Quelles sont les meilleures pratiques pour utiliser le courrier électronique comme outil de communication?

The last 20 years has strongly affected the way we communicate via words. In a time of mailed letters, written communication was often formal. With the advancements in social media and texting capabilities, written or better termed, “read” communication is most often thought of as informal, such as texts or social media messages. With that, its easy to let email communication fall into that same groove. It’s imperative to remember emojis and most texting shorthand is not appropriate for formal emails. The composer should also take great care in proofreading for punctuation that could be misinterpreted, such as exclamation points. We often interpret any read information according to our mood which the composer may not be aware of.

As with any internal or external communication scenario, people must understand their intended audience. Creating personas does not merely apply to marketing; email communication with internal stakeholders, vendors, and influential people. When we understand the likes, dislikes, communication styles, personalities, motivations, and preferences of our target audience, we can tailor our communication more appropriately. I have learned, for instance, that some C-suite executives prefer charts, graphs, and at-a-glance visual communication within reports and emails such as screenshots. However, others demand more of a narrative. In any case, make the email concise, but the call-to-action to download reports strong and preferably hyperlinked.

It is also helpful to make sure to include paragraph breaks, especially for longer emails, so that readers are not overwhelmed by a dense block of text. Breaking it up visually helps readers focus on one segment at a time which will make them less likely to skim and more likely to process the entire content of the email. Additionally, for longer, more complex emails, including a brief tldr (too long, didn't read) summary at the top of the email can help to ensure that the reader walks away with the key takeaways, while still being able to revisit for full details later if needed.

In addition to all of the psychological tips provided by the experts in this article, also consider some of the more technical aspects of email communication. Work with your IT department to ensure the proper DNS records exist for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to avoid bounces from certain email clients such as Gmail, Outlook 365, etc. Avoid using spammy subject lines, even in your one-to-one emails; some spam filters can throw your clever email into the Junk folder. Avoid sending large files, including huge photos and videos. When possible, request your recipient to add your email address and/or domain to their contacts and whitelist.