How to Write an Email: Professional, Formal, and Proper Communication Explained

Writing an email isn’t all about stringing words together. Instead, it’s about conveying the information clearly and respectfully.

Moreover, it’s an art to build relationships with the targeted audience and convince them to take specific actions.

Remember, your email can make or break your reputation. Therefore, when writing a professional email, never compromise below perfection. If you do so, you might not get the desired response from your recipients.

Do you want to master the art of writing powerful and convincing emails? You came across the right place. This guide will walk you through the essentials of email writing.

Let’s dive in straight away!

Understanding Email Structure

Before you craft an email, you must know its structure and key elements. Without these, you might make various mistakes, ruining your email.

Subject Line

The subject line is the first thing your recipients see. It provides a glimpse of the content. Therefore, it’s the most crucial element of an email. Remember, almost every one of us receives dozens of emails every day. And we don’t open each of them. The reason? Their subject lines are not compelling. Therefore, it matters more than anything else.

To increase the open rate of your emails, try these simple methods;

• Be direct
• Use action-oriented language
• Avoid vague terms
• Add keywords
• Promise some value to readers

Greeting

After crafting a powerful subject line, you should correctly and respectfully greet your readers. Your greeting must be professional and tailored to the recipient. Therefore, choose a formal greeting and avoid casual salutations unless you already have a strong relationship with the recipient.

Opening Line

The opening line or the introduction of your email is the first point of connection between you and your readers. Therefore, it must be engaging to keep readers hooked. If it’s dull, readers might not be interested in your email, so press the backspace button. So, it must be clear, concise, and to the point.

Main Body

The main body is arguably the most crucial part of an email, where you present all the necessary details and explanations. No matter what, you cannot compromise on the main body at all. Everything in your main body must be clear, understandable, and organized. If it’s not, you might not achieve the desired results.

Here are a few tips to improve the main body of your emails;

• Present key information in bullet form
• Keep your paragraphs short
• Use simple language

Closing

Closing in the email writing differs from the essays and other types of content. In emails, you must recap your email and guide your readers on what steps they should take now. So, you should also add a call to action in this section to make your emails valuable for you.

Tips to Write an Outstanding Email

Although writing a professional email can be challenging, following these tips can help you improve your email game.

   1. Keep it Concise

Remember, emails are not like blog posts and articles. In emails, you must convey the information in the minimum number of words possible. Therefore, they should be brief and to the point. Never add unnecessary details that could dilute the main message when writing an email.

Always respect your readers’ time and keep your emails concise without ruining the original message. This will make your emails more effective and help you achieve the desired results.

Here are some helpful strategies to make your emails concise and impactful;

• Use short sentences
• Avoid adding unnecessary details
• Remove redundancy
• Cut unnecessary words
• Eliminate fluff

     2. Use Clear Language

If you want your recipients to understand your message and act accordingly, be cautious about your email’s language. Clarity is one of the leading factors determining your emails' overall quality. Therefore, no matter what, always use direct language.

To ensure clarity, you must avoid jargon and technical terminologies that not everyone can understand. If you add lots of jargon and complex words in your emails, most of your readers won’t be able to comprehend your message, and they will immediately press the back button.

Besides, avoid writing in a passive voice. Although passive voices can be helpful in some cases, you should not use them when writing a formal email. They can make the text look confusing and lead to miscommunication.

    3. Write Short Paragraphs

Longer paragraphs are inevitable in multiple types of content. However, there is no room for them in email writing. Therefore, you should avoid them and write simple and short paragraphs to make your emails engaging and understandable.

Generally, long and dense paragraphs make emails difficult to read. And many don’t want to read the text written in long paragraphs. So, to keep your readers engaged with your emails, you should avoid longer paragraphs.

Hence, you should break longer sections using different means. For instance, you can add some bullets to present key information, add visuals, or break them into multiple portions using headings or sub-headings.

All these techniques can eventually make your emails look polished and enhance their readability. Also, when you present information in multiple digestible chunks, your recipients easily understand your message without feeling overwhelmed.

   4. Maintain a Professional Tone

No matter why you are writing an email, maintain a professional tone. Professionalism helps you build credibility, foster positive communication, and show respect for recipients. 

If you don’t maintain a professional tone, most of your recipients will not respond, and they might also be offended. This can eventually ruin your effort, and you might not achieve the benefits you want.

Following are some simple yet effective strategies to ensure a professional tone;

• Avoid using the slang
• Don’t add lots of emojis to your emails
• Avoid overly casual language
• Use formal greetings and closings
• Maintain courteous tone

   5. Use Proper Formatting

Whenever you draft an email, make sure to take care of its formatting. A great and structured formatting can enhance its visual appeal, make the text skimmable, and boost its impact. In fact, formatting plays a decisive role in email marketing.

Hence, you structure your emails perfectly. For that purpose, use these strategies;

• Use a clear subject line
• Start with greeting
• Get to the point quickly
• Add bullets
• Add attachments and visuals
• Use spacing effectively
• Highlight key points

    6. Personalize Your Email

If you want to develop a solid connection with your recipients and get a great response, personalize your emails according to them. Email marketers and business owners often create a general email draft and send it to everyone. You must not use this approach.

Instead, you should personalize each email according to each recipient. For instance, you can call them by name or add specific details that make your emails tailored rather than automated. 

Similarly, if you have recently interacted with your recipient, mention it as well. Besides, you can acknowledge their work or achievements and show appreciation. These small techniques can surely earn their trust and increase the likelihood of a positive response from your recipients.

    7. Proofread and Edit

Lastly, when you are done with the writing process, make sure to proofread your emails thoroughly. Generally, many don’t bother reviewing their emails and send them without proofreading. No matter how good your email is, never skip the proofreading and editing process.

In the proofreading process, you can use an online grammar checker tool to find all imperfections in the text. A powerful grammar checker can also help you remove those errors and ensure effective communication.

Additionally, you should use an advanced paraphrasing tool to refine your emails further. A sophisticated paraphrase tool can revamp your text by enhancing vocabulary, restructuring, and improving sentences. Eventually, it can make your emails more impactful and help you achieve your goals.

Conclusion

Writing a perfect email is a bit tricky. However, it’s not impossible at all. To master the art of email writing, first of all, understand the key elements of an email. After that, know what makes an email more appealing and impactful. You can also use AI Email Writer to quickly draft professional emails with ease and accuracy. Also, follow the simple tips mentioned in this article. They will surely take your email writing game to the next level and help you achieve all your goals.