Email Etiquette: Make Your Subject Line Do Its Job

Email Etiquette: Make Your Subject Line Do Its Job
Published Date: 2010-01-23 11:25:17 WorkOnInternet.com

Email has become a primary means of communication in business today, and most of us use it every day to exchange information with others. However, it's a source of frustration to many that their emails often go without a reply, and one cause for this is that they are being deleted unread.

The deciding factor as to whether your email is opened or deleted is often the subject line. So it's in your own interests to write a subject line that entices the reader to open and read your message.

So what makes an enticing subject line? Two things:

1. It is specific, describing the exact subject the email is about.
2. Readers understand what's in it for them.

A subject line like "Budget figures" is too vague and not at all enticing to the reader. What about the budget figures? Are you sending them for my information? Are you asking me for my figures? Do you want input of any kind from me? Must I do this now?

There are too many questions there, and the reader will most likely opt to do nothing and probably not even read the message.

Here's an alternative subject line to consider: "Your budget figures required for President's report by Friday morning, Maria". Doesn't that change the picture right away? It does, because it fills both the needs mentioned above. It expresses exactly what the message is about, and why Maria needs to pay attention.

Suppose I send you an email message with the subject line, "Monthly Sales Meeting." The meeting is always held on the last Wednesday of the month, and today is only the second Tuesday. I'm busy, so I'll probably decide to leave this message for now and read it later — and we all know that can mean never!

But suppose I say instead, "Change of time and date for this month's sales meeting." That's quite different, isn't it? After all, it's in my interest to show up at the right time for the meeting and I'll want to change the note in my schedule, so I'm going to open the message right away.

It's a good practice to put in your subject line at the end, after you're satisfied with your message. Your important messages will be read and answered, instead of consigned to the trash.

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Helen Wilkie is a professional speaker on workplace communication. Check out her audio CD, "Email Etiquette: How to Quickly & Easily Write Business Email that Communicates and Gets a Response" on Amazon.com . For more of Helen's articles on communication at work, or to book her to for a speaking or training engagement, visit http://www.mhwcom.com

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