You’ve been staring at that blank email for five minutes now. Should you write “Hi” or “Hello”? Is “Dear” too formal? Will “Hey” make you look unprofessional?

Stop right there.

You’re overthinking it. And while you’re sitting there debating greetings, your competitor just hit send and got the reply.

Email salutations matter—they set the tone and make the first impression. But picking the right one shouldn’t take five minutes. This guide shows you exactly what works, what doesn’t, and gives you a quick decision table so you can figure it out in 10 seconds and get back to running your business.

What is an email salutation?

An email salutation is the greeting at the start of your email.

Most people sit there wondering if “Hi” is too casual or if “Dear” sounds outdated.

Here’s the thing: your customers care whether your email solves their problem, not whether you wrote “Hi” or “Hello.” Get the salutation right for the situation, and you’re good.

This guide shows you what works in different business situations so you can stop second-guessing and send the email.

Where the salutation fits in your business email

Every business email has the same basic structure:

• Salutation – The greeting that opens your email (“Hi [Name]”)
• Email body – Your actual message
• Email sign off – How you close (“Kind regards,” “Thanks”)
• Professional email signature – Your name and contact information

The salutation sets the tone for the rest of the email parts that follow. If you open with a formal “Dear Mr. Smith,” then switch to a casual tone in your message, it feels off. If you start with “Hey!” but you’re pitching a corporate client, you’ve already lost credibility.

Your email greeting tells the recipient what kind of email this is and how they should read it. Match your salutation to your message, and the rest of your professional email will feel consistent.

Business salutations for customer communication

You don’t need to memorize 50 different greetings. You just need to know what works for the handful of email types you deal with every day—reaching out to customers, following up, responding to questions, working with vendors.

Here’s what to use and when.

Reaching out to new customers

This is cold emailing—your first contact with a potential customer. You don’t know them yet, and they don’t know you. Your salutation needs to feel professional enough to build trust, but friendly enough that they keep reading instead of hitting delete.

What works:

• “Hi [First Name],”
• “Hello [First Name],”

For example:

Following up with customers

You’ve already made contact with an initial email, maybe sent a quote or had a conversation. Now you’re checking in without being pushy. The right greeting for your follow-up emails keeps things warm and reminds them you’re a real person, not just another sales email they ignored.

What works:

• “Hi [Name],”
• “Hope you’re well, [Name]”
• No salutation at all if you’re in an active email thread

Here’s how that looks:

Email newsletters and customer updates

You’re sending updates, promotions, or valuable content to your email list—people who’ve signed up to hear from you. Your salutation needs to feel personal even though you’re emailing hundreds or thousands of people at once.

What works:

• “Hi [First Name],” (personalized using email variables)
• “Hello [First Name],”
• No salutation for very casual brands (jump straight into content)

Here’s what that might look like: 

The key difference: You’re not manually typing each person’s name. Tools like SiteGround’s Email Marketing use variables to automatically insert each recipient’s first name from your contact list—so “Hi [First Name]” becomes “Hi Sarah” for one person and “Hi David” for another, all in the same send.

Responding to inquiries

This is the ideal scenario—someone reached out to you. They’re already interested. Your salutation should acknowledge their message and make them feel like you’re ready to help, not brush them off with a generic response.

What works:

• “Hi [Name],”
• “Thanks for reaching out, [Name]”

Something like:

Networking and partnership email etiquette

You’re reaching out to someone who could become a referral partner, collaborator, or strategic connection. This isn’t about making a sale; it’s about starting a business relationship with the recipient. Your salutation should display professional email etiquette and show you’ve actually looked at their work and aren’t just mass-emailing everyone in your industry.

What works:

• “Hi [Name],”
• “Hi [Name]—I’ve been following your work on [X]”

This could look like: 

Email salutations for other business scenarios

Beyond customer emails, you’ve got vendors to contact, teams to update, and situations where you’re reaching out cold with no name. Here’s how to handle those.

Email messages to vendors and suppliers

You need something—a quote, a delivery update, a fix for a problem. These emails need to be professional and clear, because you’re asking someone to do work for you. The salutation sets the tone: respectful but efficient.

