Business Letter Salutation

Q: I’m sending an e-mail to a large list of contacts. My contacts are from various walks of life. Any ideas on how I can address it to the entire list without sounding too impersonal?

A: Without knowing more details about your list, it is difficult to suggest particulars. You know your contacts the best. I suggest to look for some common thread – whether it’s something about their lifestyle, hobby, jobs. How about the reason why they are interested in your products or services? Here’s a good explanation of various salutation ideas.

Another option is to omit the salutation altogether, as explained here (scroll down to #11). Or make it very informal, as explained in this short post from Persistence Unlimited.

Of course, the best and most personal salutation is the person’s name. “Dera Mary” sounds a lot better than “Dear Friend”, don’t you agree? But what if you don’t have names for all the people on your list? Here’s another great article that has a case study on use of three different types of salutations.

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