What candidates are on your From Name list?

Back in August, I spent a quick thirty minutes surrendering my email address to a handful of presidential hopefuls. I wasn’t picking sides, mind you – just hoping to learn something about email’s place in our political process.

Today’s observation happens to focus on Barack Obama‘s email strategy with From Names. Over the last eight months, his emails have appeared in my inbox with several different names in the From Line. Here are seven unique ones worth mentioning and some quick notes on why Obama’s marketing team chose to use ‘em instead of the standard ‘Barack Obama.’

Sen. Ted Kennedy - An endorsement from a member of one of the most prominent political families of all time.

Michelle Obama - A personal message from a family member.

John Kerry – An endorsement from a Senator and well known presidential candidate of recent years.

Jennifer Buck Wallace, Tennessee State Coordinator – A quick primer on early voting in *my* state.

Bob Tuke - A locally known name for folks in Tennessee (Former Chairman of my state’s Democratic Party) with a message that encouraged voting in the Tennessee primary.

David Plouffe, Campaign Manager – An insider’s message about the campaign.

Chelsea Kammerer, Ohio Field Director – A message about Obama’s status in a key primary state.

Even though many of these names are brands in their own right, there may be an application for your own From Name strategy. Take a few minutes to make sure yours is making the strongest connection possible with your audience. Would changing the From Name better suit the message or grab the attention of the particular audience you’re aiming to reach? For example, your emails to stockholders might come from the CEO while your newsletter sticks with the standard company name in the From line.

Of course, on the other hand, there’s a real benefit to keeping a consistent From Name,* and it’s possible that some readers overlooked emails from the Obama campaign because they lacked instant name recognition. Why not divide up your audience and do a little experimenting? Put your trusty default to the challenge by mixing it up. If you do, please let us know how it goes…

*In case you’re curious, the *From Email* was pretty consistent throughout the eight months. A few messages were from state-specific email addresses like tennessee@barackobama.com, for example. Our recommendation for you, though, is to stick with one address, since your audience may already have it stored in their address books.