CC and BCC in emails: Purpose, difference and deliverability

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Understand email etiquette and tools like CC (Carbon Copy) and BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) is essential. These two options are essential for managing recipients, ensuring privacy and keeping communications professional. Whether you’re sending updates to your team, sharing newsletters, or coordinating with stakeholders, knowing the difference between CC and BCC can significantly improve your email effectiveness.

What is CC in email?

CC stands for “Carbon Copy”. The term comes from the old practice of using carbon paper to make a copy of a document. In emails, the CC field allows you to send a copy of the email to recipients who need to see the message but are not the primary recipients.

Purpose of CC in email:

• Visibility: All recipients included in the CC field can see who else has received the email.
• Information purposes: CC keeps others updated without requiring direct action.
• Transparency: Helps to ensure that everyone involved is aware of the communication chain.

When to use CC:

• To update team members who do not need to do anything but should be informed anyway.
• To include stakeholders who should be aware of the conversation taking place.
• To maintain transparency with all parties included.

Example of CC in an email:

Imagine you send a report to your manager and you want to keep the team leader informed.

• To: manager@example.com
• CC: team leader@example.com
• Theme: Project update

Both recipients can see that the email was sent to the manager and sent to the team leader.

What is BCC in email?

BCC stands for “Blind Carbon Copy”. This option allows you to send an email to multiple recipients without revealing their email addresses to others. Unlike CC, the BCC field ensures confidentiality.

Purpose of BCC in email:

• Privacy: Recipients included in the BCC field cannot see each other’s email addresses.
• Mass communication: Ideal for sending mass emails, such as newsletters or announcements.
• Discretion: Prevents accidental reply-all messages and keeps communication professional.

When to use BCC:

• To send emails to large groups without revealing email addresses.
• To ensure confidentiality when sending sensitive information.
• To avoid overwhelming recipients with reply-all responses.

Example of BCC in an email:

Imagine you send a newsletter to 50 customers:

• To: yourname@example.com (you can enter your own email here)
• BCC: client1@example.com, client2@example.com, client3@example.com
• Theme: Monthly newsletter

In this example, all clients will receive the email, but none of them can see the other recipients.

What is the difference between CC and BCC?

Distribution of CC vs BCC:

Common mistakes to avoid with CC and BCC

1. Overusing CC: Including too many people who don’t need the information.

Adding too many people to the CC field can quickly turn a simple email into an overwhelming and confusing chain of communications. When unnecessary receivers are included:

• Information overload
• Inbox clutter: Overuse of CC can cause important emails to get lost in a sea of ​​unnecessary notifications.
• Confusion about responsibility: If multiple recipients are CC’d, it can become unclear who must act on the email.

2. Ignore BCC in Group Emails: Displays recipient email addresses.

When sending emails to multiple recipients, using the BCC field cannot reveal everyone’s email addresses. This is unprofessional and can have serious consequences:

• Privacy breach: Recipients may not appreciate their email addresses being shared without consent.
• Spam risk: Exposed email addresses can be misused or targeted by spammers.
• Loss of trust: Customers, clients or colleagues may lose confidence in you.

3. Sending “Reply All” replies to CC recipients.

Another common mistake involves replying to all recipients in a CC’d email chain when it’s unnecessary. This often results in:

• Unsolicited notifications: Recipients may receive irrelevant follow-up emails, which clutter their inbox.
• wasted time: People read emails that don’t apply to them.

How CC affects email delivery

The CC field sends a copy of the email to visible recipients. While this works well for collaboration and transparency, overuse of CC can negatively impact deliverability.

Higher risk of triggering spam filters

Spam filters may flag the email as “bulk email” if too many people are copied. Also, including unknown email addresses can result in recipient complaints or bounced emails, and damage the sender’s reputation.

Impact on engagement

Email delivery is often affected by recipient engagement, such as opens and replies. Some recipients may ignore the email because it feels impersonal. Low-engagement signals (low opens and no responses) can damage your domain’s reputation over time. You can use GlockApps to test your email deliverability!

How BCC affects email delivery

The BCC field is designed to send emails discreetly without revealing recipient details. While this is useful for privacy and bulk emails, it can create delivery challenges if misused.

Mass email risks

ESPs see emails with many BCC recipients as potential bulk messages, which trigger spam filters. Invalid email addresses in the BCC list can also cause bounces and damage the sender’s reputation.

Seed lists and BCC

When using BCC to send email to large groups, it is important to ensure inbox placement to avoid triggering spam filters. A seed list – a set of test email addresses across different email providers – allows you to monitor where your emails land (inbox, spam or junk mail) before sending them to actual recipients. Abuse of BCC, such as including too many recipients or failing to customize content, can hurt deliverability. By testing your emails with tools like GlockApps, you can identify issues, optimize your sending practices, and ensure that your BCC emails land in your inbox.

Conclusion: Balancing CC, BCC and Email Delivery

Both CC and BCC are useful tools in email communication, but misusing them can hurt your email deliverability. Don’t overload recipients in the CC field or send bulk emails through BCC, so you don’t increase the risk of spam flags, bounces and low engagement.

To maintain high deliverability:

• Use CC for small, relevant groups.
• Reserve BCC for privacy-conscious communications, but avoid using it for mass emails.

By following these best practices, you can ensure your emails reach their inboxes, build trust with your recipients, and maintain a strong sender reputation. Remember to use the best email delivery tools like GlockApps!

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