5 Tips on Improving Your Business Email Copy in 2022

Why Are Business Emails Important?

In a world where over 25 percent of people work remotely, emails are more important than ever.

Businesses fundamentally rely on communication and when you can’t do that in person, your options dramatically decrease to video calls, emails, and texts.

Video calls can be tiresome and difficult to organize if you are working in multiple time zones. Texts can be too informal and not adaptable enough to allow for effective communication.

So that leaves millions of people relying on emails to keep their business running productively and smoothly. In fact, email has been known to generate $42 for every $1 spent and still ranks as the top ROI channel.

How Can You Improve Your Email Writing?

With that being said, it is essential that everyone knows how to write successful emails.

But what does a successful email look like? Here are our top five tips for writing compelling and successful business emails in 2022.

1) Make Sure Your Grammar Is Correct

The most important thing to consider when writing an email for business is your grammar. Incorrect grammar leads to unclear communication and mixed messages.

There are so many rules and exceptions in the English language that it is all too easy to overlook mistakes, especially when you need to write quickly. For peace of mind, it is best to use a grammar checker, which can be your second set of eyes to make sure you don’t miss any errors.

Some errors are just embarrassing (like confusing “there” and “their”), but others impede the meaning of your idea, which could be problematic.

Good grammar also makes emails easier to read and less likely to be skipped over, which brings us to our second tip.

2) Choose a Good Subject Line

Even if you’ve written an amazing email with perfect grammar, it will not be effective if people do not read it. The first thing that people see is the subject line and, if it is bad, this may be the only thing they see.

A bad subject line is one that is vague or looks like it could be spam. An example of this is: “Quick Question.” It is unclear and does not indicate its importance.

A good subject line is one that clearly states the purpose of the email in as few words as possible. A few examples of this are:

• “A quick question about last week’s sales stats”
• “A question regarding COP27”
• “A question about the 2 p.m. Chaucer lecture”

These examples are all specific and indicate how important they are.

• The first uses the word “quick” to signify that it is a simple email of little importance.
• The second is much more formal and gives a clear indication as to who the email should be assigned to in a large department.
• The third includes a time, which gives a sign of its urgency using no spam trigger words.

Avoid Using Spam Trigger Words

There are over 400 words and characters that may send your email straight to the spam folder. Normally, this protects inboxes from being overrun with irrelevant messages, but it can sometimes mean that you miss an important email.

The good news is that it is easy to avoid this happening to your communications. As long as you are specific, relevant, and avoid words like “urgent” and “problem,” your email should reach its intended recipient.

3) Be Clear and Concise

Now that you’ve got the subject line, it’s time to look at the content of the email.

When it comes to emails, less is always more.

In the era of mobile phones and small screens, large passages of text can feel clunky and unnecessary. People may scan them and miss essential pieces of information.

To avoid this, there are a few things you can do:

1) Focus on one subject; if you have multiple, you should send them as separate emails.

2) Use direct language and avoid using overly complex phrases.

3) Edit your work after writing and delete any excess content.

4) Work on Your Voice

Being concise doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice your personal or company voice. Your voice includes everything from your word choice to your manners to your overall tone.

A powerful voice can help you stand out from the crowd. It can subtly sway people to your way of thinking and improve your chances of getting the response you want. In short, your voice is your secret tool of persuasion.

With brand voice, consistency is key. Whether you are communicating with public relations or the marketing team, the overall voice should remain the same.

To ensure that your voice is consistent, document everything that will help not only current employees but also future ones by streamlining the onboarding process. Things can get missed when you rely on word of mouth, but accurate documentation eliminates this risk.

5) Proofread Your Emails

Last but not least, our final tip is to always proofread your emails. 

Proofreading your emails is a crucial step in the process of sending an email. It is important to proofread your email before you send it because it can be embarrassing to send an email with mistakes.

The first thing you should do when proofreading your email is to read it out loud. This will help you catch any mistakes that are not visible on the screen. You should also check for spelling errors, grammar mistakes, and punctuation errors.

Nothing is worse than misspelling a name or writing the wrong name altogether. Even if you have done everything else right, typing “Elanor” instead of “Eleanor” could turn a “yes” into a “no”—a positive response into a negative one.

In addition to this, always double-check your facts and figures. A misplaced zero could result in some tough questions when the error is noticed (or serious problems if it is not).

Lastly, try to read the email from your recipient’s perspective. Does it make sense? Does it convey its intended message? Is the tone right? If you can answer “yes” to these three questions, then your email is ready to be sent.

Wrapping Up

Email is one of the most important tools in business. It is a great way to communicate with customers, partners, and employees. Emails are also a great way to promote your products and services. When aiming to send a great number of emails to reach targets or KPIs for business, it can be easy to overlook important details such as making sure grammar is correct. However, incorrect grammar can make your email seem much more unprofessional and result in worse performance. 

Similarly, email marketers may skip the “proofreading” stage in order to speed up their process of sending emails. Again, not proofreading your work may result in missing important details that could be the difference between a lead responding or not. 

Unfortunately, there is no “one size fits all” approach to business email marketing, but these five tips should help you get well on your way to finding your perfect email copy solution.

In summary: good grammar is key, make sure your subject line is concise and relevant, fewer words are best, work on refining your brand voice, and your last step before sending should always be a proofread.