Email may be the single most productive marketing tool you can wield on the Internet. It gets up close and personal, showing your brand to prospects. To some readers, it feels almost as intimate as a phone call, but is never as disruptive. If you can keep your business email writing on point and of interest to the reader, your emails will build credibility and recognition for you and your brand.
Business Email Writing: Subject Line
If your name is not on the short list of priority senders a reader always reads first, then your subject is the headline that will either earn a click, a pass, or a deletion. Intriguing headlines get the clicks, but you should avoid tricks that can backfire if readers feel your content fails to deliver on your headline.
Tried-and-true headlines include numbered lists, how tos, and promises to solve a problem. Load your subject with the important words first, as many email programs cut off subjects at fifty characters or even as few as twenty.
Business Email Writing: Content
Engaging content solves problems for readers. Surveys can help you hone in on the content that your audience would like to read. Paying attention to those who click links in your emails and those who unsubscribe will further inform the topics you choose to address in your business email writing.
Every business email should get to the point immediately. Most recipients get far more email than they can process and will appreciate your directness. They also like it short. Consider having readers click through to a web page if your content will run more than 200 words.
Ideally, the first or second paragraph will state your purpose and explain how you will deliver on the promise you made in your subject line. You can use headings to break up chunks of text and allow readers to scan for pertinent information. This will then make it easy for them to retrieve the gist of a message should they need to refer back to it at a later date.
Remember that a casual tone does not forgive a sloppy approach to spelling and grammar. If you want people to treat you as a professional, your business email writing must set that standard for your brand.
Business Emails: Familiarity Breeds Fans
Businesses who use the responses of their email readers to guide their content creation and product development find that some of these readers go on to become brand ambassadors. Something about seeing a brand in their inboxes and hearing that “voice” in the messages causes them to invest in brand’s promotion. Use these tips to inform your business email writing and start creating the engaging content that helps you to connect with those who will become your biggest fans.
