How to Write a Professional Email?

Emails are the primary source of professional electronic communication in almost every industry. So, it is incredibly critical for you to write a meaningful and well-composed professional Email that will provide the recipients with a clear, actionable message.

You need to be concise and clear about what you are offering, and at the same time, you have to maintain a friendly tone throughout your Email. A professional Email forces the recipient to open, read, and respond as the sender wants.

However, writing a professional Email that fulfills all the proper criteria can be complex. So, in this article, we will talk about how to write a professional email that will help you get new connections and increase the response rate to your Emails.

What are the Tips for a Perfect, Meaningful, and Professional Email?

Here are some steps to follow if you want to write a well-structured professional Email.

• Never Skip the Subject Line

One mistake that many people make is that they skip the subject line as it is not part of the email message body. However, it is crucial to write a concise subject line that tells the reader why you have sent them the Email.

Every email we send has a goal that you need to display very attractively in your subject line. The reason is that many people read the subject of an email before going into the proper message. And if the subject doesn’t interest them, they ignore the Email.

You can ask a question to make your subject line catchy because that makes the reader curious. Refrain from writing greetings in your subject because that’s not professional.

• Appropriately Address your Recipient

The next very important thing is to greet and address the person properly before getting to your point. Any email that starts with a long boring note and ends without addressing anyone will never interest your recipient.

Emails are like electronic conversations, so you have to treat them the same way as your normal conversations. You can begin with ‘Hi (Mr. /Ms. Name of your recipient),’ or you can say ‘Good Morning /Good Evening’ to give your Email a professional start.

If you are a company manager, university personnel, or anyone who needs to address more than one person, you can start with ‘Hello all /Hi Team’ and CC it to all the people you want to forward the email to.

• Identify your Audience 

When writing a professional email, you have to keep in mind the audience and use the language accordingly. For example, there is no point in using typical business language when writing about an official update to your colleague.

Similarly, if you are trying to approach a new client or company, you will use very professional, smooth, and concise language instead of adding a joke or anything informal.

• Use Simple and Easy Language

Writing a professional Email doesn’t mean that you have to use tricky language or very difficult vocabulary; people have to use a dictionary every 5 seconds to understand your point.

You have to be clear about what you are offering in the Email and how you want them to respond, but you have to use a simple and easy language. You can also make your Emails easy to read by adding paragraphs and indentations and highlighting the important points.

• Keep Your Message Short and Concise

An important tip while writing a professional Email is to keep your message short and concise. You don’t have to throw all the information you have towards the recipient because that will make your Email extremely long and boring.

And no one likes to read long Emails because they tend to lose focus very easily. But you can skim your message instead of writing an essay and make your point. Short Emails convey the message to the recipients and make them respond seem impressive and professional.

You have to understand that the people you are sending Emails to don’t have all day, and they probably won’t have time to read a long Email. And in case you send them along with one, they will ignore it and get busy with the other ones.

• End with a Powerful Email Sign-off

Proper Email sign-offs are the right way to close a professional Email. You can add something like ‘Sincere Regards’ or ‘Thank you for taking out time for us’ to add a nice touch while closing your professional Email.

However, the best way to end your Email is by adding your Email signature that is difficult and expensive to create on your own. But you can use your email signature and use their ready-to-use templates or even customize your signature at very affordable rates.

• Always Proofread your Email

Never forget to proofread your Email because a professional Email should be grammatically correct, including spellings, punctuations, and language.

As humans can make a million mistakes, it’s only better to proofread your professional Email before sending them.

• Generate a Copy of your Email

You don’t need to keep a record of your informal Emails, but you must have a copy for yourself when it comes to professional Emails.

A copy will act as a reference where you can always look back to see what you said in your email if there’s some unexpected response. You can make a folder and all your important Email copies there.

• Don’t Forget to Follow-up 

Email follow-ups are super important, especially when your recipient hasn’t responded to you for more than 2-3 working days.

It’s very effective when you ask the recipients if they have got your message and their views because that shows your dedication to making them respond.

Elements to Avoid in a Professional Email 

Now, let’s talk about what you have to avoid while writing a professional Email to make your message stand out.

• Funky Font Styles

You need to avoid funky font styles that might look quirky and fun, but they seem extremely odd in a professional Email. When you are writing an email to your family and folks, stylish fonts work great, but that’s because it is the informal/non-professional message.

If you want the recipient to take you seriously, you will have to maintain a serious tone and keep the visuals subtle in your Email. Another important thing is the use of colors which will look very off if you overdo it. Keep your Email monotonous and only use another color to highlight something.

• Use of Slangs

A very important rule of professional writing is to write in grammatically correct and highly formal language. You don’t have to use big words while composing your emails because the idea is to make the recipients understand your message.

However, you need to avoid slang in your professional Emails because that won’t make you appear serious about the business.

• Emails without Email Signature

Avoid writing professional Emails without an Email signature because they act like brand enforcers and appear very professional. People take Emails with a signature very seriously because it makes them see the effort you have put in to provide them with ways to contact other than Email.

You can use your email signature to create customized Email signatures and build trust between you and your Email recipients.

• Emoticons

Last but not least, you need to avoid the use of emoticons. You have to understand that it is a formal Email where you expect people to respond to you professionally after reading your message. Emoticons are great for expressing what you feel but only in casual chats with your friends and family.

Final Words

Here we want to conclude our article about writing a professional email, and we hope that our tips will help you become an excellent email writer. As writing professional Emails is a critical skill, you can always come back to our guide and get the necessary help.