Updated on November 4, 2019
Finding emails would be easier if they followed a pattern, right?
Toofr launched with the idea that you could find any email if you knew which of 8 email patterns was most commonly used at the company.
What's an email pattern?
It's the particular combination of first name and last name that is used for the handle on your email address.
Startups and small businesses today frequently use the "First Name" email pattern. Ryan Buckley at Toofr is ryan@toofr.com. When he was at Scripted : his email was ryan@scripted.com.
Larger corporations tend to use "First Initial and Last Name." Ryan's first job out of college was at Navigant Consulting and that email was rbuckley@navigantconsulting.com. Another common one is "First Name.Last Name." That pattern would have looked like ryan.buckley@navigantconsulting.com.
As it turns out, though, the most common pattern in the world is First Name and Last Name, or ryanbuckley@toofr.com. Although this is typically not a primary email address because it's so long, it's the most common pattern because it's used as an alias or forwarding address.
Tips to find the email pattern
If you don't feel like trying every combination in our infographic, these tips will get you off to a good start:
Check the company's newsroom. Frequently the contact information for the in-company author will be included in the post - giving you your first hint at the email syntax the company uses. For example, Deloitte, one of the world's largest accounting firms, shows the author contact information, including email, with every article in their newsroom. This particular accounting firm uses the "First Initial and Last Name" format for company emails; the 2nd most common email pattern for that industry!
Check Linkedin. If you are already connected with someone that works at the company, their email may be hiding right under your nose. You are one step closer to verifying the email you're searching for if you find just one email in the company!
Search the company's "Contact Us" page for a staff directory. Believe it or not some industries will have this! One of the top newspapers in the world, The LA Times, directly tells you the "email address format" they use for editorial staff! The LA Times uses the top format under "Newspapers" in our "Top Email Patterns" infographic. How easy was that!
Read our article "How to Find Email Addresses Outside of Toofr".
Toofr Email Pattern Infographic
We went ahead and put all we know about email patterns into an infographic that you can easily reference for all your email hunting needs!
About the author: Tara Caguiat is a marketing professional with a passion for blogging, travel and yoga. She frequently writes for SarasotaYogaCollective.com and her personal blog, SheNeedsLess.com.