Write a Good Email

On Friday my team got reports of email that got placed in the spam filter from an internal address. I took some time to explain to the writer of the email why, and also how folks can rectify this by adding folks to safe senders. I thought it might be helpful to explain what goes in a “good” email that you send out beyond your team that DOESN’T get trapped in the spam filters…and that actually might get read.

Real from line: Make the email from a real person, not system administrator, not your department, and definitely not from an email address NOT in your company’s global address list.  FROM a real person will get opened, even if folks don’t know who the person is sending it. Hiding behind some other mailbox makes it look like spam, or worse, like someone from outside the organization is trying to fish for information. I find folks are more likely to open a message from a real person than some corporate mailbox. I have all correspondence that my team gets calls about come from me or a manager above me. If you’re worried about folks getting inundated with replies, change the replies go to setting to be someone who can actually respond.

Real subject line: Please include a subject line, and make it relevant to the rest of the email. You’d be amazed at how many emails I get that have no subject line, or that after I read the message make me scratch my head and wonder “Now how was that relevant?”

Short paragraphs: 3-5 sentences per paragraph is plenty for email. More than this, and you probably should link to a full article or hold a meeting to explain what you’re trying to say. Folks like to scan…so make it  easy for them to do so.

Not just photos: I don’t care if you are sending an invitation to the annual company picnic, making just a photo invitation is never good practice, as folks on many mobile devices can’t see it, and it’s hard to scan and harder yet to search for that email later on down the road. 

Bulleted lists: If you have more than a few points of 1 line text, include a bulleted list. Again, easier to scan than before.

NO ALL CAPS: I still get a few emails a day from folks who use ALL CAPS. Please don’t do this. It hurts my eyes and it hurts my head. Please don’t scream at me in email. Save that for in person :)

Use bold for key points: I do this when I write Slacker Manager so you can quickly get the gist of my articles. I do this in email for the same reason. Scanning is all folks have time for. Help me scan.

Keep it short: Keep things short and concise, at 1 to 1.5 screens long. More than this, and folks will stop reading before they get to the end. the shorter, the better.

1 topic: Keep your emails to 1 topic or folks will get confused about what they are supposed to do with your message..

Real signature: Sign the email with a real signature, don’t leave it hanging out there as though nobody really wrote it. Take some ownership and include a name, a phone number, a  department, and even a link to your internal department website if appropriate. 

What are your best tips for writing email that gets opened?

Email photo credit to Mzelle Biscotte