Follow the basics when you send emails to improve your email's readability

1. Do
your
emails
pass
the
ABC
test?
3.7
billion
email
users
send
and
receive
269
billion
emails
each
day.
Email
is
a
key
communica:on
tool.
But
it
is
also
a
source
of
frustra:on.
Get
the
basics
right
and
you
bypass
the
irrita:on!

2. Appearance
Emails
need
to
look
good,
be
easy
to
read
and
make
sense
to
the
reader.
Appearance
covers
your
design,
use
of
colour,
copy
font,
and
anything
else
that
readers
see
when
they
receive,
and
hopefully
open,
your
email.

3. A
funky
new
font
can
make
make
you
stand
out
for
the
wrong
reasons
–
if
the
font
isn’t
widely
used
it
may
translate
into
interes:ng
characters
when
the
reader
receives
it.
Well
known
fonts
are
widely
used
because
they
move
from
system
to
system
and
device
to
device
without
changing.
Fonts

4. Colours
Colours
add
interest,
portray
your
brand,
set
a
mood.
Be
careful
they
don’t
obscure
the
message
and
make
content
hard
to
read.
White
on
grey
might
look
good
on
a
big
design
screen,
but
can
be
a
challenge
for
a
mobile
reader.
Some
readers
may
also
want
to
print
your
mail
–
if
you
have
these
readers
make
your
email
print
friendly
and
fit
it
to
a
standard
A4
page
size
on
a
white
background.

5. Mobile
readers
Everly:c
say
61%
of
emails
are
opened
on
mobile
devices.
We’re
quite
quick
to
move
our
aPen:on
to
the
next
thing
so
if
your
email
requires
a
lot
of
up
and
down
and
side
to
side
swiping
users
will
become
irritated
and
move
on.
Big
screens
are
great
–
but
they’re
not
what
most
readers
are
using
to
read
their
mails.

6. Bytes
Get
the
sizes
right.
Fonts
must
be
readable,
banners
and
signatures
not
too
big,
and
your
email
shouldn’t
break
a
reader’s
data
bank.

7. Font
size
Ever
had
an
email
where
you
had
to
zoom
several
:mes
to
read?
That’s
unnecessary
–and
unprofessional.
10
–
12
points
has
been
suggested
as
ideal
–
but
ideal
depends
on
your
chosen
font.
Do
a
test
mail
to
see
how
your
font
looks
on
other
devices.
Don’t
be
tempted
to
go
too
small
–
it
looks
like
you
are
hiding
something.
Too
big
on
the
other
hand
can
look
like
shou:ng.

8. Signatures
and
banners
take
up
a
lot
of
physical
space,
and
they
look
messy
when
emails
start
going
back
and
forth.
Your
email
style
should
be
consistent
throughout
-­‐
using
use
a
completely
different
style
for
a
signature
or
banner
is
confusing.
You
want
banners
and
images
to
en:ce,
explain
and
enhance
–
not
overwhelm.
Signatures
and
banners

9. Image
size
Not
every
reader
has
a
hi-­‐
speed
connec:on
and
unlimited
data,
especially
in
South
Africa.
Don’t
clog
their
devices
with
5
megabyte
images
–
it’s
unnecessary.
Especially
when
you’re
sending
emails
to
a
group.
Keep
it
down
to
a
reasonable
size,
and
watch
out
for
aPachment
size.
The
minute
an
email
to
a
group
hits
over
1MB,
stop,
think
and
trim.

10. Content
Content
starts
with
the
email
address
and
subject
line
and
ends
with
your
signature,
and
if
necessary
disclaimers,
terms
and
condi:ons.

11. Address
Readers
want
to
know
who
is
emailing
them.
The
easier
an
address
is
to
iden:fy,
the
faster
your
message
is
reached.
Be
careful,
even
if
you’re
sending
bulk,
of
an
email
address
that
ends
in
do
not
reply.
Before
the
reader’s
even
got
to
the
subject
line
you’ve
told
them
you
don’t
want
to
speak
to
them
and
won’t
take
any
ques:ons.

12. Subject
line
Subject
lines
can
make
or
break
your
read
rate.
Stats
suggest
a
personalised
subject
line
can
increase
the
open
rate
by
6
–
17%.
Subject
lines
need
to
be
clear
(so
the
reader
knows
what
they’re
going
to
read)
and
interes:ng
(so
they
want
to
read)
-­‐
but
not
over
the
top.

13. Tone
Email
is
friendly
and
formal
so
you
want
to
be
relevant
and
personal,
but
not
too
personal
or
intrusive.
Connec:ng
with
readers
requires
a
balance,
some
knowledge
of
who
your
email
readers
are,
and
confidence
that
what
you
are
saying
is
important,
interes:ng
and
useful.
Say
what
you
want
to
say,
why
you
are
saying
it,
and
why
you
are
saying
it
to
this
reader.

14. Disclaimers,
terms,
condiAons,
opt
outs
The
days
of
small
font
for
the
fine
print
are
over
–
but
don’t
make
this
longer
than
it
needs
to
be.
People
are
either
suspicious
of
long
disclaimers
or
don’t
read
them.

15. Some
of
these
may
seem
quite
simple
–
but
there
are
too
many
emails
that
aren’t
read,
are
deleted
or
cause
frustra:on
because
they
pay
no
aPen:on
to
basics.
Just
take
a
look
at
your
inbox
–
scan
through
those
that
raised
your
eyebrows
or
made
you
look
twice!
Make
sure
your
next
mail
doesn’t
get
that
reac:on.
Get
the
basics
right