Looking to improve your email writing skills? Check out this guide on how to write an email and start crafting better messages today!
When it comes to communicating with your colleagues and clients, email might not seem like the most effective means of doing so. After all, if you’ve been handed a phone at work and you know that sending an email to others will only lead to stress and annoying answers, why not use this as an opportunity to keep things more productive?
The truth is that the right email strategy can be an incredibly important tool — and one that should be used in the most positive way possible. After all, if you spend hours every day responding to emails from colleagues and clients who have questions or need information from you, it makes sense to write professional ones as well.
Here we’ll explain exactly how to set up your email writing routine for maximum efficiency:
How to write an email that gets results
The first thing to remember is that emails are a two-way communication tool. While you can certainly always email people back with a no-answer response, it’s better to respect the other person’s time by writing back. If you don’t, you’re just wasting your own in the process. The best way to get a response is to set up an exchange that begins with an inquiry instead of an authoritative command.
Asking open-ended questions can help you get leads and also make your emails look less like a sales pitch. For example, instead of asking “When are you available to meet?” you can ask “When do you have the time to catch up?” or “What are you currently working on that would benefit from talking through?”
Set up your writing environment
When you’re setting up your writing environment, think about what type of tone you’d like to produce with your emails. Is your tone relaxed and friendly, or more authoritative and professional?
Depending on the situation and your relationship with the person you’re emailing, you may want to set up your emails with a different tone than others in your workspace. For example, if you work alongside someone who tends to use more formal language in their emails, you may want to keep things a little less formal in yours. Next, think about your environment. If you’re in a more private space, where you have a more open microphone set up, that usually makes people feel more comfortable speaking. If you’re in an open-mic space, you may want to consider switching to a quieter setting.
Ask yourself “why” before you write
At the heart of any successful email communication is a genuine “why” behind it. The “why” behind your email writing should be to communicate relevant information or answer questions. If your “why” is to sell someone something, you’re going to lose a lot of potential leads and customers in the process. So how can you figure out your “why” behind your emails?
This can help you figure out what type of information you want to provide to others in your office and in the general public. For example, let’s say you’re a marketing manager at a large corporation. You have a number of clients who need to keep their businesses up-to-date with the latest marketing technology. Here’s an example of how you might be able to use email for your “why”: “I’m writing to ask you if your business is currently using social media analytics?
Write your subject line first
The first thing that you should know when it comes to writing an email is the importance of your subject line. Make sure that your subject line is bold, clear, and concise. It should also have some sort of relevance to the content of the email itself. If you want to sell someone on reading your email, make your subject line as catchy as possible. If, on the other hand, you want to provide helpful information, try to keep your subject line subtle.
You want to find that happy balance between the two, so that you’re still attracting the right people while still providing valuable information. A common mistake people make when composing their subject lines is trying to be too clever. While you might be trying to impress the reader with your vocabulary, this can often backfire and alienate them.
Establish the tone of your email
Another thing that you need to think about is the tone that you want your email to have. You may want to establish a tone that is more casual, more formal, or a combination of both. This decision should be one that you make based on the situation.
For example, if you know that the person you’re emailing has a formal work environment, you may want to establish a more formal tone with your email. Now that you know a bit more about the tone of your writing, you can start to use this knowledge to help you establish the right tone. First, take a look at the subject line that you’ve chosen for your email to give yourself a general idea of the tone of your writing.
Write your body of the email
The body of the email should be very brief and include only information that is relevant to the email itself. The body of the email should be no longer than one or two sentences and should include only what is necessary to complete the thought.
You’ll also want to include a call-to-action at the very end of your body. This should include a clear instruction for the recipient as to what they need to do next. A call-to-action should be short and simple, and should include only a few words. For example, you may want to include something like “Give me your email address so that I can keep you updated on future work opportunities.”
Wrap things up with a clear takeaway
The last thing to keep in mind when it comes to writing emails is the takeaway. The takeaway is simply a summary of the main points that you made in your email. It should be short, sweet, and to the point.
The takeaway should be just two or three sentences long and should include the information that you want your recipients to know. Here are some examples of what you may want to include in your takeaways: – How you can answer the question posed in the email – Where they can find the information that they’re looking for – What action they should take next Keeping these things in mind can help you write effective emails that get results.
Conclusion
Email might not seem like a very effective mode of communication, but it is. The trick is to use email in the most efficient way possible. By properly setting up your email environment, writing your subject lines, and establishing the right tone, you can write effective email messages that will help you get results.
