How to design the perfect email

Copywriting is a people’s profession. Though most pen warriors sit behind laptops or PCs in isolation, they should ideally have an intuition about what readers are going to resonate with. Other than the making of spelling errors, there are a few email taboos that copywriters should leave well alone. This article dissects the perfect email, and offers a few solid email-crafting pointers to take note of:

Email-crafting pointers

Subject line

A solid email subject line immediately grabs the attention of a reader, and should prompt them to take action (opening the email being the first) and look at what the contents of the mail has to offer. Subject lines with emojis seem to enjoy increased open rates, and try to get the message across in as few words as possible.

Greeting

How do you greet your spouse or partner? Is it the same as when you greet your parents? In most cases it won’t be, and this emphasises the need for thought when starting your email. Avoid clichés like ‘Dear [person]’ or ‘Greetings [name], and opt instead for something different; like ‘Howdy [person]’ or ‘Howzit [person]’.

Intro paragraph

Once your greeting is finalised considering the formality and tone of your email, the next step is to get right into it. An introductory paragraph is an excellent point of departure. It should introduce the body of the mail by summarising what readers can expect to find out about below the intro paragraph.

Body of email

Your email body is where all the details and juicy bits of information should be mentioned. Remember that people don’t like reading large sections of text. Not only is it difficult, but anything that will distract from the core message is worth avoiding. Use paragraphs in your email body, and deploy bullet points or numbered lists where possible.

Outro paragraph

Your ending paragraph will most likely be the shortest, and should wrap up the email nicely by providing a clear course of action or outcome to the message. For example, if you’re emailing an irate customer, the outro paragraph could read something like, “In light of the above-mentioned staff shortcomings, we will rectify the situation and return contact as soon as the issue has been resolved.”

General pointers

• Don’t use all capital letters (except for in your subject line). People will think you’re shouting at them.
• Avoid using slang, especially if the email is intended as a formal communiqué. For example, there should be no slang in emails going out to clients, but intra-organisational use of email slang is fine.
• Don’t use ‘kind regards’ to end of your email (it’s so 2008). Come up with an original final greeting that means the same thing.
• Always double check that you’ve attached the thing to the email that you refer to when typing ‘please find attached…”

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