You are a fan of letter writing, but much to your regret, your correspondents now want to exchange exclusively by email? Emails, electronic mails, or simply emails, this mode of communication has largely replaced carrier pigeons. Less romantic, but faster, it also follows different writing rules, especially in the professional field!
To turn you into the new Jean-Jacques Rousseau of the office, here are some rules, tips, and tricks for writing emails that will dazzle your recipients. And don't worry, your legendary prose will continue to shine, this time at lightning speed!
With the evolution of our communication methods, the writing rules have slightly changed. Don’t worry, we’re not talking about reinventing the French grammar, thankfully. But we are talking about adapting to a new format—the screen—and the requirements of the professional environment, which have also evolved.
If you are new to email writing, here are the key steps to start, before diving into the details of professional email writing.
Before learning how to write an email, the first step is to choose your author name. For personal exchanges, your email can simply consist of your first and last name, like: firstname.lastname@outlook.com.
Pro Tip: Create a personalized professional email address, which includes your company name, such as: firstname@mycompany.com. This way, your readers will instantly recognize your organization, which increases your chances of being read and, more importantly, being taken seriously!
Once your email address is set up, you are ready to communicate with your beloved recipients. To send your first message, just create a new email, add the recipient's address, subject, and write the content. But be careful, email writing is an art that needs to be mastered to capture your readers' attention.
Every day, we are inundated with a myriad of information to process. In the workplace, we can receive hundreds of emails a day! This is why your emails should quickly capture the attention of your readers. So think about creating clear, readable, and well-structured emails to ensure that you are read and understood.
Whatever type of email you send, writing an email should meet certain criteria. From the subject line to the signature, every detail sends a message to your recipient.
In business, emails are one of the pillars of communication strategy. From a simple meeting request to negotiations, a readable and coherent email helps communicate effectively with your recipients.
To learn how to write a quality email, here are the 8 elements to master:
Whether you're writing an email to one person or several recipients, the first step is to insert the exact address of each recipient. If you’re sending a group email, make sure to choose the correct section for adding their addresses! You have several options:
A few mistakes to avoid when adding recipients:
Unique to emails, the subject line is used to name the intention of your message. It’s the first thing, alongside your name, that appears in your recipient’s inbox. If written well, it captures the reader’s attention and encourages them to open your message!
First, your subject line should remain brief, between 5 and 8 words maximum. Then, clearly state the purpose of your email by choosing a relevant formulation for the recipient. Avoid words like "free", "gift", "urgent", as they could send your email to the recipient’s spam or raise suspicion.
Here are some examples of subject lines:
To start an email well, customary politeness formulas are required. Like in a cover letter, you want to make the best impression possible!
To address your recipient appropriately in a professional setting, here are different ways to begin your email:
Be careful, a simple "Hello" might seem both informal and too impersonal! Always think about the nature of your relationship with the recipient(s). You can adapt the formulation based on the situation.
Wondering how to write an effective email introduction?
Once you've handled the formalities, it's time to get to the point. What do you want to say or ask your reader? Remember that you want to be direct and clear—an email is typically read in a few minutes, and your recipient might not have much time.
Remember to always follow a salutation with a comma! After that, you can begin your professional email with an introductory sentence. You may introduce yourself, respond to received messages, or present the subject of your email.
[ Dear Mr. Thomas,
Thank you for your email and your kind offer of professional collaboration. ]
To communicate effectively by email, it’s important to follow certain writing guidelines. Reading on a screen isn’t as natural as reading on paper! The body of your email should be structured to be clear, concise, and easy to read.
Here are a few tips to ensure your content is readable:
Finally, you should maintain a professional tone in your emails. Tailor your content to the recipient by using a formal tone, or a friendlier one if it’s someone you regularly work with. And above all, avoid excessive exclamation marks and capitalized words. This could give the wrong impression regarding the tone you intend to convey.
Now that you know how to structure a well-written email, it’s time to close it gracefully. Just like in a traditional letter, including a polite closing at the end of your email is a sign of respect and professionalism towards your recipients.
Depending on the situation or the nature of your relationship, here are several possible sign-offs:
The closing phrase is always followed by a comma, before inserting your professional email signature.
[ I thank you in advance for your consideration. I look forward to your response and send you my best regards.
Best regards,
Simone de Beauvoir ]
Finally, the cherry on top: the signature adds the finishing touch to your professional email. Did you know that there are different email signature formats? Rather than just adding your name at the end, an automated signature is inserted at the end of all your emails, adding a professional and colorful touch, with all the necessary information about you and your company.
Typically, it includes the following information:
First, a custom professional signature first displays your brand identity at the end of every email. And this applies to every team member! Furthermore, your personalized signature provides instant access to all your information and makes it easier to contact your recipients.
Additionally, your automated signatures can be accompanied by discreet email campaigns!
Wondering how to attach a document to your email? It's simple. To add an additional document to your email, you just need to upload it so it appears at the end of the message. This type of attachment doesn't affect the structure of your content and is typically viewed by your recipient. You can always mention it in your message:
[You will find my invoice attached.]
