A Few Ideas for Better Emails
I receive a lot of emails every day and most of them could be better. I guess its the same for you – and that must mean that all of us could send better emails.
We send out different types of emails, for example, those asking questions, those answering questions, those for marketing.
These tips focus on those everyday emails that we all send out, sometimes without thinking about them very much, the ones asking and answering questions and passing on information. Try out these tips for writing better emails and let me know what you think by leaving a comment.
Five Tips for Better Emails
- Use a relevant subject. I receive lots of emails that don’t give me a clue what they’re about. Do you think I open them straightaway? Do you think I can find them again later? Changing the subject line so that it is relevant to the content doesn’t take long, but is a simple step that makes email more effective. Before you send every email, make sure the subject line is still relevant – let’s face it, emails do veer off topic and when that happens then change the subject too.
- Include your contact details. Never mind that this may well be a legal requirement (depending where you are and whether you’re sending on behalf of a company, etc), it’s common courtesy. If you send an email asking questions, then maybe the recipient wuld rather call you than reply by email, so make it easy to be contacted, add your phone number and other relevant contact details.
- Get to the point. Tell your reader what they want to know – why have you sent the email? If you need an action, then ask for it; if you are answering a question then say so; if a date is important then mention it up front.
- Consider your audience. What? Well, you know those flags that mark whether something is urgent, think about whether it’s urgent for YOU or for YOUR AUDIENCE and then be polite about it – frankly, the urgent flag’s usually annoying and sometimes it’s just rude.
- Consider your audience again. Email programs are wonderful aren’t they. We can set them up to tell us when a message has been delivered, when it’s been read and even when it’s been deleted. Wow! But ask yourself this – is it really your business when other people decide to delete their email? Once you’ve sent it, then surely it’s up to the recipient what happens to it. So, please, rather than tracking every moment of your sent email, press send and let it go.
And finally, consider whether email is the best communication method – there are others! Tell me what you think about email and my tips by leaving a comment below.
