• About Us
    • New York
  • Work
  • Capabilities
  • Careers
  • Technology
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • New York
  • Work
  • Capabilities
  • Careers
  • Technology
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
September 15, 2014

E-mail Etiquette: DO’s and DON’T’s of the Perfectly Written E-mail

Posted by Natalee Geldert

E-mail messaging now exceeds telephone traffic and is the dominant form of business communication.

Don’t you wish that every person who received a new e-mail account had to agree to follow certain rules to use it? There are certain standards expected for e-mail use and below are just a few to keep in mind when communicating with fellow business contacts.

DO’s:

  • Make sure your e-mail includes a courteous greeting and closing.
  • Address your contact with the appropriate level of formality.
  • Just because someone doesn’t ask for a response doesn’t mean you ignore them.
    • Always acknowledge emails from those you know in a timely manner.
    • Responding promptly doesn’t necessarily mean that they need to have answers right away.
  • Always extend the offering to “hop on a call” or “feel free to pass along any additional questions.”
  • Clients are busy. Prioritize the most important points to the top of e-mails.
    • Buried points are more likely to be missed.
  • Keep messages brief and to the point.
    • Just because your writing is grammatically correct, does not mean that it has to be long.
  • Rare use of “my” or “I.” Make sure your client understands there is a team supporting their business not just an individual.
    • “Here are our recommendations” vs. “Here are my recommendations”
    • “Attached please find the projections that we put together” vs “I put together”
  • Spell check!!!

DON’T’s:

  • Don’t engage in rounds of e-mails when a quick phone call could resolve the question.
  • Don’t introduce a new topic in the middle of an e-mail thread. If you’re changing the subject, create a new message with a different subject line.
  • If your e-mail is emotionally charged (which it SHOULD NOT be), walk away from the computer and wait to reply.
  • Refrain from using multiple font colors in one e-mail.
  • Don’t inject your opinion. Phrases like “I think…” or “In my opinion…” should be avoided.
    • Be confident in your recommendation – @ Bruce Campbell.
  • Words to omit:
    • Hey, Like, “as mentioned” or “as we discussed.”
    • Refrain from using “as I mentioned or as I said before…” – this is straight-up condescending.
  • Monitor …. The …. use …. Of …. Ellipses …., because let’s face it – they are annoying …..
businessemailemail etiquetterandom musings
Previous
Next

Latest White Papers

  • Shifting Plans for 2020 & Beyond
  • Game On: How Brands Can Log Into A Diverse Multi-Billion Dollar Industry
  • What CCPA Means For Brands
  • How Google is Improving Consumer Data Privacy
  • Ways to Prepare for the Cookieless Future
  • See all White Papers

Featured Posts

  • Ad Age Names PMG #1 Best Place to Work in 2021
  • Hindsight 2020 & Looking Ahead to 2021
  • Preparing for Streaming’s Growth & The Future of TV Buying
  • MediaPost Names PMG Independent Agency of the Year
  • PMG Client Portfolio Trends During Amazon Prime Day 2020

Categories

  • Consumer Insights
  • Content
  • Creative Design
  • Data Analytics
  • Development
  • Digital TV & Video
  • Ecommerce
  • Industry News
  • Local
  • Mobile
  • Paid Search
  • PMG Culture
  • Programmatic & Display
  • SEO
  • Social Media
  • Structured Data
Fort Worth

2845 West 7th Street
Fort Worth, TX 76107

Dallas

3102 Oak Lawn Avenue
Suite 650
Dallas, TX 75219

Austin

823 Congress Avenue
Suite 800
Austin, TX 78701

London

33 Broadwick Street
London
W1F 0DQ

New York

120 East 23rd Street
New York, NY 10010

Get in touch

(817) 420 9970
info@pmg.com

Subscribe to the PMG Newsletter
© 2021 PMG Worldwide, LLC, All Rights Reserved
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
 Tweet
 Share
 Tweet
 Share
 Tweet
 Share
 LinkedIn
We and our partners use cookies to personalize content, analyze traffic, and deliver ads. By using our website, you agree to the use of cookies as described in our Cookie Policy.