Essential Email etiquettes everyone should know – tips on how to craft the perfect email

In the expanding ways of communication, email still holds a special place for most employees, professionals and entrepreneurs. An average professional receives around 180 emails every day while they open only 60% of them. 

A well-crafted email can not only get someone’s attention but can also ensure that the person reverts with relevancy. The mailing system has also become crucial in the marketing space as the newsletter culture and subscription-based businesses are booming. 

A quick summary of the blog before we dive into it: 

1. The two crucial parts to writing an email are the technical part and the language aspect of it
2. Technically, master the way you greet, structure the mail, make it highly readable and create a captivating email signature 
3. From the language standpoint, make sure you are grammatically right, you use the right tonality and split your content into paras and pointers 
4. Beyond just the etiquette, make your mails stand out by using storytelling techniques and convey points with clarity and passion. 

Before we understand the art of it, let’s get to the nitty-gritty of writing good emails 

The technical standpoint – 

1. Your email ID – Gone are the days when you sounded cool by having an ID like charismaticgirlcelia@yahoo.co.in. Be professional right from the ID and use a professional mail ID associated with your company or website as much as possible. 
2. Subject line – This can be tricky as the open rate completely depends on the subject line. No matter how good the mail is, if the subject line doesn’t capture it, there’s a high chance that your mail will be lost in the crowd. 

To avoid that, write a direct yet descriptive subject line where you expect information in response. In case of a marketing mail, keep it intriguing and catchy so that the person is compelled to open it and take a peek. 

3. Greeting – Salutation plays an important role and here are some of the ideal ones. Dear [Name], Dear team, Hi or Hello followed by a comma is all the recommended ways to start your name. Try to personalise it but double-check the spelling so that you leave no room for error.
4. Reply All – An unspoken code of communication is that if it doesn’t concern everyone, then everyone shouldn’t have to know it. You can reply to invites, meetings and any query by just replying and making sure that you’re not replying to all.
5. Acknowledge – In the last 2 years, as emails have become a major communication approach, it is possible that you’d be receiving emails every other hour. In a case where it might be difficult to respond instantly, acknowledge by stating that you have received the mail or that you will get back shortly. 
6. Relevant Email signature – Email signature is a nice way for people to remember you and keep you at the top of their priorities. Businesses use this space to link their social handles and professionals share their designation, role and at times even their mission or motto that they wish to keep reiterating. Add a unique yet relevant touch to your email signature and it can also help you get better responses. 
7. Font and styling – The whole idea of an email is to make communication easy and mixing up too many fonts and styling them may just add to the confusion. It is recommended to keep the font size at 11 or 12 points as it has good readability. Fonts like Calibri, Helvetica, or Arial are considered standard fonts and avoid styling more than two styles. At times, the simplest are the most effective. 
8. Email structure – Just like any editorial piece, an email should carry the basic structure of having the beginning, the main body and the end. Make sure your mail sounds logical even in terms of the structure as the message can get lost if it is structured wrong. 

While having covered the technical aspect of writing emails, now let us look at the other etiquette that matter 

1. The right grammar – Always run a spell and grammar check before you hit the send button. Using extensions such as Grammarly and Wordtune can immensely help you save the embarrassment. 
2. Tonality – Change the tone of your writing based on who you are communicating with. Writing a newsletter can be conversational and casual while sharing the minutes of the meeting can be professional and serious. 
3. Punctuation – Avoid unnecessary exclamation marks no matter how exciting it is. Stick to the basic punctuation rules and make sure your sentence is logically correct. 
4. Splitting the paras and points – If you feel you can structure the mail clearly by parting the message into paragraphs and pointers, please do so. 

Are emails still cool? 

Yes, absolutely they are. Marketers are using emails to build a steadily increasing base of customers and subscribers. With the right strategy, one can achieve a decent rate of open rate and link clicks. 

Newsletters have also gained immense popularity as businesses can share beautiful stories and get their stakeholders hooked on their brand. Marketing has drifted towards now more than ever as it is easier to capture emotions and stories with email marketing. 

What really makes your emails interesting are stories and storytelling models. If you want to learn more about this subscribe to our founder’s newsletter.