What works:

• “Hi [Name],”
• “Hello [Name],”

A typical request might be:

Group emails and team messages

You’re talking to multiple people at once—your team, a client’s team, or a group of stakeholders. The email salutation needs to include everyone without sounding generic or impersonal. Get it wrong and half the group tunes out before they even read your message.

What works:

• “Hi everyone,” (when addressing the whole company or department)
• “Hi team,” (for your direct team or project group)
• “Hi [team name],” (for specific teams: “Hi marketing team,” “Hi design team”)

Here’s a quick team update:

When you don’t know their name

This happens more than it should. You’re trying to reach someone at a company, but there’s no name on the website, no one listed in the contact form confirmation, nothing. 

Before you default to a generic greeting, actually try to find the name—check LinkedIn, the company’s About us page, the Contact us page, or just call and ask. When you use someone’s name, they’re way more likely to respond because it shows you made an effort.

If you’ve genuinely tried everything and still can’t find a name, here’s what works:

• “Hello,”
• “Hi there,”
• Department-specific: “Hi Support Team,” “Hi Sales Team,”

What doesn’t work:

• “To Whom It May Concern” (sounds like a legal document)
• “Dear Sir or Madam” (outdated and impersonal)

Try something like:

Now that you know what works, let’s talk about what doesn’t. These are the mistakes that make people delete your email before they even finish reading it.

Email salutation mistakes to avoid

Getting the salutation wrong won’t just make your email feel off; it can cost you the response entirely. 

Some mistakes signal you’re lazy, others make you look unprofessional, and a few are just careless errors that tank your credibility. Here’s what to watch out for.

Greetings that feel impersonal

When you send a generic email greeting, you’re telling the recipient they’re just another name on your list. They can tell you didn’t put in the effort, and if you didn’t care enough to add a personal touch to the opening, why should they care enough to respond?

What to avoid:

• “To Whom It May Concern” – This sounds like a legal notice, not business communication. It screams “I didn’t bother finding out who you are.”
• “Dear Sir or Madam” – Outdated and impersonal. No one uses this unless they’re sending a formal complaint.
• Generic “Hello” when you have their name – If you know their name and don’t use it, it feels like you’re mass-emailing and couldn’t be bothered to personalize.

People respond to emails that feel like they were written for them, not copied and pasted to a hundred other people. Personalization isn’t just an email marketing trend and extra effort—it’s the baseline.When you’re reaching out to a list of potential customers or sending regular updates to your audience, personalizing each salutation manually isn’t realistic. That’s where SiteGround’s Email Marketing handles personalization for you. Add variables to subject lines and email body so every recipient sees “Hi [Their Name]”—even when you’re sending to hundreds of people.

Greetings that are too casual

Being friendly is good. Being too casual makes you look unprofessional, especially when you’re reaching out for the first time or talking to someone in a more formal industry. You want to build trust, not make them wonder if you take your business seriously.

What to avoid:

• “Hey” in first-time customer contact – “Hey” works with people you already know. In cold outreach, it reads as overly familiar or careless.
• “Yo,” “What’s up,” “Hiya” – Save these for friends, not customers. Even in casual industries, this is too much.
• Industry context matters – A creative agency might get away with “Hey” in some situations. An accounting firm or legal service? Not a chance.

Tone mismatch kills trust. If someone’s evaluating whether to hire you or buy from you, starting too casually makes them question your professionalism before they even read your pitch.

Greetings with careless mistakes

These are the mistakes that make recipients delete your email immediately. They signal you don’t pay attention to details, and if you’re careless with their name or basic information, why would they trust you with their business?

What to avoid:

• Misspelling their name – “Dear John” when their name is spelled Jon. Instant credibility killer. Double-check every time.
• Copy-paste fails – Using the wrong name because you forgot to update it from your last email. “Hi Sarah” when you’re actually emailing David.
• Using nicknames without permission – If they sign their emails as “Robert,” don’t call them “Bob.” Let them set the tone.
• Gender assumptions – “Dear Sir” when you’re emailing a woman, or making any assumption about titles or gender.
• Time-based greetings that arrive hours later – “Good morning” sent at 4 PM just looks sloppy.

