How many emails do you think you get a day? How many hours a week are you spending on catching up on emails? Studies have shown that we spend up to 4.1 hours a week going through our digital inbox, so it’s no wonder that a lot of the emails you do send out don’t get a response. You can get started on deleting spam-y emails and end up accidentally deleting a message from a real person.
So, how can you ensure that your emails are getting read? Despite the widespread availability of messaging apps like Slack, email remains the most used and effective way of delivering a digital message. Whether you’re sending documents to a customer, sharing project details with a colleague, or reviewing data with your supervisor, whenever you send an email, you want to get a response. So we’ve come up with a few tricks for not wasting your time or other’s people’s time. Here are our tips for crafting the crafty emails that will get people to read and respond to your online letters. 
Tip 1: Give Your Email a Subject
You might be tempted to fire off a quick email to someone if you’re super busy. Just a quick one or two lines should suffice, right? Wrong! As tempting as it is, don’t skip out on giving your email a subject line (don’t ignore Google’s suggestion). It makes your email look strange when it arrives in someone’s inbox, almost like a ‘suspicious message that could contain a virus’! To avoid getting deleted without even being read, try to include a brief yet clear subject line for your email.
Some suggestions are: “Questions about Project X,” “Info for Meeting on DATE/TIME,” and “New Report Avail: ABC should be modified.”
Bonus points if you can make it funny or interesting – we use unique subject lines if we haven’t heard back from a client in a while.
Tip 2: Write Short and Sweet Messages
Maybe our first tip didn’t resonate with you because you love to write long and flowery emails. Do you find yourself starting off formally? Do you read over old emails and think, “Gosh! I’m such a poet!” Some of us take a little too long to compose an email and that should be a warning sign. Emails are meant to be used for brief messages that may be too long or complicated for a phone call. So, use emails the way they’re meant to be. Emails should include:
(1) A simple greeting
(2) The reason for the email
(3) Details about the reason
(4) Call-to-action (what do you want the reader to do?)
(5) A simple closing greeting
Anything more is extra and, often, unnecessary.
Tip 3: Keep It Simple
This goes with the tip we shared above. Emails are meant for easy reading. Refrain from using fancy words or technical jargon that can confuse the reader. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself in a long chain of emails where you have to explain several things many times.
Tip 4: Tell Them What to Do
Don’t leave your reader wondering what they should be doing after they’ve read your email. You should provide a clear indication of what the next step is. Do you want them to confirm/approve of something you’ve attached? Do you want them to call and book an appointment? Whatever you need from them, tell them. There’s no need to be rude about it, but you shouldn’t beat around the bush or else you risk waiting for a response for a long time.
Tip 5: Sometimes Emails Aren’t a Good Idea
Emails are hackable. Yup, it’s true. Someone could get a hold of your account and read your emails. Scary, right? You can’t always prevent it, but you can prevent a hacker from getting a hold of private and confidential information. For example, never share passwords or answers to security questions over email. You should always call someone (or text them) if you need to get that kind of data to another person. If you’ve already done so, search through your inbox and delete it all. Make sure you delete the messages from your trash folder as well.
Here are a few signs you should probably meet a potential email reader in person:
(1) You’re sharing highly sensitive info (like above)
(2) Your message is getting really long and you don’t see any way of making it shorter
(3) The questions you are asking are complicated but there’s no way around it
Appreciate Emails for Their Unique Beauty
Emails are invaluable for business and personal communication, but remember that, like art, it takes skill and finesse to craft an effective piece. It takes practice – so don’t beat yourself up. But having said that, respect the medium for its intended purpose and make smart choices. Take care to notice when an email is going to be successful and when it’s likely to fail.
