How to Use BCC and CC in Emails

What is a BCC email?

A BCC email is a message that’s sent to multiple recipients, where email addresses in the BCC field are kept hidden from contacts listed in the CC and the main recipient.

Those in the CC field of the email are known as primary recipients, while secondary recipients are included in the BCC field. Both primary and secondary recipients will receive the exact same message, but the secondary recipients’ email addresses won’t be revealed to people listed in the CC.

As such, this helps ensure the privacy of individuals who are included in the BCC field.

BCC vs. CC email

While the primary goal of the BCC field is to make email addresses invisible to recipients, the CC function aims to ensure individuals are kept in the loop so that they’re aware of what’s going on, but their immediate response isn’t always required.

Let’s take a look at a few other key differences:

• Visibility: The main difference between BCC and CC emails is privacy. Whereas all recipients will be able to see the addresses of other recipients in a CC email thread, addresses in the BCC field won’t be viewable by primary recipients.
• Replies: When someone replies to the email, only those listed in the CC will see the entire thread and be able to respond to it.
• Email header: One of the first things recipients will see when they open your message is the email header, which will contain the sender’s information and recipient details. If more than one recipient is added to the CC, the recipients will be able to see everyone’s contact information here. Plus, if the list is long, they'll see the entire list before the message’s contents.
• Response: Adding someone to the CC in your email also allows you to introduce recipients to others and facilitate future communication.

How to use BCC

Using the BCC field in your emails is easy and can be done in a few simple steps. If you want to take advantage of the benefits of email marketing and BCC, use the instructions above to get started.

1. Open your preferred email client (e.g., Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, and Apple Mail).
2. Open the email builder to begin composing your message. You can also respond to an existing email.
3. Find the BCC field and input the addresses that will be BCC recipients. If you’re listing multiple addresses, you can separate each contact with a comma or space; you can press the ‘Enter’ key as well. Add primary recipients in the “To” line at this step.
4. Compose your message and review it to ensure addresses are in the right field.
5. Send the email when you’re done.

The location of the BCC address field will vary depending on the email client you’re using. While some clients will make the BCC field easy to find, this function may be more difficult to spot on others. However, every email client will have a similar process once you determine where the BCC field is located.

Adding email addresses to the BCC field can be tedious, especially when you’re planning on sending an email to a massive audience. With Mailchimp, you don’t have to worry about your contacts seeing each other’s email information since each message is delivered directly to contacts–even if they’re a part of a larger list.

When should I use BCC in my email campaigns?

One significant component of email etiquette is knowing when to use BCC in your email campaigns. After all, about 376 billion emails are exchanged every day globally, making it a prominent method of communication in personal and business environments, so knowing how to communicate effectively is vital.

Here is when you should use BCC in your email communications:

• To keep addresses private. Inputting email addresses into the BCC field may be beneficial if you want to keep addresses confidential, which is especially useful when sending a campaign to multiple recipients. This can also protect the identity of your contacts. On the other hand, you may use CC in email campaigns when you want the recipients to know each other and keep them informed about what’s going on.
• When sending an email to a mass audience. When you send a mass campaign, recipients will be able to reply to your message. However, they may accidentally hit the “Reply All” button, which will deliver their response to everyone included in the CC; using the BCC function can prevent this from happening.
• You don’t expect a response. BCC emails are great for marketing campaigns that don’t require a response. This includes impersonal emails, such as newsletters, and messages you send to your mailing list rather than individual contacts.
• For legal compliance and privacy regulations: Using BCC helps you comply with various privacy laws like GDPR by not exposing recipients' personal information to others.

When not to use BCC in email

Keep in mind that there are some instances where BCC usage is inappropriate and goes against email marketing best practices. This includes:

• Digital eavesdropping. Since BCC will hide email addresses, it can be used for digital eavesdropping, which is unprofessional and can lead to compliance issues. For example, if you’re discussing legal matters, BCC-ing someone into an email with confidential information can land you into some hot water.
• Putting coworkers in a negative light. Individuals may be unprofessional and add a manager to the BCC of an email in an effort to point out a mistake and get a coworker in trouble.
• Work correspondence. Using BCC for work emails may come off as dishonest since they may believe the message is solely for them, limiting transparency.
• Communicating with people who have opted out from your mailing list. If people have opted out from your mailing list, adding their email to the BCC field and sending them the campaign isn’t a good idea.
• When establishing new professional relationships: Using BCC when introducing yourself to new contacts or clients can seem secretive and undermine trust from the start. These initial communications should be personalized and transparent to build strong professional connections.
• In collaborative projects or discussions: When team members need to collaborate and build on each other's ideas, using BCC prevents the open communication necessary for successful teamwork. Group projects require visible participation and shared information to function effectively.

