Email is critical to the work of over half of the workers surveyed by the Pew Research Center on Technology’s Impact on Workers. The bar graph on the right shows that 61% of workers said that email was “very important” to their work.
Why Strong Emails Matters
The better you are at writing emails, the better you are likely to do in the workplace. As more businesses and organizations skip paper-based communication and turn to email, you will find that you spend a great deal of time reading, writing, and responding to email messages in the workplace. With email such an important part of the work that people do, learning the strategies that ensure your messages get read and accomplish their goals is crucial.
How to Write Strong Emails
To improve your email savvy, consider these tips on writing the subject for your email messages. If you want your email message to be read, you need a subject line that gives readers a short description of the contents in a way that piques their interest in the topic. When a subject line doesn’t, it’s possible that people will just skip on to something else in their inboxes that is interesting or has a clear purpose.
So how do you make sure you have strong subject lines? Here are ten tips:
- Be sure you have a subject line in the first place. Email without a subject grabs no one’s attention.
- Think about your audience and purpose. Your subject should summarize your purpose in a way that the audience will understand.
- Keep it short, since only the first few words are going to show up in the receiver’s inbox. Stick to 50 characters or less.
- Put the most important words at the beginning. If your subject line does get cut off, you want to be sure the words that matter are visible. Additionally, people skimming down their inboxes look at the beginning of the subject, not the ends.
- Be specific. “Upcoming Trip” leaves the reader wondering whose trip and to where. “Your Upcoming Trip to NYC” is much clearer.
- Avoid all caps. Nobody likes all caps.
- Use emoji sparingly. If you aren’t sure that your recipient will know what the emoji means, don’t use it.
- Make the subject unique. If that subject could be added to nearly anyone’s message, try again. For instance, “A Question for You” could go on any email that asks the recipient a question. “Question About New Invoice System” tells the recipient exactly what to expect in the message.
- Think of your subject line like a headline for a news story. Make it click-worthy (but avoid misleading subjects that seem more like clickbait).
- Use title case, capitalizing every important word. Never use all lower-case, since it looks unpolished and less professional.
Note: This bar graph already has a transcript.
37 Comments
First of all, the bar chart above really surprises me because I thought that in the world we live now social media is integral in all parts of life including workplace but it does not seem that way. Maybe the reason emails are still the preferred way in workplace communication is just because it looks more professional and ethical compared to using Facebook and Twitter which are commonly used for leisure.
After reading this article and the previous ones before I now fully realised how important it is in having a good subject line for writing good emails which actually makes great sense. Just like how we chose to read random books at the bookstores based on the titles that is how emails should be treated as well. The tips for putting a good subject line may look simple but however that is the basis so if we could not get the subject line right in the first place it may be difficult for the messages to be notified by the recipient. We should always treat the subject line like a good first impression for our emails in order to make sure the recipient does not skip our emails and giving immediate responses to it.
I definitely agree with you; I also thought that social media would play a lager role than what the bar graph above displays. I would say that clothing and food businesses dabble in social media for advertising but not much else. However, there is such a larger variety of companies that a social media presence would just not be beneficial for.
I believe all the tips stated above will put anyone on the right track for writing a professional subject line. Although, with tip #5, I think leaving a bit of wonder can do you good with the write reader. In addition I try to keep all my subject lines to two, maybe three words to be as efficient as possible.
I somewhat agree with your statement, about tip #5. And I say this because I think it depends on the audience your email is going to, and the issue being discussed. If you are in the work place and there is an issue with something you are working on, I think you would want to be as straight forward with your email to get the issues fixed as soon as possible. If you try and leave a little wonder, someone might skip over the email and read it later which could be problematic. But there could be times for the subject line to leave the reader wondering, what examples of this were you specifically thinking of?
