How To Introduce Yourself In An Email and What Not To Say

Do you know how to write an introduction email?

As Millennials, we thrive on emails. We live our daily lives around our virtual inboxes, and we experience most joyous news or harrowing announcements via email. As Adestra’s study indicates, 73% of Millennials showed a preference towards communication via email, with 44% of us staying glued to our smartphones to check these messages upon waking up. As a Millennial yourself, you probably use your email for all major communication, but do you know how to write a good introduction email?

We’ve all gotten that email that made us feel a twinge of sympathy for the sender.

Hi,

I’d like to talk about the position.

Jane

Did Jane do something wrong in her introduction email? She included a greeting, she listed her reason for sending the email, and she ended with her signature. On the surface it seems that she did everything right, but for those of us that hail from the days of Emily Post, we know that there is far more to email etiquette than a singular sentence.

Let’s break it down and go through it step by step.

1. The Subject Line

Going back to that news headline – what makes you read the story? What makes you care enough to click on an article or open up an email that lands in your inbox? The subject line, of course. For an introductory email that gets the attention of your desired recipient, you need to write a proper, professional subject line. If this email is your formal introduction, you don’t have to say that in the subject line. For example, while you could say “Hi, I’m Jane” in your subject line (but, please don’t do that), why not give a hint into the content of your email? Try something like “Open Marketing Position Inquiry”. It seems decidedly formal, but the reality is you are writing a professional email. You don’t want your subject line to read, “Hey, It’s Jane! Just Wanted To Introduce Myself!” Save the subtle informalities for the body.

Credit: business2community.com

2. The Greeting

As Millennials, we introduce ourselves to new people all the time – in real life, on social media, or through (you guessed it) emails. But we don’t actually know how to open an introduction email. Unfortunately, many of us skip the “introduction” part of the email altogether.

So, how do you pick a proper greeting? The first step is thinking about your recipient – Who is this person? Why am I writing to them? How formal or informal should I be?

This may seem counterintuitive because as we discussed, this is a professional email. But as all Millennials know, business is changing. We no longer pen formal, disconnected emails to each other – we treat each other with a level of cordiality.

Here are a few examples of greeting you might use for your specific recipient:

Dear John –> For a formal, professional business person, professor, etc.

Hello John –> For a less formal probably Millennial business person

John, –> Universal, the greeting for essentially every occasion

Starting with just the recipient’s name may seem too informal, but the reality is it is perfect. It is succinct and gets right to the point of who you are addressing.

3. The Body

So this is your introductory email, the email that will define your future correspondence (or lack thereof) with this person. What do you want to say? Well, to properly introduce yourself in an email, you need to have a few key points mentioned.

1. Who are you? Don’t wait until the end of the email to sign off with your name. Start with an introductory sentence, “My name is Jane, junior copywriter for XYZ corporation.”

2. How do you have this person’s email? Don’t be creepy. If you are applying for a job, it may be self-explanatory how you received John’s email address, but it never hurts to clarify. “I noticed your email address on the open marketing position posting on Indeed.”

3. Do you already know this person? If you don’t, exclude this section. If you do, explain how. “We met at the Inbound Marketing Conference last month.”

4. Why are you writing? This is the most important part of the email. Why are you writing an email in the first place? Be clear and concise. “I wanted to get in contact with you to learn more about the position and find out how I may apply.”

4. The Sign Off

In your email introduction, the sign off is as important as the actual email introduction. Don’t end your email with “Talk to you later, Jane” or something more ridiculous like “Lates, Jane”. Try picking something similar to the greeting – very formal or just formal enough depending on your audience.

A few sign off examples:

Best,

Regards,

Sincerely,

Thank you,

I look forward to speaking with you,

Introductory Emails: Not As Tough As You Think

Now you know how to write an introduction email. Contrary to popular belief, composing a proper email is not difficult – which means that you have no excuse for composing a poorly written one.

So what about our introductory email sample sender, Jane? Well, following the steps above, Jane’s completed email would look something like this:

John,

My name is Jane, junior copywriter for XYZ corporation. I noticed your email address on the open marketing position posting on Indeed. I wanted to get in contact with you to learn more about the position and find out how I may apply.

Regards,

Jane

And there you have it. Simple, to the point, and sure to impress Emily Post.

What is the worst introduction email that you have ever received or even written? Let us know in the comment section below.

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