Benefits of using BCC

Understanding the technical advantages of different sending methods can help you build a better email marketing strategy. Beyond just basic privacy concerns, BCC functionality offers several benefits that can enhance and improve your communications. Let's explore these advantages:

• Minimizing the risk of viruses. By using BCC emails, you can reduce the risk of your contacts receiving a message that contains a virus. Since users don’t have access to another contact’s email information, you can effectively limit the distribution of infected correspondence.
• Reducing the probability of spam. If you want to avoid spam filters and improve deliverability, using a BCC email can be a great idea. When you CC a large group of people, your message may be flagged as spam, so users may never receive your email. Additionally, the added privacy that BCC emails provide also prevents spammers from adding recipients’ email addresses to spam lists.
• Ensuring anonymity. One of the most significant advantages of using the BCC function is ensuring your recipient’s email addresses remain anonymous. Concealing email addresses when sending a campaign can prevent recipients from reaching out to individuals who don’t wish to engage and want to keep their addresses private.

What does CC mean in email?

CC stands for "carbon copy," a term that originated from the days of typewriters. Now, CC is a way to include additional recipients in your email while making their inclusion visible to everyone. This transparency creates a different dynamic than BCC, affecting how recipients interact with your message and with each other.

How CC works in practice

When you add someone to the CC field of an email, you're essentially saying, "I want you to see this conversation, but you're not the primary recipient." Unlike BCC recipients, everyone can see who's been CC'd, creating an open environment where all participants are aware of who's receiving the information.

The CC field appears in the email header, and all recipients can view the entire thread, including any subsequent replies. This visibility means all CC'd individuals are kept in the loop but not necessarily expected to take immediate action.

Common uses for CC in business communications

The CC function is an essential tool in professional settings, helping teams stay connected and informed in various business scenarios. Here are the most common ways CC is used in workplace settings:

• Keeping management informed: CC'ing supervisors or managers on project updates allows them to stay in the loop without requiring their direct involvement or response.
• Creating documentation trails: Adding relevant stakeholders to the CC field creates a record of who received information, providing useful documentation for future reference.
• Introducing team members: CC facilitates introductions between colleagues who need to work together, allowing them to continue the conversation directly in subsequent emails.
• Sharing information with multiple departments: When information affects several teams, CC ensures everyone receives the same message simultaneously.
• Transitioning responsibility: When handing off a project or client, CC'ing the new point person eases the transition by including them in ongoing communications.

CC and BCC best practices for email marketing

Making the right choice between CC and BCC affects how recipients perceive your brand and impacts critical metrics like deliverability rates and engagement.

As email privacy concerns grow more important to consumers and regulators alike, marketers must balance transparency with the protection of subscriber information to build trust and ensure compliance with evolving privacy standards.

Protecting subscriber privacy

When subscribers join your email list, they place trust in your brand to handle their information responsibly. Email addresses often contain identifying information like names or company affiliations that subscribers may not want shared with others.

Using BCC for your marketing emails ensures this information remains private, preserving the confidential relationship between your brand and each individual subscriber.

Privacy regulations have increasingly recognized email addresses as protected personal information. Laws like GDPR and CCPA require businesses to safeguard this data and limit its exposure. By using BCC in your email campaigns, you're taking a proactive step toward compliance with these regulations, demonstrating that your organization values privacy and understands its legal obligations.

The need for privacy protection is even more critical with specialized email lists. Subscribers to newsletters about health conditions, financial services, political campaigns, or support groups could face real consequences if their subscription became known to others.

BCC provides an essential layer of confidentiality for these sensitive categories, ensuring that membership in such groups remains private even when communications are sent to all members simultaneously.

Avoiding spam filters when using BCC

Email deliverability continues to challenge marketers as spam filtering algorithms grow increasingly sophisticated.

When you use CC for large group emails, the long list of visible email addresses matches patterns typically seen in spam messages, potentially triggering filters that could send your carefully crafted campaign straight to junk folders. BCC helps your messages avoid these algorithmic traps by presenting a cleaner header that resembles legitimate one-to-one communication.

Professional email marketing platforms automatically handle the BCC function in the background, providing additional advantages through proper authentication and sending infrastructure. These services implement technical standards like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC that verify your identity to receiving mail servers.

When combined with responsible BCC practices, these authentication measures significantly improve your sender reputation, which ultimately has more impact on deliverability than any single technical choice you make when composing your messages.

Take advantage of BCC emails

If you’re considering sending an email to multiple people, you’ll have to think about whether you want to add recipients to the CC or BCC field. Both CC and BCC emails are used for different purposes, so it’s important to weigh the pros and cons carefully before hitting the send button.

For example, using the CC function can ensure recipients are aware of the conversation taking place, facilitate transparency, and make it easier for recipients to respond to messages. In contrast, BCC fields are valuable when sending a mass email and you want to keep addresses private. This is also beneficial for avoiding common spam filter triggers and preventing the distribution of viruses.

At Mailchimp, maintaining the privacy of your contacts is a priority. While we don’t have a BCC field in our email builder, you can rest easy knowing that your recipients won’t be able to see the other addresses in your mailing list. No matter the type of marketing email you’re making, use our comprehensive platform to create successful campaigns every time.

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Key Takeaways

• BCC (blind carbon copy) keeps recipients' email addresses private, while CC (carbon copy) displays all addresses to everyone included.
• BCC is useful for mass email campaigns, ensuring privacy and reducing the risk of "Reply All" responses.
• CC is appropriate for keeping recipients in the loop where transparency and possible responses are needed.
• Using BCC can minimize the risk of viruses and reduce spam, ensuring recipient anonymity and maintaining contact privacy.

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