I’ve personally never used an emoji in a professional email, but have had bosses/professors use them. But this article, which I wholeheartedly agree with otherwise, suggests that it may be okay to use them as the long as the recipient will get what it means. I think they indicate a level of comfort with a person that would make the email less professional in other ways, like informal greetings or relaxed word choice. But I feel as though this article doesn’t make a distinction for only informal emails and some people (usually of an older generation) use them in first time emails. Is using emojis really a professional thing to do, even if they do understand what it means?
I don’t initially see using emojis as a professional thing to do, and I think as students/growing professionals we’ve been trained to avoid them in formal communication. However, I think the decision to use emojis depends entirely on the audience. For example, I think in manager-employee/professor-student first-time emails, the manager or professor might choose to use emojis to immediately set the tone for future communication. This tactic could even be used in communication of two people of the same “level” (employee-employee/student-student). However, I don’t think emojis should be used in first-time emails to a superior.
As another note, I also think that the idea of “professional” does not always have to equate to “serious”. Sometimes an emoji can lighten the tone of an email in the same way that an exclamation point can, and still be considered professional.
In addition to being more acceptable between peers than it is within a more hierarchical relationship, I think there’s a gender factor in emoji use as well. I’ve only ever exchanged emoji in emails with other women I’m working with; the men have been just super serious all the time. In those cases, I personally find it a very welcome emotional outlet in an otherwise emotionally-oppressive environment. And I think less serious interaction can actually help to develop a healthier and more sustainable workplace culture. Calling out the distinction between professional and serious is good insight.
The statistics from the bar graph aren’t surprising. In fact, I’d be surprised if e-mail wasn’t at the top. As a matter of personal experience working for the NSA, e-mails were read in the 100’s per day and sometimes 1000+ per week. In a time sensitive environment, having those e-mails processed and read could take hours, and many were pivotal in important collaborative tasks and projects. Considering the large volume and potential significance, clear, concise, and well written e-mails were highly valued.
As for the point on emojis, I believe the times are changing, and it’s not too far into the future where the use of emojis won’t be considered unprofessional. They are a tool like any other, and can convey meaning that words simply cannot (at least without appearing awkward). It’s coming to the point where not understanding a common emoji could be considered on the same level as not knowing how to read.
I agree completely about the emojis. At least in the technology sector, many companies are moving away from traditional professionalism in the workplace. One common example is not having dress codes anymore. I believe that as this trend continues, we will be using emojis more and more in the workplace.
I did a majority of communication through Slack (instant-messenger) during my time at IBM. Emojis were extremely prevalent through that medium, but not necessarily through email. I do not think I would ever use an emoji in a subject line to a superior unless they did it first. A strong subject line is important but I would always try to match the form of my emails to the ones I receive.
The same is true here as well. Slack was our main communication tool in the office. I have a feeling as chat apps like Slack continue to proliferate through the industry we will see the rise of emoji-based communication in the workplace.
I knew that technology is becoming a big part in the workforce because it is a faster way to communicate. Writing an email can be sent/received in an instant, while a letter takes a lot longer to receive. So it was not surprising to me to see that email was the top tool that online workers use. However, it did surprising me that landlines are actually used more so than cell phones and the difference is 11%! I was also surprised at how low the social media percentage of use was. I feel like in this day of age social media is very common, some companies may use it to advertise a position that they have open or maybe about a job task that they just completed.
I found the statistic from the article interesting that said 35% of workers say that the internet, email, and cell phones increase the amount of time they work. This makes sense if you think about it. Now that many technology heavy stuff are used in the work force, if someone needs to, they can technically take the work home with them, so it causes them to sometimes have to work more. I know that some companies have allow their workers to telecommute, so if someone needs to take a day off because they are sick, they might end up still having to do some type of work.
I see your point about how tech follows from work to the home. Now it’s hard to say that you left all of your files at work because you can always access them from home! The fact that the work place is saturated with technology is a clear indication that communication through that technology needs to be studied. Lessons on writing proper emails feels natural when you consider these statistics. The appreciation for these discussions grow with numbers.