Small mistakes leave lasting impressions. One misspelled name, and you’ve gone from “potential partner” to “another spammer who doesn’t pay attention.” 

These errors are completely avoidable—just slow down and proofread.

Quick decision guide: choose your email salutation in 10 seconds

Here’s a quick reference table you can bookmark. Find your situation, use what works, skip what doesn’t.

Situation	Use This	Skip This
First contact with a new customer	• “Hi [First Name],”• “Hello [First Name],”	• “Dear [Name],”• “Hey”• “To Whom It May Concern”
Following up with existing customer	• “Hi [Name],”• “Hope you’re well, [Name]”	• Overly formal email salutations• “Dear”
Responding to their inquiry	• “Thanks for reaching out, [Name]”• “Hi [Name],”	• Generic “Hello” without their name
Networking or partnership email	• “Hi [Name],”• “Hi [Name]—[personal connection]”	• “Dear”• Overly formal language
Email to vendor or supplier	• “Hi [Name],”• “Hello [Name],”	• “Hey”• Overly casual greetings
Group or team email	• “Hi everyone,”• “Hi team,”• “Morning all”	• “Hey guys”• Individual names in group context
Don’t know their name	• “Hello,”• “Hi there,”• Department-specific greeting	• “To Whom It May Concern”• “Dear Sir or Madam”
Ongoing email thread (multiple exchanges)	• No salutation needed• “Hi [Name],”	• Repeating formal greetings every time

Email closings: how to sign off your email professionally

Your email closing (how you sign off, that is) matters just as much as your salutation. It’s the last thing your recipient reads before deciding whether to reply.

And just like with your opening, you don’t need to overcomplicate this. A handful of professional closings work for almost every business situation.

Professional email sign offs that work

These cover 90% of your business emails.

For most business emails:

• “Best regards,” (professional, works everywhere)
• “Thanks,” (when you’re asking for something or expressing gratitude)
• “Best,” (slightly less formal, still professional)

For follow-ups:

• “Looking forward to hearing from you,”
• “Thanks again,”
• “Talk soon,”

For formal situations:

• “Sincerely,” (traditional industries, first contact with executives)
• “Kind regards,” (slightly warmer than “sincerely”)

Email closing salutations to avoid

Below are some closings that either sound unprofessional or feel outdated.

Too casual for business:

• “XOXO,” “Ciao,” “Later,” (save for friends)
• No closing at all (feels abrupt in first contact)

Outdated or overly formal:

• “Yours faithfully,” (sounds like a Victorian letter)
• “Respectfully yours,” (too formal for modern business)

Mismatched tone: If you opened with “Hi Sarah,” don’t close with “Yours sincerely.” Keep your opening and closing at the same formality level.

Quick reference: match your email closing to your opening

If you opened with…	Close with…
“Hi [Name],”	“Best,” “Thanks,” “Best regards,”
“Hello [Name],”	“Best regards,” “Kind regards,”
“Dear [Name],”	“Sincerely,” “Kind regards,”
“Hi everyone,” / “Hi team,”	“Thanks,” “Best,”

Stop overthinking, start sending emails

Look, you’re running a business. You don’t have time to agonize over whether “Hi” or “Hello” is the right move. Roughly right beats perfect every time—especially when “perfect” means your email sits in drafts for an hour.

Get the salutation close enough for the situation and hit send. Your customers care whether you can solve their problem, not whether your greeting was flawless.

Now, everything we’ve covered applies to your day-to-day one-on-one business emails. But when you’re emailing at scale—sending newsletters, promotions, or updates to your contact list—you need tools that handle personalization and delivery for hundreds or thousands of recipients at once. You need to make sure your emails actually land in inboxes and feel personal, not like mass spam.

That’s where SiteGround Email Marketing comes in. It handles the heavy lifting so you can focus on your message:

• Automatic personalization – Add “Hi [First Name]” to hundreds of emails without manually typing each one
• Reliable delivery – Your emails land in inboxes, not spam folders
• Professional emails at scale – Send personalized messages to your entire customer list without losing that one-to-one feel

Improve Your Email Campaigns with SiteGround!

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