What’s the best way to introduce yourself in an email? How do you sign off? What about the subject line? It may seem silly, but there are proper rules to writing business emails that you need to follow if you want your messages to be taken seriously by your recipients. However, let us know what the definition of a business email is?
What Is a Business Email?
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Written correspondence sent via email is generally referred to as business email. It should be sent through an official account, like your business email address. It shouldn’t be informal or casual—exactly how you don’t use text talk in professional correspondence.
This doesn’t mean business emails have to be boring, though! A suitably formatted business email doesn’t have to look stuffy or unnatural at all. Here are some tips for writing great-looking messages.
8 Professional Business Email Writing Tips
Now it’s time to unveil the eight professional business email writing tips to write a formal email quickly:
1. Subject Line
[Subject Line] Dear [First Name], [Salutation] Hi [First Name], Using appropriate email etiquette is critical in business. Whether you’re writing an email that will be sent outside your company or just sending emails between employees, pay attention to basic email etiquette—it makes things easier for everyone.I’ve put together a few tips that you should keep in mind next time you’re firing off an email at work. Do:
- Use proper format.
- Avoid excessive punctuation and ensure all capital letters are appropriate (e.g., only use bold when it really needs emphasis).
- Keep it clean, straightforward, and uncluttered; if necessary, re-read your message out loud and check for spelling errors and typos.
2. Opening Sentence/Paragraph
Good business email is like polite, public speech. It’s concise and appropriately direct. The length of an email doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you remain professional throughout your correspondence, regardless of whether you’re emailing your client with details about their order or co-worker about last night’s company party?
Here are some business email tips: First, always address people by their name and title. Don’t just type Hi; it makes you look like an amateur!
3. Warm Welcome
When you’re writing an email for business purposes, greeting your recipient with a warm Hello/Good Morning/Good Afternoon will set a more professional tone than simply Hi. Even if you know each other well, follow-up emails can be inadvertently misconstrued as rude or lazy.
So always start with something like Good Morning Lauren, and follow it up with something casual like Hope your morning is going well! This tells your contact that they’re on your mind and that you respect their time by starting right away.
Lastly, make sure that there are no capital letters in any part of your salutation; it comes across as terse and can come off as being overzealous.
4. Quick Recap (if needed)
Don’t use exclamation points!!!! Always include your recipient’s name. Make sure your email makes sense before you send it. Proofread and re-read. And when in doubt, call! Learn how to use bcc (blind carbon copy) instead of cc (carbon copy). Please don’t make assumptions about who might be interested in your email or how far it should go.
Reply promptly to every message that comes your way, no matter how busy you are; people will appreciate it and remember you for it later down the road! Include attachments only if necessary; there’s nothing worse than an enormous attachment we don’t want or need clogging up our inboxes.
5. Body Paragraph 1 – The Relevant Details
If you want your email to get read, you need to include relevant details. This includes information about deadlines and next steps, as well as who’s responsible for what. A business email is no place for flowery language or long-winded phrases that don’t impact actionable outcomes.
Be straightforward and honest with whatever it is you’re communicating; after all, that’s what every employer wants from their employees!
If your email also has attachments (such as an invoice), don’t forget to mention those too. The sooner someone has what they need, whether financial data or status updates, the better!
6. Body Paragraph 2 – The Main Message
While there are certainly no set-in-stone rules for writing business emails, there are some basic guidelines to follow. First and foremost is readability: your email should be easy to read, even if it’s on mobile.
Use proper formatting by using heading tags (H1, H2), bullet points, bold text, and italics where appropriate. Your signature block should also be easily readable—with any additional links or videos linked within your signature block, not as attachments that recipients have to click through.
It’s also important to use your subject line wisely and make sure that it gives recipients all of the information they need about what your email contains in only a few words.
7. Body Paragraph 3 – Sign-Off, Call To Action, Additional Details (if needed)
A sign-off is more than just an opportunity to include a friendly sincerely or thanks—it can also be used to reiterate something you said in your introduction or even invite your readers into some action.
Even if you said it all in your body paragraphs, you can always go back and introduce another point—use that as an opportunity for another call-to-action statement.
Also, consider what else needs saying? Did you leave out an important detail or reason? Should you include information about when and how to reach you? These are all excellent opportunities for additional information.
8. Optional PS/Cc Line
A PS/Cc line is used when you have some additional information that needs to be conveyed, but it isn’t entirely relevant enough for an actual paragraph. For example, if someone asks me my favorite food, I would add that as a P.S. if they didn’t read all of my emails.
It’s also often used to think customer service complaints or marketing materials if you want someone to see something and then forward your email. Use caution here—you don’t want people feeling like they are being sold something every time they open up an email from you!
We’ve made it! Now you have all of these excellent business email tips. Use them in your career and make sure you follow the proper business email format. These can help you stand out in an inbox full of emails.
Have a look at these useful links:
- 10 Reliable Eassy Writing Tips
- How to speak English without hesitation
- Characteristics of language
- Grammar Translation Method
- How to improve pronunciation in English
Azizul Hakim is the founder & CEO at englishfinders.com. He is a passionate writer and content creator. He has been studied in English language and literature.