I think all of the tips this article presents is accurate and provides valuable advice. Even when I get emails in my inbox that have uninteresting or subject lines that I do not think relate to me, especially if a professor sends out a mass email from canvas, I will not make it a priority to look at, and will put it off if I am busy.
In regards to using email as the primary communication medium in the workplace, I think this makes perfect sense. My older brother works at a fairly large company, and some work places will not let you have your cellphone on your or on, so the fastest way to communicate with other people in the company is to email them. Though he has mentioned there have been issues with people responding, because managers probably receive hundreds of emails pertaining to anything they are in charge of. I think one technological medium that would be beneficial to large companies to communicate is a company social media site. I will be co-oping at Exxon Mobil next semester, and they have a social media site that connects everyone who works at a specific site, this way it is easier to filter out emails that are directly related to work from personal life emails or spam, and makes it easier to communicate throughout the company/plant. I think more and more companies will take up this type of medium to communicate with each other in the future.
I agree with the fact that emails are efficient, and I think it’s a really interesting idea to have a work social media page where people can exchange ideas and thoughts quickly. I also think that people should also be able to text coworkers they are close with if they need something done quicker, but I think having everyone on the same page and only allowing them to have their computers would be an effective way of making sure people respond to emails in a timely manner and stay off other forms of social media.
I agree with all the ten tips above. They are useful when trying communicate through email. When looking through my email I instantly ignore anything that does not grab my attention. The subject line is crucial because is it the first thing that people read and if it does not grab them then they might not even look at it. When I have worked, email was a very important tool to use because everyone in the office worked right next to a computer. This made communication easiest. Even though calling through the phone was also good, if they don’t answer the first time then you’re better off just sending an email anyway.
Being able to use email efficiently is one of the most important things to be able to do in the workplace. If you are the initiating contact, it is important to use all of these tips. And if you are the one to receive an email, it is equally as important to respond in a quick and efficient manner.
I agree with you that I usually open emails that have a subject line that grabs my attention. I feel like the subject line is the key that impacts whether or not the receiver of the email will open the email. When I am going through my school or personal email, most times what makes me decide if I should open the email is what the subject line is about. If the subject line is about something that I do not have an interest in, I will most likely not open the email.
After reviewing this article, it is apparent that the author wanted to emphasize the use of an important subject line and the first 50 words in the email. I find this imperative to an effective email. It is interesting though that changing a few words in the subject line can change the tone of the email. Especially in the example about the business trip. By clearly specifying what the email is about will grab the reader’s attention.
The tip about using an emoji in an email is misleading. I personally believe an emoji should not be used in a email to a boss or professor. I find it very unprofessional and could be taken the wrong way. Along the lines of being unprofessional, I agree with the tip about not having a subject line with all lower case letters. Before reading this article, I have not considered this as a negative. However, I know in the future I will be more weary about the format of the subject line.
I agree with you on the significance of the subject line. In fact, I think I would consider it to be the most important part of amy email. When I’m reading through my email inbox, I would say that I delete at least half of my emails without reading anything other than the subject line. I think for most people, the subject of the email determines if they even open the email.
I also agree with your standpoint on putting emojis in an email. It seems highly unprofessional and distasteful. I think it’s okay to put an emoji in emails to friends and family, but not to anyone in a professional environment.
I found this article very helpful, as I have always struggled with creating captivating, yet informing subjects in my professional experience. I was slightly surprised that emojis can be appropriate in an email subject, but I could imagine how it could add value in certain cases. I would have found it valuable to see some examples of technical subjects comparing good examples and bad examples.
I think it is also important note that not all devices have the same set of emojis, if even emojis at all. As expressive as emojis can be in delivering emotion, Often times the emojis on other (non Apple) devices carry a different connotation behind them due to their distinctive design. This makes it easy to miscommunicate using emojis. What you see your end may be different from what your recipient sees on the other end. So as expressive as emojis can be in delivering emotion, we have to be careful and consider if those we are communicating with share the same system as us.