[Please find attached the requested report for your evaluation. Feel free to share any feedback or questions you may have.]
In other cases, you can embed a photo or document directly within the body of the text. In this case, keep the image in a reasonable size so that the reader can view the text that follows it.
A few things to check when adding an attachment:
Now that you know how to write a professional email, here are the last steps to verify before clicking "send." When reviewing your message, you want to make sure you meet all the criteria mentioned above and correct any errors.
Once these elements are checked, your first professional email draft is ready to take flight!
Here are some examples of emails and templates to follow when writing your first professional emails.
Subject: Request for Information on Your Services
Dear Mr./Mrs. [Recipient's Name],
I am reaching out on behalf of [Your Company] to obtain further information about the services you offer. We are currently seeking a solution in your area of expertise, and would like to learn more about your offerings.
Could you please send me a brochure or detailed documentation about your services, as well as information on your pricing and terms and conditions?
Thank you in advance for your help, and I am available should you have any further questions.
Best regards,
Subject: Internship Request - Marketing Student
Dear Mr. Martin,
My name is Laura Dubois, and I am currently a second-year Master's student in Marketing at the University of Paris. I am reaching out today to express my strong interest in doing an internship at your company, ABC Marketing.
I am particularly attracted to your company due to its reputation for innovation and its commitment to excellence in the digital marketing field. Your strategic and creative approach inspires me, and I am confident that an internship at ABC Marketing would allow me to gain valuable experience in this area.
During my studies, I have developed strong skills in market analysis, marketing strategy, and project management. I have also had the opportunity to apply my knowledge during previous internships at XYZ Agency and DEF Corporation. I am convinced that my skills and enthusiasm could be a great asset to your team.
I am available to undertake a full-time internship for 6 months starting next September. I am particularly interested in opportunities to work on projects related to digital marketing and social media._
Thank you for considering my request, and I am available for any additional information. I am looking forward to contributing to ABC Marketing's team and learning from talented professionals like you.
Kind regards,
Would you like to create the ultimate professional email? Use a signature solution tailored to your needs! With customization features and centralized management, Letsignit allows you to create your own signatures in line with your brand identity. Enjoy consistent signatures that ensure your company's credibility with every interaction with clients, colleagues, or partners!
Yes, with the 'Campaigns' offer, it is possible to track the number of clicks on the email signatures of all your employees in the 'Statistics' area of the platform.
You can then access a detailed or global view of the number of clicks on the email signatures of each employee. You can use the search option to target a specific signature or a given period. Finally, you have the possibility to export all statistics to an Excel document.
If you launch campaigns with banners inserted in your email signatures, you can also access their performance via this same space.
With Letsignit, you can easily add social network icons in your collaborators' email signatures and link to your company pages. Also, our "attributes" feature allows you to manage personalized URLs for each of your collaborators such as their individual LinkedIn profile.
And that's not all: you can add links to an appointment-setting application, allow your customers to leave reviews easily, and integrate our 'Chat on Teams' widget to let anyone start a discussion via Microsoft Teams chat.
It’s up to you! As an administrator of the Letsignit platform, you choose whether or not to grant modification rights to your employees. These permissions are managed on an attribute-by-attribute basis, which means that you can decide to allow the employee to change their phone number, but not the address of your premises, for example.
This feature applies to all attributes in your directory, including custom attributes created on Letsignit. When your employees change one or more attributes, your directory is obviously not affected.
It often happens that employees make their email signature their own: custom format, bad fonts, colors inconsistent with the brand standards... all of this has an impact on your brand!
A consistent visual identity is considered authentic and outperforms a perceived weak one by 20%. And, your customers are 2.4 times more likely to buy your products.
With Letsignit, take back control over your brand identity by standardizing all your email signatures. Our tool has many features that allow you to customize your signatures by department, by audience or by subsidiary. Not to mention the possibility of carrying out campaigns within your email signatures thanks to our Campaign offer.
What is the user experience like for our employees?
In both cases:
In short, they have autonomy in their email signature, but you keep control on the field, signatures, and banners they can edit or use.
With our "multi-signature" feature, your employees can benefit from multiple email signatures. No technical manipulation is required. Thanks to our Add-in for Outlook or the desktop app, they can change their email signatures as they wish with just a few clicks.
Regarding the creation of email signatures, you can make several variations such as:
Everything has been thought of to go further in the personalization process based on the recipient of your emails.
If sending emails has an impact, non-optimized email signatures also have an impact. An unsuitable format or an image that is too heavy considerably increases the size of your signatures... and therefore, your emails.
As a responsible economic actor, we contribute to reducing our CO2 emissions and those of our customers in several ways:
As we are increasingly involved in sustainability initiatives, our priority in 2023 is to develop even more green IT functionality.
If sending emails has an impact, non-optimized email signatures also have an impact. An unsuitable format or an image that is too heavy considerably increases the size of your signatures... and therefore, your emails.
As a responsible economic actor, we contribute to reducing our CO2 emissions and those of our customers in several ways:
As we are increasingly involved in sustainability initiatives, our priority in 2023 is to develop even more green IT functionality.
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