Whether you’re just starting out in your career or are a veteran, writing is an important skill for any young professional to have. Whether it’s pitching clients on a new product, updating a blog post, or writing copy for emails, having great email and copywriting skills will help you succeed at work. In this post, we’ll cover some basic tips that can help anyone improve their writing skills.
| Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Tailor your tone and style to resonate with younger professionals. |
| 2. Use concise and engaging subject lines to capture attention. |
| 3. Personalize emails to establish a stronger connection. |
| 4. Incorporate relevant visuals to enhance the visual appeal. |
| 5. Craft clear and compelling calls to action for desired outcomes. |
| 6. Keep paragraphs and sentences concise for easy readability. |
| 7. Test different strategies to understand what resonates best. |
| 8. Mobile optimization is crucial for reaching on-the-go professionals. |
| 9. Experiment with storytelling to make your emails more relatable. |
| 10. Continuous learning and adaptation are key for email success. |
#1: Keep Your Subject Lines Short, But Sweet
Here are a few tips:
Keep your subject lines short, but sweet. Your goal should be to make the recipient want to open your email and read it, without being too pushy or overly wordy. A great way to do this is by writing a subject line that piques their interest and makes them want to click on the email right away.
You can use numbers in subject lines (i.e., “3 Tips for Getting Ahead at Work”) or even questions (“What Is Your Biggest Career Challenge Right Now?”). Just make sure you don’t overdo these tactics if someone has already opened your email once before, they won’t appreciate being bombarded with multiple requests within one message! Use personal touches when possible.
When you’re sending an email out into the world, it can feel like there’s no connection between you and the recipient but if possible try adding some kind of personal touch into the mix by referencing something specific about the other person’s job or interests that might not have been mentioned in previous correspondence.
This will help ensure that people remember how connected they are despite being separated by miles/email servers/etcetera!
Mastering the art of copyediting for legal writing is essential for crafting precise and professional documents. Learn valuable insights from our guide on Legal Writing: A Guide to Copyediting for Lawyers to enhance your legal communication skills.
#2: Send Clear Calls To Action In Your Email
Send clear calls to action in your email.
Use the right tone of voice. You want to sound professional, but also friendly and approachable. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask for what you want! If someone is interested in working with you or hiring you (or whatever else it may be), they will have no problem saying yes or giving an answer that helps move things forward.
If they say no or ask for more information first, then they probably weren’t interested in working with you anyway and now we know not to waste our time on them later down the line!
Don’t be afraid to ask for help either! Sometimes we feel like asking for help shows weakness.
However, this couldn’t be further from reality asking questions demonstrates how much knowledge and experience we already have about a certain topic/area of expertise because it shows that there are certain areas where we need input from others who know more than us so that together we can build something amazing 🙂
#3: Speak “You’re” Correctly. (There’s/Their/They’re).
There’s/Their/They’re
There and there are homophones. Homophones are words that sound alike but have different meanings. There is a contraction of there is, and there is the possessive form of they (the plural third person).
The difference between them is subtle, but it can be important to use one over the other correctly. If you are confused about which one to use, there are three tricks to help you figure out which one to choose:
Think about what would happen if you put an apostrophe in front of “it” or “you.” If adding an apostrophe makes sense after “it” or “you,” then it’s probably either there are or their. For example: “I don’t know where my car keys are!
They might be inside this bag on my desk …” In this sentence, “they might be inside this bag on my desk” makes more sense with an apostrophe before “this bag” than before “on my desk.” This means that we need the possessive pronoun theirs instead of there’s here because theirs has been modified by an adjective phrase (“on my desk”).
If it doesn’t work when you add an apostrophe in front of them, try putting several words between your subject and verb instead; then see if those words make sense when paired with your subject nouns (in this case either ‘they’ or ‘its’). For example: “I don’t know where my car keys are!
Their whereabouts remain a mystery. This sentence works better as their whereabouts remain a mystery because using their makes more sense flow-wise within our sentence structure than using there’s here does and that means we should use theirs instead!
Persuasion is a cornerstone of effective legal communication. Dive into our guide on Writing to Persuade: The Guide for Lawyers to uncover techniques and strategies that will empower your legal writing to influence and convince.
#4: Open Your Email With A Creative Hook
And since you’re probably reading this because you want to improve your queries, we’ve got one more tip for you.
When writing an email opener, don’t let yourself get caught in the trap of thinking about how much time it’ll take to write a good opener. Instead, focus on what your goal is with that first sentence:
Draw them in and make them want to read more.
Make them want to respond and even better if they can see themselves responding positively (that’s why I’m such a fan of using “but” or “however”).* Make them want to share the email with others (if appropriate).
#5: Avoid Using Exclamation Points In Your Emails
One of the most common mistakes young professionals make in email is using exclamation points. While it might be tempting to use this punctuation in an attempt to sound enthusiastic, it’s not professional.
Instead, try to tone down your emails and avoid exclamation points altogether. You can still sound enthusiastic by writing with enthusiasm it just won’t look like you’re shouting at your reader!
Use strong verbs instead of exclamations when possible. For example, instead of “I couldn’t agree more!” try “I couldn’t agree more!” The former sounds like someone are yelling; the latter sounds like a normal sentence where one person agrees with another person’s statement (which is exactly what the sentence means).
Navigating legal research is a fundamental skill for aspiring lawyers. Explore our comprehensive guide, Legal Research Guides for Student Attorneys, to acquire essential tips and resources for conducting thorough and effective legal research.
