5 Reasons why your emails are being ignored

Have you ever written a set of emails only to discover it was ignored? I get a lot of emails as a Writer and Blogger and it can be quite tasking to read some or respond to some.

Overtime, I realized that not many people understand the importance of creating good and error-free mail, especially when you’re sending it to someone you’re probably trying to connect with for the first time.

I’ve also been guilty of sending poorly crafted mails in the past. But that’s the beauty of learning right? We learn to get better and do better, so we can produce better results as humans.

Crafting the right email is very important for us as individuals and professionals in our respective fields. We may take it for granted, but our mails will also be ignored if we don’t pay attention to the right things.

What if your next career leap was just a mail away? How about that freelance career you've been dreaming about but it keeps slipping out of your fingers because you're not specific about your goals?

Learning the right tips to craft a better email is a step away from getting your foot through the door to a career changing conversation

People receive thousands of mails each day. Due to the increase in content development, we are being bombarded by all kinds of mails from different sources and you’d like yours to stand out or be considered at least.

I’m here to share the necessary things required to write better mails.

Wrong spelling of recipient’s name

Have you ever read a mail where the person got your name wrong or couldn’t even spell it correctly?

I have and it wasn’t pleasant.

We may feel upset that our emails are being ignored, but if you put yourself in your recipient’s shoes, you might act the same way.

Sending a poorly crafted email reveals the sender either didn’t take time to do their research about the recipient or just didn’t care enough to carry out the basic requirements needed to send a mail.

One of the first things you should pay attention to is getting your recipient’s name correctly.

The receiver would appreciate your keen attention to details and be open to reading the rest of your mail.

Wrong Recipient

Spelling your recipient’s name is bad, but sending the mail to the wrong person is worse. Perhaps you’re applying to a school or a position in a company for the first time and you need to make enquiries to facilitate your application process, you need to check out their Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) before applying.

Peruse the information on the website thoroughly before sending the mail. There could be more than one mail present on the site.

As a job seeker, you wouldn’t want to send your email to the CEO or the business enquires email address when you should be sending it to the email allocated to the career page.

A similar process applies to students when making further enquiries about a school. A school’s website has lots of email addresses present. These email addresses are also allocated to different departments or personalities that can be contacted.

It would be a waste of time to send your enquiries to the Head of Department of Health Sciences when you have questions about their Creative Writing Courses.

Vague and Generic writing

When sending an email to someone for the first time, you mail subject should be direct and specific. This grabs the attention of your recipient on first sight.

The body of your mail should be succinct and state your intention from the beginning.

Your purpose should be clear, inviting the reader in to read the rest of the email.

Don’t beat around the bush or try to create a suspenseful mail. Not everyone has time to read a wordy mail with an unclear purpose.

For example, if your mail subject is ‘Hi,’ the probability of your mail getting into the trash is 95%.

‘Hi’ is a lazy subject/heading. Hi is too vague shows lack of effort on the sender's part. Not everyone is that patient to read a lengthy and unspecific email. Besides people are wary of spams and viral loaded mails and you wouldn’t want to fall in that category.

Wordy emails

Bullet points to the rescue! I used to write wordy mails in the past till I realised my mails were either not getting read or I was making it tasking for my recipient to read.

Always remember that your mail is a mail, not a blog post or an article.

Take your time to gather your thoughts together, plan, compose, write a first draft, edit and proof-read. While editing, you will discover ways to paraphrase some sentences into succinct bullet points.

It also makes it easy for your recipient to read and gets your point across as fast as possible.

Pro tip: You could get another good eye to proof-read for you.

Informal lingua, abbreviations and typo error

Words like ‘Hiya’, ‘hi’, ‘whatsup’, ‘am comin’ wiv ya’ lookin’ ‘gud to yu’,’ gud mawnin’ should be deleted from your lingua when sending emails.

They show lack of seriousness on the sender’s part and ultimately lead to your emails being ignored.

If you’re writing a casual mail to a friend, then you could use informal language. Your friend will also overlook your typo error if there’s any.

But when sending official enquiries and applying for a job or a program, you need to be as official as possible. Don’t use unofficial lingua or abbreviations in your mail.

Be as clear and concise as possible. You’re not going to be physically present to explain your mail to the recipient. So make sure to write with minimal or zero typo errors and avoid casual or informal lingua that may disqualify you or give a wrong impression about you.

This could also lead to your email getting ignored.

Wary of typo errors? Grammarly to the rescue! Also try reading your mail out loud to yourself. Doing this makes it easy to spot errors.

When writing emails, you need to present yourself the way you would like to be accepted.

Don’t do less or your emails will keep being ignored.

I hope to share more about how to craft better emails to get better results. Sending well-crafted emails are quite technical but simple once you get the hang of it. If you get it right, it could get you through that door you’ve been longing to get through.You can check out this post on how to craft better emails that gets opened.

Until next time.

Bloom with Love. Xx!