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With so many platforms and apps that help track performance in a professional environment, it becomes difficult to determine the best way a manager can go about improving a team’s written communication skills. Since emails still represent a significant portion of a companies outreach activities, staying at the top of your game becomes an essential part of success, especially when trying to attract new customers.
Use emails only when necessary
As a manager, it is not unusual to deal with large amounts of emails amongst other apps such as Slack to stay in touch with one’s team. According to multiple specialists in the field, emails are the best way to create marketing outreach opportunities but should be avoided when it comes to communicating with ones working peers unless it is a required formality. The main reason that it is avoided is due to the sheer amount people have to deal with on a daily basis.
Having so much to read through can lead to silly mistakes such as forwarding emails without deleting the conversation history to an important business partner. Even with all the apps we have available, including Grammarly, it is up to us to communicate our message effectively and clearly.
Due to us living in the age of technology not many individuals take the time to read emails the size of a Harry Potter novel or try to decipher overly complicated messages. So what can a manager do to help their team get the most out of the time they spend communicating, not only with their peers but also business partners?
Establish a connection with the audience
Most of us work in multicultural environments which means that each individual has a different way of expressing themselves as well as putting those ideas down on paper. Thus, before setting off on an email outreach campaign it is best to make sure that your team understands how each target niche should be approached.
For example, in some cases, the email has to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye in order to catch the attention of its intended target audience. While in other cases a simple professional look with a message that gets straight to the point is the way to go. Knowing how to approach them is half the battle since now all that is left to do is the actual writing.
There are different passive tones of voice that people can pick up on while reading emails. Hence, it is important that the team uses a friendly yet professional tone while approaching a new audience to help build a healthy business relationship.
Usually, most of the people receiving these emails are editors themselves meaning that they will know what they are looking for from the get-go.
Avoid Grammatical Errors>
Sending emails with typos, grammatical mistakes and errors just makes them lose their intended impact on the audience.
With that being said there we have to keep in mind that this is just an AI tool used to save up a significant amount of time. What that means is that it still does not beat a human proofread since it can’t always adequately contextualize what is being said or the underlying message. In cases like this experience and practice come in handy leading to individuals seeking the help of essay writing service to get the job done as quickly as possible, thus allowing the individual to focus on expanding their email list to more potential customers.
Overall the general consensus when it comes to this area is that practice makes perfect. Below is a short list of the most encountered mistakes, of which we are all guilty of having made at some point:
Your and You’re
You’re is a shortened form of you are.
Example:
Is that your family?
You’re the one I’m leaving in charge.
Companies and Company’s
Example:
The companies in the silver processing industry suffered losses last year.
A company’s missions statement is an important component of a business plan.
Than and Then
Example:
I would prefer eating something healthy rather than fast food.
We drafted our teams then played basketball.
Effect and Affect
Example:
Eating a lot of salty foods has a negative effect on our wellbeing.
The rise in cryptocurrency use will affect our financial planning strategies.
How to avoid the main causes of miscommunication
Due to the multicultural global environment managers deal with it is quite easy for things to be misunderstood or lost in translation. Let us look at some of the most frequent causes of miscommunication when it comes to written content that goes into an outreach campaign.
Misunderstanding the target audience’s needs
This can usually occur due to a lack of research or awareness on your part. It is vital to be in tune with the target audience by using emotional intelligence to determine what they would find most appealing. Without doing so it will be rather difficult to find common ground and spark up their interest.
Not using the right vocabulary
One’s passive tone or choice of words when choosing to approach someone is a lot the old saying don’t judge a book by its cover. Unfortunately, when it comes to communicating in writing the first impression is often the last impression if the vocabulary used does not contain the necessary technical terms or is far too simplistic to intrigue its readers.
Spamming templates
In this scenario, templates can be both good and bad. It is best to use customizable ones which can adapt to different segments of the targeted audience. Keep in mind that people are spammed daily by dozens of emails from different sources meaning that there has to be a reason they looked at yours. A catchy punch line or an interactive infographic is always a good place to start.
Warm greetings go a long way
To sum things up, one of the best ways to keep a loyal customer base and continue building on it is by being as friendly as possible. That means that the data gathered about the customers should be used to customize the content being sent out to them. For example, greeting a customer with a new seasonal offer with “Hey, John” instead of “Dear customer” does have a better ring to it.