In more official contexts, the practice is to use the Mr, Mrs, or Ms salutation; and then you’d wait for the recipient to reply with their first name.

First names are the standard in most industries these days. I know everyone was taught at some time that strangers should be addressed more formally than that, but in most industries, it’s perfectly acceptable to begin an email with “Hi Tommy”, but the point of this email marketing hack is that you should try to always place a first name of the recipient in the subject field of the email.

It has the result of making the email look more legit, personal, and friendly.

Building personal ties with your subscribers helps you create brand loyalty and a sense of trust—and consumers are more inclined to trust your company if they know it is run by actual, live people.