I agree with the article when it explains the being good at emailing people means you’ll do better at work because many people who read their emails daily, and have them organized either from read to unread or newest to oldest, they are more organized people in general. When you read your emails, then you know what you have to do and how to prioritize time so those go hand-in-hand. I also found that the topics here were similar to the previous ones explaining to leave a concise headline, use fewer, yet more descriptive words and understand your audience. When tip 6 said to not write in all caps, I understand that for the body of an email that doesn’t really make sense, however for a subject headline it could grab the reader’s attention. I know when something is in all caps I figure that it is more urgent, so I generally open those emails first. I also thought the bar graphs were interesting in showing the comparison of other social media with emails. In the real world most people communicate via texts and twitter/Facebook messages, but in the work world it’s more professional, so it’s important that companies not only use email within their company, but between other companies. When I interned at Clif Bar last year, everyone communicated with other food companies and even people within their team via emails, which made everything faster and more efficient.
I think this article sums up some of the discussion that we have had in the comments of both Wednesday’s and Thursday’s posts concerning subject lines. All discussion posts this week stressed a short yet informative subject line that gave your reader enough information and interest to read the body of the email.
One thing today’s post mentioned that has me slightly confused about how big of a shift it is from writing on paper to electronic. They seemed to make a big deal about learning to write emails, without acknowledging it is just a digital form of paper-based communication companies would be using previously. Email just takes whatever you would have written on paper onto an electric platform that is so much faster.
I am not surprised by the results of the survey that email is very critical to a person’s work. I know from my own personal experiences with internships that email is a daily tool used for communication not only in the workplace but with people outside your office or business. I found that I would spend a good amount of time crafting emails early on in my internships because I wanted to make sure they were well composed and didn’t give a bad impression.
I found this post very relatable and helpful to me at this point in my life. So much of our professional and academic lives are orchestrated and sometimes even determined through email. As a senior, I am used to receiving and responding to many emails daily. Most days, I receive 10-20. This number might seem high to me, but I am sure that other jobs are faced with many more pressing emails that require attention. It seems only logical to arm yourself with the best knowledge possible to make sure you can create the strongest emails you can since emails play such a big role in our daily lives.
I remember when I was a freshman in college, one of my biggest adjustments was understanding email etiquette, especially when conversing with professors, my coach, potential employers, etc. Before college, I had an older sister who helped me construct emails to send to college tennis coaches for schools I was interested in playing tennis for. I am glad I had her guidance to help me because since being on the team, my coach has casually mentioned how important email etiquette is to her when she recruits. She does not like emojis, slang, typos, and other generally unprofessional attributes like this post mentions. I am thankful that I have these resources to be able to construct appropriate emails on my own.
After reading this post and the tips listed, I began to reflect on emails that I have sent and received. These simple tips are, in fact, major solutions that many people discount when trying to get their message across. In a society that has come to expect instant gratification, if a subject line does not catch the eye of the receiver it will likely be immediately deleted. I know this because this is the type of person I am. I can’t begin to count how many personal emails I have deleted without even reading because of this very scenario. While this isn’t necessarily true of professional emails, it certainly impacts how quickly I open and read it. It is something that is so simple, literally just a handful of words, but impacts the effectiveness of conveying your message to someone. I believe this is something that many don’t consider, but should. I know I will moving forward.
I believe it is important to note that this article, and the data collected within, is from December 2014 – a little over 3 years ago. Due to the continued growth and expansion of technology in the workplace, it is safe to assume that the numbers and percentages presented in this article are out-of-date and underestimating the current dependence of technology in the workplace. Additionally, this article focused primarily on the use of internet and email in the workplace. While a lot of the information regarding emails still pertain to us as students, I have found a much more recent article that explains some of the other uses for technology in the workplace besides communication. A few of the topics covered in this article include: Efficiency and Productivity, Flexibility, and Mobility resulting from new technologies.
http://www.digitalistmag.com/future-of-work/2017/05/31/future-of-work-workplace-is-changing-in-2017-05104081
After reading your comment, I went back and looked at the figures and I think you’re right. I especially think social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, represents a much higher percentage. In every career development class I have had at Virginia Tech, professors have stressed the importance of linkedin.
