Emails

Apply the five principles to an email: one ask, stated in the first line and on the only button.

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When to use

Use it on every email we send to a customer or a colleague that asks them to do something.

When not to use

Automatic notices that ask for nothing, such as a receipt, still follow the style rules. The rules on the ask and the button do not apply to them.

How it works

The Replace this and With this pairs on this page are our own examples, written for this guide and not quoted from a source.

Ask for one thing

An email carries one request. A second request goes in a second email.

Pass: the email’s ask fits in one sentence without “and”.

Put the ask in the first line and on the only button

The first line says what the person should do. The email has one button, it repeats that action, and it opens the page where the action happens.

Pass: the first line and the button alone say what to do and where.

Replace this: I hope you are well. Following up on last week's meeting, there are a few items we need from you.
With this: Please approve the March invoice by Friday.

Keep the subject under about 50 characters

Five to seven words is enough to name the ask.

Pass: the subject has fewer than 50 characters.

Replace this: Following up on our conversation and the next steps for the March invoice
With this: Approve the March invoice

Name the action on the button in two words

The button says what happens next, in two words, three at most.

Pass: the button label starts with a verb and has two or three words.

Replace this: Click here
With this: Approve invoice

Write the subject, headings and button in sentence case

See capitalization.

Pass: in the subject, headings and button, no word after the first is capitalised unless it is a proper noun or an acronym.

Replace this: Your March Invoice Is Ready
With this: Your March invoice is ready

Put a comma after the greeting

Write the greeting with a comma, as in “Hello, Tom”.

Pass: the greeting has a comma between the word and the name.

Personalise beyond the name

Use what you know about the person’s company or industry, so the email reads as written for them.

Pass: the email contains at least 1 detail besides the name that only fits this reader.

Leave out what reads as spam

Avoid excessive punctuation, all caps and words like “free” or “buy now”.

Pass: the subject and body have 0 runs of exclamation marks, 0 words in all caps, and none of those words.

Replace this: ACT NOW!!! Free review of your account
With this: Review your account settings

Lay out the body for a fast read

Use bullet points, dividers and white space so the body reads at a glance.

Pass: no paragraph in the body runs longer than one phone screen.

Research

This page copies Intuit Content Design. Its email guide says subject lines of about 50 characters, five to seven words, are the most common, and that subjects around 65 characters see the highest open rates. We chose the shorter length. The same guide asks for a comma after the greeting (“Hello, Tom”), bullet points, dividers and white space for legibility, one clear call to action that links to the customer’s Actions page, personalization beyond the name such as company or industry, and no excessive punctuation, all caps, or words like “free” or “buy now”. It measures an email by engagement and conversion.

Intuit’s Actions page sets the button length: “Keep CTAs brief, especially for buttons. Two words is optimal. Three is OK.” It also gives “Create project” as a Do and “Click here” as a Don’t. The Microsoft Writing Style Guide asks writers to lead with what is most important, which puts the ask in the first line.

Rule one, one request per email, applies the reviewer’s five principles to email. Its only outside support is Intuit’s single call to action.