Given that email is such a popular form of personal and professional communication, it is important to ensure you chose an appropriate professional greeting for your email. Whether you’re emailing your colleague about an upcoming deadline or contacting a hiring manager, that first line in your email really makes a difference. Let’s discuss the importance of opening your email with a professional greeting and provide you with some email greetings to use.
Why are email greetings important?
Your email greeting sets the tone of the email and can be the deciding factor on whether it gets opened or is left unread. It is considered poor etiquette to start an email without a greeting. This first line greeting acts as the first impression between you and the other person. I mean, you wouldn’t walk up to someone in real life without acknowledge them first, right? Same goes for email communication!
Know your audience
The email greeting will be different whether you’re contacting someone on your team who you speak to regularly or someone from a different team that you’re just working on a project with. If you know the person and have communicated frequently before, you can use a more informal greeting such as:
“Hey/Hi”, “(Name)”, or “All/everyone”
However, if it is someone that you don’t know to well, you’d likely want to take a more formal approach. In this case, you can use:
“Dear (name)”, “Hello”, or “Greetings”.
The main idea is that you know and understand your audience, and cater the greeting appropriately.
5 Best Professional Email Greetings
1. “Hi/Hello ”
This is simple and easy. “Hi” is friendly and using the person’s name makes it personal. If you want to sound more formal, simply switching to “Hello” makes it more professional.
2. Greetings
This is a common way to start an email if you’re not sure of the person’s name. If you do know it, then you can add their name “Greetings ”. This is an appropriate way to start an email. It sounds professional while still acknowledging the other person. You can use this greeting to either address one person or a group.
3. Good morning/afternoon
Similar to “Greetings”, this is a professional way to start an email that is both friendly and personal. Again, if you know the other persons name then you can include it to be more personal while also staying professional.
4. Dear
A “dear” greeting is more professional than “Hey/hi”. Use this greeting when a more formal tone needs to precede your email. To make it even more formal, you can use “Dear Mr./Ms./ Mrs.”
5. Hi there
If you’re sending an informal email and aren’t sure of the recipient’s name, then using “Hi there” is a safe option.
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