How many times do you hear colleagues complain about their emails – especially the volume of pointless, irrelevant messages they receive?

Most of us just don’t have time to read every email in depth – a quick glance at who sent it, the subject header and, at best, the first sentence, and we’re done. When we’re running focus groups for our clients, attendees often admit that they routinely delete emails from their inboxes, because they know they will never get to them, let alone action them.

Yet six in 10 employees prefer email as an internal communications channel (Inside Insight), while 93% of internal communicators say that email is the most-preferred channel for reaching employees (Ragan).

So, we need email to work effectively as a communication channel, getting the balance right, and using it for the right reasons such as sharing important announcements and updates in a structured and professional way.

First to think about is the overall purpose of the email.

Ask yourself the golden question, ‘what’s the core purpose?’ What are you trying to accomplish, because without a clear end goal, your recipients are likely to delete it? To answer this question, you need clarity about your overall channel strategy, and where email sits within it. Which topics or scenarios or worthy of an email, and which aren’t? How does email sit alongside your intranet, your social channels, or other platforms?

This also makes it easier to respond to requests from other functions and teams when they inevitably ask ‘can you send an all-staff email for us?’ Content has to be important and relevant.

A strong subject header that’s clear, simple and factual also gives your email a better chance of success. A good guide is to keep it under 50 characters or otherwise when it displays, your subject line will be cut off. Aim to use around 10 words or less and include noticeable words such as, ‘update, reminder or action required’.

Onto the content itself. While brevity may be the soul of wit, lengthy emailers are no laughing matter. The established Inverted Pyramid approach is your friend here. Does your email have a main takeaway up front? This is the most important section and should include the information that you want a reader to know.

Short paragraphs also set the pace, with one point per sentence, and use bullet points or numbered lists for clarity, and to break up text.

A good hack is to write in the second person to make your email more ‘human’. Using pronouns like “you,” “your,” and “yours” puts more focus on the reader and brings your audience into the story.

And if the information is about a business change, product or service, do talk about the benefits, not just the features, so that it addresses the readers’ ‘what’s in it for me?’ question.

If there’s an action required such as ‘reply by’ or ‘complete this poll’ then also do make this call to action clear to stand out – and don’t bury it at the bottom.

Finally, many emailer platforms allow you to personalise emails to better connect with readers. When recipients see their name or other personal details in the subject line or throughout the email, they feel a stronger connection to the message. This makes the recipient more likely to open the email and engage with its content.

It’s almost like a direct invitation and reflects the way that we are all receiving marketing emails in our personal lives.

For example, in digital marketing, 88% of users agree they are more likely to respond to an email favourably if it is personalised.