A Guide to Successful Email Writing

Introduction

“You can spend hours editing an email but send it as if you wrote it in a minute.”

Sally Rooney

Email, a term that stands for electronic mail, actually originated in the year 1975. It is a way of exchanging messages between various people through electronic devices. Emails follow a certain basic format in messages, which is called Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME). These extensions are valid from mail to mail only. An email message comprises two sections, header and body, which in one form is known as content. Emails are the most common and articulate way of communicating in a professional world.

Usually, people use plain text or HTML to send the message through emails. HTML messages become compatible through automatically generated plain text. The process of message transfer takes place between hosts through Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. However, emails follow certain formats and filename extensions, Emxl, certainly used by apple mail. Msg, used by Microsoft Office outlook, Mbx, used by Opera mail, Kmail and Apple mail.  Emails often follow a simple format of clear and concise message. The messages should be short and to the point. All the necessary information should be contained in a crisp way.

How to write a professional email?

It is said that a person who is able to communicate through emails in the professional world has all the professional etiquettes in him. In order to write a perfect sized professional email, there are some things to be kept in mind. Firstly, set your target in a way that before you compose your message your intention of the message must be crystal clear in your head. One should clearly state the purpose of sending that email and mention that you expect feedback.

“Email may well be your most productive marketing tool.”

Dan Zarella

Another important thing to be kept in mind is to proofread your mail before sending it. The mail shall be error free and shall not incorporate grammatical errors or broken sentence structures as it is a formal message and gives a bad impression of the sender. Also, double check the attachments that you will be sending with the message in the mail. Taking follow ups is very important in formal dealings as it lets you know of the deal closures or deal openers.

The key to write a perfect email is to keep your message crisp and concise. Mentioning too much information often makes the recipient bored and uninterested in reading the mail further. Only the required information shall be sent in short and simple sentences. Lastly, knowing your audience is very important. Composition of email depends a lot on the kind of audience you are dealing with. Sometimes your audience is a bunch of informal people who do not require such polished messages. Therefore, make sure that your way of writing matches the expectation of the receivers.

Format of email writing

There are four steps to be followed while composing an email and they are :

●      Subject Line

●      Salutation

●      Body of the mail

●      Signature

Effective Email skills

“An email without clarity is just like an annoying meme, just say what you want or get out the way”.

Jordie Van Rijin

There are certain skills that help you to write effective emails formally and informally. Various factors to be kept in mind are, firstly one should check the tone in which the message is supposed to be reached. While we physically meet a person, we can understand what the other person is feeling through their body gestures. Unfortunately email writing is a written communication and does not infer the feelings of the recipient. The tone of the message should be very elegant and the choice of words shall be appropriate.

Politeness is another factor to consider while composing the message. The opening sentence shall start with “ Hope you are doing fine” or “ Hope you are in good health” and the closing sentence shall incorporate words like “Yours sincerely”, “Regards” etcetera. One should avoid using slangs and abbreviations to hold the aspect of politeness in their message. Another factor is the subject line, a well written subject line will always hold countenance and importance. One can deliver the most important information in one line which is the subject line. However, it should always be catchy and easy to comprehend.

Conclusion

“Email is 20-30 times more effective in generating a purchase than any other tool”.

Josh Kaufman

Always remember one thing that a well-written email will always give a good impression of you to the receiver. The first and foremost way of communication in a formal way is through emails, thus incorporation of email skills are vitally important. It is such a vibrant way of communication that confirmation messages from Zomato till Facebook, all are received through emails. Even though certain companies use specific sites to do formal communication, the concept of email has yet not failed. This is the only reason why it is said, never forget your roots.

Reference Links

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2. Romano, A. (2020). To explore the memes of quarantine, we built a Quarantine House meme. [online] Vox. Available at: https://www.vox.com/2020/5/7/21238720/quarantine-house-meme-best-quarantine-memes .
3. Wylie Communications, Inc. (n.d.). Why email writing is important. [online] Available at: https://www.wyliecomm.com/writing-tips/how-to-write-an-email/why-email-writing-is-important/#:~:text=Inbox%20is%20king%3A%20%E2%80%9CEmail%20may.
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