6 minute read time
Announcing a Change of Company Details to Your Customers
This article was first published in November 2019, and updated April 2020.
Are you looking towards changing your company name? Or has a client’s recent acquisition meant a revision of their branding?
Communicating a change of name, brand, email address, and the like has to be one of the most important items on the “to-do” list during a company transition.
How Do You Write an Announcement Letter (That’s Actually Effective)?
Read on to learn about some key points for writing good announcement letters and to see a company announcement email template.
What is an announcement letter? Threadbird provides an excellent company announcement email template.
Threadbird Printing (formerly Storenvy Printing) ticked most of the necessary boxes when it announced its rebrand to their subscribers:
From: Storenvy <printing[at]storenvy.com>
Subject: Storenvy Printing is now Threadbird Printing
There are a couple of things we love about this newsletter. First of all, you don’t even have to open it to see that Storenvy Printing is now called Threadbird Printing. The subject line says it all. This is excellent for busy, inbox-overloaded subscribers who might not have time to actually open (or keep) what they might assume is another marketing message.
And the sender name and domain is still the established and recognized company brand. Despite the temptation to quickly switch over to the new “From:” line, Threadbird Printing recognizes that their new name may not be familiar to their customers. Using the old sender name gives customers a chance to associate both Storenvy Printing and Threadbird Printing as one and the same company prior to sending under the new Threadbird banner.
If you’re planning this kind of change, send a second company email address change announcement after subscribers have had a chance to process your first announcement email.
Threadbird Printing’s whole campaign is about this change of details and clearly features both the old and new branding. The newsletter reassures readers that they’re “the same great people with the same great service,” informs them that they have a new website, and even incentivizes subscribers to drop by and check out their sale. So, next time they send a campaign, Threadbird Printing’s look and feel shouldn’t come as a shock to most subscribers.
What about the folks who don’t get this message?
Despite utilizing these great strategies, it is very possible that future newsletters featuring the new branding could trigger spam complaints from subscribers who didn’t receive or remember this company name change announcement email. One way that Threadbird Printing can avoid such complaints is to prompt subscribers to opt-in/sign up for the new, rebranded newsletter. Another approach is to feature a prominent permission reminder along the lines of:
“You are receiving this email newsletter because you are a customer of Threadbird Printing (formerly Storenvy Printing), and/or you signed up for our email newsletters on our site.”
Making mention of the previous brand in subsequent campaigns can minimize any confusion to subscribers who may have missed the original company email address change announcement.
Threadbird Printing can also suggest that subscribers add their new “From:” email address to their email clients’ whitelist, safe sender’s list, or similar. This will ensure that, when the new newsletters start coming through, they won’t get sent to the spam folder on the spot.
Many thanks to Scott Anderson at Threadbird Printing for the excellent email newsletter and Davida for giving us the heads up on Threadbird’s work.
How do you write an announcement letter?
Unfortunately, we don’t have one clear answer to this question, because the same company announcement email template wouldn’t work for every type of informational email. Are you announcing company detail changes, new products, promotions, new locations, or something else?
The following are some of the best practices for writing an announcement email that deals with new company details such as a name change or rebranding.
Don’t be coy in your subject line.
Now isn’t the time to build suspense or make readers guess what’s inside your email. Subject lines like “something HUGE is coming” might seem cute and exciting, but, with something as serious as a name change, it’s important that you make every effort for transparency and vocalizing your changes.
Make your subscribers feel included.
Some people are simply averse to change, especially your loyal customers. You’ve worked hard to establish trust and change makes people feel uneasy.
Write conversational copy that thanks your loyal customers and makes them feel like they’re part of the process. Simple phrases like “we wouldn’t have made it this far without your support” can go a long way.
Play up your new branding.
Brand familiarity is crucial for building customer attachment and trust. Any type of massive branding overhaul can mean starting from scratch in many ways. Immerse your subscribers in your new branding right away in your announcement email so they can familiarize themselves with your makeover.
Send multiple emails from a familiar address.
Inboxes are crowded, so there’s a chance many of your loyal subscribers might not even see your initial company name change announcement email. Create a segment of subscribers who didn’t open your first announcement email and target them with another campaign.
How do you write an effective announcement letter using email marketing?
These company announcement email template examples show us how it’s done.
Subject Line: We’ve got a new lewk
Why we love it:
- The subject line cuts right to the chase.
- The tone is conversational and inviting.
- It clearly explains the changes and provides the subscriber with sample content.
Source: Really Good Emails
Subject Line: Welcome to the New Lucent Health
Why we love it:
- The tone is warm and personable.
- It clearly explains the company-wide changes.
- It contains a personal message from the CEO.
Source: Pinterest
Wrap up
Put yourself in your subscribers’ shoes. What do you think they would want to know and how can you get that across through email? Writing an announcement email isn’t necessarily difficult, but you should pay special attention to all the details.
Need some more ideas for designing and writing an announcement email? Check out these templates and tips to get your emails opened and read.
