Big Brother had a point.


Despite his evil socialistic ways, Big Brother understood something most ecom brands (who epitomize capitalism in my arrogant, yet correct opinion) don’t.


What did Big Brother understand?


His function.


In 1984, nobody had ever seen Big Brother. People have heard his voice. They followed his every command. But nobody ever saw him. For his function was to provide nothing more than a focusing point for emotions—because he understood that fellow humans bonded and connected with other humans more so than they did with organizations, brands, and corporations.


Here’s why I bring it up:


Ecom brands constantly forget this powerful persuasion secret. But it quite literally created the dystopian world George Orwell created in 1984. This lesson is so damn persuasive that it persuaded entire generations to fall, not only for the lies of Ingsoc, but for the ever-changing lies of Ingsoc.


Yet, whenever I conduct a Klaviyo audit for an ecom brand, I notice a common mistake:


Not always, but more often than not (or at least as often as not), ecom brands commit a silly little mistake which steals power and persuasion from their email marketing strategy before even writing one word of copy in an email itself.


This mistake?


Using their brand name as their “from name.”


I don’t know if it’s ego, blind stupidity, or simply believing every bad piece of advice you can pick up in a HubSpot email marketing course, but it’s an infection that runs deep through ecom. And to be fair to other industries, I’ve seen this infoproduct creators, financial gurus, and real estate bros commit this same mistake too.


But here’s the thing…


As Big Brother himself pointed out, emotions are more easily felt toward an individual than an organization. Since all buying decisions are emotional decisions that we try to rationalize with logic afterwards, it follows that sending emails “from” your brand name instead of your own name is like shooting your email strategy in the foot with the gun that’s supposed to start the race.


Yet, time and time again, you see ecom brands sending from their brand name instead of their name. It’s a simple trick, yes, but a potent one. Not only does it open an emotional connection between you and your subscribers, but this emotional connection is the literal foundation to creating relationships. These relationships, as Big Brother himself proves throughout 1984, can be the difference between a free world and a world embracing socialism against their best interest.


So, when you put a more capitalistic twist on this and give your email subscribers an opportunity to buy something that will work with their best interests instead of against them, don’t you think you could accomplish more material wealth from your email strategy by implementing this lesson from Big Brother.


Yeah, me too.


Not only do I think using your own name as the “from” name makes your strategy more effective, but I’ve backed this up with countless tests, dating back all the way from 2015.


Without exception, using your own name and appearing to your subscribers as a human rather than a brand, empowers your entire email strategy. It creates an upward trajectory of revenue, loyalty, and diehard supporters. And it’s mayhap the simplest and easiest tactic you can implement.


Sure, maybe you still want to attach your brand name, which I’m not opposed to so long as you include your name.


Moral of the story?


When it comes to “from” names…


[Name] from [Brand Name]


beats

[Brand Name]


every single time.


Try implementing this trick this week and see how it changes your open rates, click rates, and conversion rates.


Need more help boosting the revenue your email strategy brings in?


Hit reply, and let’s set up a quick call to make sure we’re a good fit.


John


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