Email Etiquette - Things to Consider

What’s so important about email etiquette? - Email is a powerful and versatile form of communication, but if you don’t follow some basic guidelines you can find your message marginalized or not read at all. As in any form of written or oral communication there are accepted practices that must be adhered to if you want the best results. This article outlines some of the practices and guidelines.

CC and BCC

Some people would rather not have their email shared with other without their permission. Remember to use the CC: field only for a small number of associated recipients and only when it is necessary for them to receive your message.  It is not advisable to put all of the addresses in the CC: field when sending out an email to many different people. Using the BCC: field will mask the email addresses of all recipients, preserving their privacy.  As an even better alternative, use the mail merge feature in Microsoft Word to send a message to multiple recipients.

Subject Line

A meaningful subject line does multiple things for you. It lets the recipient easily identify your message and it’s topic, it keeps you from getting caught by spam filters and it makes the email easier for you to identify the reply if one is necessary. Whenever possible be specific and use capitalization similar to what would be used in the title of an article.

Get to the point

Don’t bury your message within rambling paragraphs that can detract from the overall meaning. Choosing your words carefully and staying on message makes it easier to get your point across without wasting anyone’s time or risking not getting your message through. Summarizing long discussions or quoting from an earlier correspondence can really help you get your point across in a brief and concise manner.

Repeat yourself

When you find yourself sending the same or similar messages over an over you should consider creating templates. These are great for things such as directions to your office, how to subscribe to your newsletter or other instructional emails or even perhaps to thank them for closing a sale or asking for referrals. Just make sure to add a small personal touch to keep the message from sounding canned.

Keep the conversation going

In replying to an email the courteous thing to do is keep the message you’re responding to in the reply. This allows the recipient to be reminded of the context of your message. You never know what volume of email they receive, so continuing the message thread will ensure that the lines of communication don’t get crossed or your message confused.

Read before you send

Your message may be clear in your head, but once it is typed it may be a different story. Try to read the message through the eyes of the recipient to avoid misunderstandings or inappropriate or potentially misleading information. Also, do yourself a huge favor and make sure that spelling, grammar and punctuation are correct.

Get personal

Make sure that each email you send is personally addressed and offers the appropriate greeting. Personalized messages are much more likely to be read and remembered. This is especially true in communications with clients, as emails can be the most common way to stay in touch with them and a personal touch cements the personal bond. Avoid rudeness, inappropriate comments and insults in email, they can always come back to haunt you and are seldom effective.

Privacy Please

Keep in mind that email is not exactly private communication. Unless you use encryption or secure email the email message you send goes out through the Internet to its recipient. Never transmit highly confidential or sensitive information in an email if you can avoid it. You never know who the email could be forwarded to, who could stumble upon it at a later date or if it might be inadvertvertently sent to the wrong party.

Don’t use ALL CAPS

Just as you wouldn’t speak in a really loud voice in someone’s office you should not use all caps in an email message. It is annoying and difficult to read and may trigger the opposite of the response you were looking for. There are many other ways to get an important point across, all caps should be that last method you use.

A simple look

Complex email templates with frilly backgrounds, tons of images and uncommon fonts may look great when they’re being written, but on the other side they may not have the same appeal. Each email client (Outlook, Apple Mail, AOL, Gmail, etc) will render the message a little differently and many people have their email client set to not display images at all. Keep your email messages simple and you can be relatively sure of what the reader will see when it’s delivered.

Don’t get too attached

Attaching files to a message is an easy way to get documents and files from one place to another, but should only be used when necessary. Large files can bog down networks and servers, while certain files will not be allowed to pass through to the recipient at all. Keep attachments to a minimum and always make sure the files are virus-free before sending.

Forwarding and forwards

Forwarding useless emails takes up your time and the recipients’ time. If you must forward something, strip out the unnecessary information and just send the body of the message. Do not forward chain letters. There is absolutely no benefit to these time-wasters. Funny jokes and stories might be a little bit of a fun diversion, but sending a link to something you find entertaining is just as effective.

Keep in touch

A well-crafted email signature is a great way to make sure that your audience can get in touch with you in other ways and find out about your business. Try to avoid using lots of graphics, as these may not display correctly to the recipient.

It’s a personal business

Obviously different rules of etiquette apply in business email than would in personal email. In both instances, however it is important to respect the recipient’s right not to be bombarded with useless or poorly constructed emails. Pay attention to the things that waste your time or annoy you and follow the golden rule. Many employers enforce an email policy, but it can be quite easy to self-govern your email habits. You’ll find that the response you get from paying attention to your emailing habits will be a positive one.