After that, I read the article you posted and I really liked it. It did mention that Productivity and Growth is tied to effective and efficient communication. I think if we listen to the advice in this article, communication in the workforce and at school will be more efficient, and thus more productive.
I want to highlight a rather shocking quote from your article: “Between 45 % and 47 % of current jobs could eventually be lost to automation, with 7 % of that job loss coming by the year 2025.” This figure is scary but it reveals the necessity of learning how to work with technology. Technology is quickly shaping the workforce; its imperative we use it to our advantage and learn how to properly and effectively communicate.
This article is very helpful just like the other two previous articles. From my experience, I can tell that I skim through my email box and only read those emails that have interesting subjects and read only first few words that are shown even before I read emails and I actually read that email if those few words are interesting. However, I often found the emoji somewhat annoying when reading emails. It might be because I barely use it or I do not understand the meaning of it. The compact subject line that has a good point is important in my opinion.
I’m always direct with a subject line. It’s a few word summary, really. I say what it’s about and move on. I don’t find it particularly surprising that email is the main form of communication for employees in an office setting. I’ve held, I think, 6 part-time and 2 full-time jobs now. I’ve used email for all of them as the main written communication. The only exception was working at an Arby’s and texting coworkers about taking a shift. Especially for my full time jobs, even when I was working on non-networked machines, I had to send emails for everything, and especially to people I didn’t know.
I think this advice helps those who struggle with writing to people they haven’t met before or haven’t written to before. It’s common enough in the workplace as I’ve seen, e.g. reaching out to a H.R. rep. about employment paperwork. I think it’s important to write good emails in those particular situations because it’s one of the only impressions you might make with these individuals when you’ll more than certainly need to see them again later.
I feel like I always formulate a strong, appropriate subject line, but I never fully realized how important that aspect of an email was until now. This information clarified that a strong subject line is most necessary in constructing a strong email. I always try my best to create a strong subject line because that is the first information of the email that the recipient sees. If I am writing an urgent email where I am seeking a response right away, I want to insure that I grasp the recipient’s attention.
The provided graphic with this post further helps to reaffirm how important the format of an email is in the business world. As suggested by the depiction, email is one of the top tools used by online workers. Furthermore, individuals need to know every informative insight on how to write the best possible email.
I agree with the article that emails are an important part of the workplace. It’s how most people in workplace settings will communicate with one another. I was a bit surprised that the usage of cell phones and smartphones did not make it higher in the ranking however. I would assume that that would be second on the list because we use them for some many things already. It would take no time at all to send someone a message through text. Though I guess if this is in a professional setting it would be lower on the bar graph.
In regards to writing a strong subject line to grab the reader’s attention in a email, I think the tips given are good except for the emojis. If this is a professional workplace we’re talking about I don’t know if having emojis in your subject line at all would be considered professional.
Initially, I didn’t believe that emails are higher than the other choices in the graph due to the growth of social media in the past decade. Except, it makes sense. There is an informality when it comes to updates via Facebook or Twitter. I think that when people are in a work environment, they are keeping a level of professionalism. It makes sense to log onto your email to see messages needed for work rather than logging on Facebook to see a message from your coworker, but also a distracting dog-video on the newsfeed. We still get spam and phishing mails, but it is easy to differentiate those from important emails because they are sent to the spam folder.
I think that today’s post was helpful because the subject line is important to make sure your email is seen. It is the only thing the receiver sees before he or she opens it, thus; it needs to be of importance to the reader, otherwise they won’t open it. So, it should not sound like spam mail! Which is why using all caps or click baits are obnoxious and ineffective. Relating to this, I have had professors in the past whom mentioned in their syllabus to put the class name as the subject line or else the email will be sent to his spam folder.
