Sending good emails that will get read is an art. Read these six tips for email sending etiquette to get better at contacting your business contacts via email.
You craft your email and send it. Easy-peasy, right? But then, you get no answer to it. Your email is not even opened. Or the recipient keeps answering with follow-up questions. Or maybe the recipient understands something completely different than you wanted to say. And then there’s the recipient in your CC who can’t open the document you’ve just sent.
This is when you realize that you need to get better at writing and sending emails.
But, don’t worry! We have six email sending etiquette tips that will help you learn how to write emails more efficiently and get the results you want. Keep reading below to find out more!
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1. Always write a subject line
Can 5-6 words make a difference in how good your email is? Absolutely! The subject line can actually be that one characteristic of your email that gets it ignored or opened and replied to. No subject line is not an option because it will make your email look like spam or simply get unnoticed in the recipient’s list of 100+ new emails.
In essence, the subject line has one purpose: to tell the recipient what your email is about. Yet, the subject line of your email can serve multiple purposes, including catching the attention of the reader and convincing them to open your email. So, it should be clear why including a subject line in your emails is a must.
Now, a good subject line is even better. More precisely, a good subject line should:
- Be short (5-6 words)
- Not include filler words
- Reveal a bit of the subject of your email
- Be eye-catching and raise interest
2. Adjust your message and tone
Once you’ve thought of an excellent subject line that will convince the recipient not to ignore your email, it is time to craft your message.
When writing an email, it is best to start with understanding who you are writing to and specific characteristics about the person, including:
- Their know-how over the subject you’re writing about.
- Your relationship with the recipient.
- Their style of communication.
Once you determine all that, it is time to start writing your email while adapting your tone and message. For example, the tone and messaging style would differ when you’re writing to a client about your latest promotion than when you’re writing to an employee about a new task they need to complete.
Also, an important thing to keep in mind is to adapt the language you use to the recipient. If the recipient is not very familiar with your industry, avoid very industry-specific terms and keep it friendly and clear instead. If the recipient has good knowledge of the product or service you’re talking about, you can be as specific as you like in your message.
3. Make your email easily scannable
Whether you are sending an email to a client, your boss, a business partner, or a supplier, the chances are that your recipient is a pretty busy person. So, you should adapt your content to today’s busy Internet users who receive thousands of emails, texts, social media messages, calls, and so on. They don’t have the time to go through heavy bulks of texts, so they want your email to get to the point and in an engaging way.
You can use bullet points to make your content easier to scan. Or, you can use more visual content to speak more words more engagingly. Also, eliminate filler words. Keep your message short, and don’t forget to use clear call-to-action phrases so that your recipient understands what is expected from them after reading your email.
4. Send documents in PDF format
PDF is king in the world of email sending. If you often deal with digital documents, you very likely agree to this. PDF is a document format that has plenty of benefits in contrast to others, including:
- It keeps the same formatting you see on your device
- It can be opened on all devices, even without an installed document read software
- It has a compact file size
- It allows easy editing.
At the experts from PDFChef explain, “If you never have to deal with scenarios like, “I can’t open the document you’ve just sent me,” or “the formatting doesn’t look the same,” send all your documents in PDF format.”
5. Double-check your message for typos
Once you’re done writing and tailoring your email to the recipient, you have one more essential step to go through: editing.
When writing an email to a business contact, be it a client, employee, boss, or partner, you need to sound as professional as possible. And, typographical errors or grammar errors don’t look well in this picture.
Sure, your recipients understand that typos are a human thing to do. Yet, they won’t like to read your poor-quality email content, and they would expect you to have taken the time to double-check your email before pressing the “send” button. So, make sure you do that.
It is also a good idea to use some content editing tool, like Grammarly or Hemingway App, to check for typos and rephrase your content more compellingly.
6. Send your email at the right time
Last but not least, the time you send your email can also have a significant impact on how the recipient views your message.
Think about it, if you send your email late in the evening when the recipient was just about to have their dinner, your email will not be very appreciated, no matter how much time and effort you put into crafting it. So, timing really matters.
Try to think of your email’s recipient schedule and send your email during business hours, on weekdays. As a general rule, avoid sending your emails very early in the morning or late in the night, and definitely avoid weekends (unless you discussed sending your email then with the recipient).
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