Sending a Display Name with the Source Email Address Using Amazon SES: A How-To Guide

Sending a Display Name with the Source Email Address Using Amazon SES: A How-To Guide

Being able to send an email with a display name instead of just an email address enhances the professionalism of your communications. It also makes your emails more recognizable to recipients. As a data scientist or software engineer, you may wonder, “Can I use Amazon’s Simple Email Service (SES) to send a display name with the source email address?” The answer is yes, and this post will guide you on how to accomplish this.

Amazon SES is a flexible, cost-effective, and scalable email service that developers can integrate into their applications. It allows you to send marketing, transactional, or personal emails effortlessly. One of its most useful features is the ability to send emails with a display name.

Why Use a Display Name?

A display name provides a more personalized touch to your emails. Instead of seeing a plain email address, recipients see a human-friendly name. This can improve open rates, as emails from recognizable senders are less likely to be marked as spam.

How to Send a Display Name with the Source Email Address

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to send an email with a display name using Amazon SES:

1. Import the necessary libraries. If you’re using Python, the boto3 library is essential for interacting with Amazon Web Services (AWS).

   import boto3
   from botocore.exceptions import BotoCoreError, ClientError
   

2. Create a SES client. You can do this using your AWS credentials.

   ses = boto3.client('ses', region_name='us-east-1', 
                      aws_access_key_id=YOUR_ACCESS_KEY, 
                      aws_secret_access_key=YOUR_SECRET_KEY)
   

3. Compose your email. Create your message subject and body. You can either send a plain text email or a HTML formatted email.

   subject = 'Your Email Subject'
   body_text = 'Your Email Body'
   

4. Specify your sender with a display name. This is where you add your display name. The format should be “Display Name email@example.com”.

   sender = 'Your Name <your-email@example.com>'
   

5. Send the email. Use the send_email method of the SES client to send the email.

   try:
       response = ses.send_email(
           Source=sender,
           Destination={
               'ToAddresses': ['recipient@example.com'],
           },
           Message={
               'Subject': {
                   'Data': subject,
               },
               'Body': {
                   'Text': {
                       'Data': body_text,
                   },
               }
           }
       )
   except (BotoCoreError, ClientError) as error:
       print(f'An error occurred: {error.response['Error']['Message']}')
   else:
       print(f'Email sent! Message ID: {response['MessageId']}')
   

And there you have it! You’ve sent an email with a display name using Amazon SES.

Conclusion

Amazon SES is a powerful tool for sending emails, and with the ability to add a display name, you can increase the effectiveness of your communication. This guide has shown you how to send an email with a display name using Amazon SES. Remember, the key is to format the sender field as “Display Name email@example.com”. This not only adds a professional touch to your emails but also makes them more recognizable to your recipients. Happy emailing!

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