What to use after Dear <First Name>

[fenglish]

Hi,

Dear Teachers:

I want to ask a question about "Dear <First Name>", should I use the colon ":" or comma "," after the "Dear <First Name>"?

Thanks.

Dear Teachers,

I have always used comma "," in my email, until today, I received a email from Microsoft and it begins with "Dear <My Name>:".
So I want to confirm which is correct, comma or colon?

Thanks.

For me, both comma and colon are correct, please help to confirm, thanks.

 

[Rover_KE]

Yes, a colon is not common, but the grammar police aren't going to arrest anybody for it — especially big boys like Microsoft.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

In American English, colons are for business letters and commas are for personal letters.

Not everyone abides by that, though, and as Piscean and Rover say, it's not a big deal.