#6: Use An Active Voice In Your Email Copy.
As a young professional, you’re probably accustomed to hearing about the importance of active writing. But what exactly does that mean?
In short: active writing is direct and concise. It uses verbs like “we did” instead of passive words like “it was done.” Active writing makes your content easier to read and understand because it doesn’t require extra brainpower on the part of the reader they don’t have to figure out what happened for you (or whoever wrote your email) to get across their point.
Active voice also tends to be more engaging than passive voice, which can be dull or confusing when used too often (see examples below). And finally, an active voice is generally more persuasive because it’s shorter and clearer; it gets right into the action without wasting any time explaining how things happened beforehand!
#7: But Don’t Be Afraid To Use Passive Voice
Passive voice is when the object of the sentence is the focus of the sentence. For example, in “The report was written by John,” John is both the subject and object of that sentence.
Passive voice is used in writing to avoid using the word “I” or “we” in sentences (and often also “by”) because it’s seen as more professional and formal than active voice. It also allows you to write longer sentences without repeating yourself—so it can help with your word count!
Crafting a well-structured and insightful legal memorandum is essential for communicating legal analysis. Discover the key steps and principles in our guide, How to Write a Legal Memorandum, to enhance your ability to produce clear and persuasive legal documents.
#8 Use The Adverb.
That’s right. I said it. The adverb, that little word that tends to be overlooked in favor of more “important” words like verbs and adjectives, can be your best friend when it comes to writing email copy that makes people want to open your emails and read them and then, ideally, takes action on what you’re asking them for (whether that be a response or a sale).
The reason why is because this word fills in gaps for readers who may not know exactly what you mean by saying something like “this is important” or “you need this information now.
When someone reads those statements without seeing any supporting evidence from you as to why those statements are true, they might just ignore them altogether! But if you say instead “This is important,” then they’ll understand why they should care more about what you have to say (even though it may seem obvious at first glance).
#9: Be Personal And Friendly
One of the best ways to connect with someone is by using their name. In an email, this means using their first name in the salutation, subject line, and body of your message. For example:
- “Hi, Bob! I’m so glad you’re joining us for dinner tonight.”
- “I have a meeting tomorrow morning, so let’s meet at 10 am instead of 9 am.”
- “Do you have any suggestions for restaurants? I’d love some recommendations.”
These small touches can go a long way toward building rapport with clients or colleagues which helps build trust and ultimately leads them to want to work with you again and again.
#10: Always Include A Salutation At The Beginning Of Your Email
The salutation is the first thing people will see when they open your email. It should be personalized, friendly, and short. In other words:
Don’t use “To Whom It May Concern” or worse your name written out in full. The receiver of your email has spent lots of time reading their name or seeing it on their screen. They don’t need to see yours as well!
A good guideline is to keep salutations between one and five words; longer than that and you risk coming across as too formal (or even creepy).
Try not to use generic phrases like “Hi there!” or “Greetings from. Always try to personalize each email with some reference back to something specific mentioned in the body of an email before sending out an update about new events happening at work (e.g., “We’ve updated our company intranet today!”)
#11: Make friends of your contacts from the moment you meet them
There is no better way to make an impression on contact than having them remember you as a person.
You should get to know your contacts from the moment you meet them, whether it’s at an event or through an introduction. This will help you write for them in the future.
You need to know their names, their interests, and their goals before you can write something that resonates with them. You also need to know what they like about the company or product, what they don’t like about it, and what they want from it.
Anecdotes can be powerful tools in legal writing, adding depth and relatability to your arguments. Learn how to effectively incorporate anecdotes by exploring our guide, How to Write an Anecdote, and discover how they can enhance your communication in legal contexts.
Conclusion
If you want to stand out, you need to learn how to write emails that get read. I’ve found that the best way is by adding personality and keeping it friendly, but not too casual. This helps make your emails more memorable and easy on the eyes and better yet. It makes you sound like a real person rather than someone who’s just trying too hard!
Remember: You don’t have to follow these tips exactly (after all, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach here), so long as they help you create a tone that feels natural for your voice.
Further Reading
Email Copywriting Tips from SendX Short Description: Explore practical tips and strategies to enhance your email copywriting skills, provided by SendX.
Enginemailer’s Guide to Effective Email Copywriting Short Description: Dive into Enginemailer’s insightful guide for mastering the art of crafting compelling email copy that drives engagement.
WordStream’s Email Copywriting Tips for Success Short Description: Discover WordStream’s valuable insights on writing email copy that captures attention and yields positive results.
And here’s the “FAQs” section with semantic-based questions and answers in Markdown format:
FAQs
What are the key elements of effective email copywriting?
Effective email copywriting involves crafting attention-grabbing subject lines, conveying a clear value proposition, using persuasive language, and including compelling calls to action.
How can I improve my email copy’s open rates?
To improve open rates, focus on creating intriguing subject lines, personalizing content, and ensuring that the email provides clear value to the recipient.
What’s the role of storytelling in email copywriting?
Storytelling can engage readers emotionally, making your emails more memorable and relatable. Incorporate relevant narratives to connect with your audience.
How do I maintain a balance between promotional content and value in emails?
Strike a balance by providing valuable information, insights, or solutions in your emails. Avoid overwhelming recipients with purely promotional content.
What’s the best way to A/B test email copy?
A/B testing involves sending two variations of an email to different segments of your audience to see which performs better. Test different elements like subject lines, messaging, and calls to action to optimize your copywriting strategy.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.