In a past role, I supported an executive with digital marketing materials for events. Our firm hosted a number of networking events as well as a large annual meeting. At any given time, we would have invites out for two or three events and sometimes there was overlap in invitees. Meaning that communication could easily get muddy.

Then I learned a trick that forever changed my email efficiency.

In our event communications, whether via email or event website, we would always include a hyperlink to the event host’s email.

For example:

For further information, please email Susie Smith at susiesmith@company.com. 

The email address would be turned into a hyperlink using CTRL+K (did you know that inserts a hyperlink?) and at first, I would just leave it at that. The simple “mailto:susiesmith@company.com”. Turns out, I was making things unnecessarily hard.

Email software, such as Outlook, and web marketing tools, such as Pardot and MailChimp, allow you to take this function a step further to create clear and efficient hyperlinks.

Underneath the email address line is the “Message Subject“.

DO. NOT. SKIP. THIS.

Here’s why…

People are busy.

Chances are, if someone clicks on your link, they will immediately start typing their message and hit ‘send’ – no subject included. Or they will include an ambiguous subject like “Event Question”.

If you have multiple events running, you will have to start the back and forth of requesting clarification. If the sender didn’t have time to type a subject line, chances are they don’t have time to answer your clarifying questions about which event.

Plus, it’s just good customer service. And everyone is your customer.

Alternate Scenario:

Let’s say you’re sending out an informational email on behalf of a team and you need to direct questions to another person.

For example:

Please send your dietary restrictions to Susie Smith at susiesmith@company.com by Thursday. 

Susie probably gets 100 emails a day. If the sender chooses to click on the link instead of forwarding the original email, she will need to spend time figuring out where the email originated or is regarding. A waste of time for everyone.

Simple Fix

Fill in the subject line. 

Whether sending emails on behalf of others or yourself, a few seconds of extra effort will save everyone time and ease communication. You will also prevent potentially embarrassing mix-ups! (Oh, you weren’t invited to that event…oops.)

Once I started using this function in my email hyperlinks, I never went back. I found that my communications were faster and smoother, especially with external stakeholders. Who doesn’t want to make a good impression and reduce the number of emails they have to send a day?

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Want to reduce emails even further? Give preventing the reply-all tsunami a try!