by Sshutanu Majumder | Jan 23, 2022 | Language and Communication
Work is all about emails. Do you agree? How often do you make calls to your clients or colleagues from other teams? I bet that it is not as frequent as you send emails. In fact, the superiors would insist so much on mail communication in order to have everything recorded for future reference, even after you resigned from your position.
That’s a lot of pressure, isn’t it? But do not worry much. If you get a few hacks right, all your emails will be well appreciated by your receivers. What makes an email great? If the message is conveyed right, and it achieves its purpose.
Emails do not follow a standard tone as the receivers are all different. At some point, you will have to send emails in a very formal way. To already acquainted clients, you will have to send it in a bit informal way. And, to your counterparts, the emails can just be a one-liner that is clear enough to convey the message.
Here are 12 tips to write effective business emails.
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1. What is the Purpose of Your Email?
The emails might have different purposes. You will have to stick to that throughout the entire content. Do not bring in too many items into one email. It might confuse or divert the readers. Have one goal and align the subject, the opening line and the body to that one objective. For instance, if your email wants to convert the reader into a lead, create a subject line as ‘Performance Management System Gives 10X Productivity.’ The body of the email should speak ‘How?’ and the opening line should make the reader want to read more.
If it is a business email to a client, include the purpose in the subject line and be concise in communicating your purpose.
2. Subject Lines Cannot Be Ignored
The subject lines’ importance cannot be insisted enough. A person receives a lot of emails each day. Your subject line should convey why the email should be opened. Besides, a subject line makes it easier for the receiver to find the email later easily. But remember, do not send emails with misleading subject lines. That will just make your receiver lose the trust in you and your brand.
3. Keep it Short and Precise
These days, people appreciate short and to-the-point emails. Again, they receive too many emails, and they do not enjoy spending too much time on one email. Write an email that is 70-100 words long and make sure to include all the key points in that small piece of content.
4. Relevant and Engaging Opening Line
If you make the receiver open your email, you have overcome one herculean task but there is another one left. If the opening lines aren’t engaging or something that the reader was eager to know, they will just stop reading and send your email to the trash. That’s the bitter truth. So, make sure to have your opening line engaging and something the readers want to read.
For instance, be on-point.
Example 1:
“Hey Emily,
Hope you are doing well. I am writing to you to inform you that your request has been forwarded to the support team. You will receive an email from the team within 24 hours.
Have a great day!
Regards,
[Your Name]”
If it is a sales email,
Example 2:
“Hey Emily,
50% off on your online grocery shopping in Twinkie.
We want to send a gift to you for staying strong in this pandemic. Use the code ‘TWINKIE50’ to buy groceries on the Twinkie, your grocery partner. We are with you. Stay strong.
Yours Truly,
Twinkie Team”
This sales email is short, and the key point is highlighted by having it as the opening line.
5. Right Call to Action
Why call-to-action is important? If you are sending an email to an executive or a prospect, you will want them to take an action. It could be either replying to the email or clicking on the link to visit the landing page. Whatever it is, make your purpose clear to the readers. Toward the end of the email, either include a question or a call to action link to prompt the readers to take the desired action.
6. Keep the Language Simple
Write your email in simple language. Flaunting your vocabulary or jargon will only make it difficult for the readers. They might not get your message or will take too much of their time, which could be a huge turn-off. Of course, there would be a few unavoidable cases where you will have to use the technical terms. When you must, you must.
7. Think of Your Target Audience Always
Think from the receiver’s perspective. That will change your way of writing an email. Your email will be in reader-friendly language, and it would be more about the benefits to the reader. That is, the email will talk more about what the reader can gain from this mail than speaking about the USPs of the product/services. It is all about how you present a piece of information to the readers in an engaging way. That is one great tip to write effective business emails.
Imagine receiving an email that has the opening line in a different font style, the first half of the text body in a different style and the latter part in a different style. I would never read such emails. The opening line can be boldened and italicized but never an abnormal font style. The formatting should be done to the left, and the entire content should follow a uniform font style and size as this is no ad copy or brochure.
9. Be careful when Using Images
Images can be a tricky part. It conveys the message easy but the image size should be concise to the email. If the image is too large, the email will load slowly. the readers will not be too patient. And if it is a less-effective image, again the readers will not be interested in the mail.
10. Include a Meaningful Signature
A meaningful signature gives a good impression to the readers. You can add your name, designation and the company name to the signature or a small image with your company brand logo and your details. The details in the signature will make it look more personalized and achieve the desired impression.
11. Avoid Offensive Sentences
When we write emails, we tend to become too controlling and use sentences like ‘This is where you go wrong.’ People get offended by these kinds of sentences and move the email to the trash. Instead, we could try using persuasive language, where you are empathetic by assuring your audience that you have been there too and it is easy to overcome that ‘something.’ Persuasion is a key skill in writing effective business emails.
12. Do Not Overdo Emojis
Emojis and other little décor are recent trends and using them in the interest of your email the readers but never overdo them. One or two emojis here and there in your email will highlight the content of your email but using too much of them will just divert the attention of your audience. Not just that, it will even kill the interest of your reader.
Conclusion
Follow these tips to write effective business emails. Besides, proofread your emails before pressing the send button. This is a crucial step as typos could lead to a really huge mistake. Write, follow the tips, proofread and send. It sounds easy now, right? If you have anything more to add, feel free to comment and share your thoughts. If you love this blog, do check out my www.englishwithsutanu.com