The subject of an email is indeed the most important part of an email. An email with an effective subject is more likely to be read. This is the most thorough summary of how to write an effective subject I have ever seen. I agree with all the tips presented but one. I don’t think emoji should be used on the subject for any professional emails. Writing a friend might be ok. But even if a most common emoji like smiling face appears on the subject, this might leave the impression to the reader that this email is not important.
There is a lot of great and easy-to-follow advice packed into these tips. This article definitely follows what has been said in the last two posts – keep it “Short and Sweet.” This is why it is important to have strong subject lines, it is essentially an email’s “first impression.”
One thing I noticed specifically is that the article suggests 50 characters or less but this is not always the case. The previous infographic included an optimum word count for emails received on a mobile device; likewise, subject lines should also be adjusted. In this article (https://www.listrak.com/digital-marketing-automation/multichannel-marketing-solutions/mobile-marketing/subject-lines-for-mobile-devices.aspx) it reveals the word count for subject lines in the most popular smart phones. This is great if you know your recipient!
– iPhone = 35-38 characters portrait mode; 80 landscape mode.
– Galaxy S4 = 33 portrait mode; 72 landscape mode
– iPad: 39 characters both orientations
– iPhone 6+: 63 both orientations
That being said, its also important to notes that the email pre-header text shows up under the subject line. It is important that this pre header reinforces the subject and main message. The same tips presented here can be used for the pre-header text as well.
The most helpful tip for me was the point about the specificity of the subject line. I need to avoid using subejct lines that could “go on any email” and instead use words that tell the recipient exactly what to expect. The one thing I would caution with specificity is not making it too difficutl to search later. I know from experience it can be hard to find a message by seraching key words in the subject line, especially if you cant remember exactly what it said. So I think a subject line needs vague key words that convey its subject but also have specific words to make the message clear.
I was surprised at the fact that 35% of the people surveyed said that the internet has increased the number of hours that they had to work. That’s a pretty big percentage of the workplace who’s has to work outside of work, and I’m curious on how companies compensate their employees for working more hours outside of work, especially those on hourly wages.
Email is definitely one of the most, if not the most, important tool in the workplace. 61% of the people said that email is very important to do their job, which is no surprise. Email is the best way to get a message out to a group of people or to one person. But with the development of workplace messaging apps such as Slack, I’m curious about the future of emails in the workplace. Do workplaces utilize both messaging applications and emails, or will email slowly become phased out in the future?
The most surprising thing about this article is the graphic given along with it. I was stunned to see that only 24% admitted to using their smartphones in a work environment and that only 4% use social media platforms in work. I just assumed that both those figures would be a lot higher in today’s world where individuals are obsessed with their phones and social media accounts. However, it does not surprise me that email is the most commonly used form of communication in the workplace. Anyone that has worked in a job that uses a lot of technology, or needs to access the internet in order to work will admit to using email, almost non-stop, throughout a workday. This is why it is imperative that individuals are very punctual with their email’s. In this article, it stressed how important the subject line is to an email, and I would agree that it is very important when composing an effective email. A strong subject line should be concise, direct, and only contain information that is absolutely necessary for the reader to understand what the email is generally about. Mastering this skill will make you a much better communicator to your colleagues in the workplace.
This is another article that is talking about how to write an email. This time is how to write a strong email. I noticed that since there were two article that we already wrote about mentioned that how to write effectively. It is very important to say that an email with clear subject line and clear words to read is the way to write an email. In this article, I find something interesting is emoji. I use emoji a lot but just in text message or chatting online, I never try to use that in an email. I know different people have different understanding about the emoji. For example most of my friends use the smiling face as a provocation or some bad emotions. But my parents use these smiling faces just saying that they are happy. So it’s a good idea to not to use an emoji in an email unless I have known that the recipient knows what’s that means.