25 formal email writing format examples & best practices

Get professional email writing formats proven to work in real life. See top formal email examples and learn professional email best practices.

Professional email writing is a skill that comes in handy throughout your day-to-day – whether it’s communicating in the professional context, or managing your personal life. Using the right formal email writing format and best practices can get you understood, heard, and better respected.

The good news is that once you have the right examples for the right contexts, you can easily adjust the text to get your message across. Luckily, we’ve rounded up our favorite tips for creating and structuring effective formal emails, with helpful examples and templates.

Let’s dive in!

What’s in this article

• Formal vs. informal email writing
• Basic formal email structure
• 25 top professional formal email examples you can use today
  • Thank you email
  • Formal letter of appreciation
  • Letter of complaint
  • Cover letter
  • Reminder email
  • Letter of apology for a client
  • Apology letter from boss
  • Apology mail for the manager
  • Introduction email to client (outreach)
  • Sample email for proposal submission
  • Proposal submission email
  • Quotation email
  • Email asking for feedback
  • Email of inquiry requesting information
  • Email asking for a status update
  • Sick leave mail format
  • Letter asking for a discount from the supplier
  • Ask for a raise
  • Email your boss about a problem (asking for help)
  • Email to schedule a meeting
  • Email to the client sharing the status of project
  • Email to the boss about work progress
  • Acceptance email
  • “This is to inform you that” letter
  • Job rejection email

  Formal vs. informal email writing

  Formal email writing is utilized in a B2B or B2C scenario, where you’re exchanging professional emails with colleagues, businesses, or partners. Informal email writing is the style you’d likely use when corresponding with a friend or family member, or even a quick email to a colleague.

  When you’re emailing a friend, there’s less on the line if you get your words or meaning wrong. But when writing a business email there is much more at stake. A crucial mistake could hurt your reputation or wreck an incredible business opportunity.

  That’s why we’ve decided to cover the best practices of formal email writing, so that you can get it right every time.

  We’ll review the ins and outs of email structure, different email formats you can use, as well as short email templates that you can use in various scenarios. Keep reading to learn how to write the perfect email.

  

  Basic formal & professional email structure

  Before we get into different email templates, it’s important to know how to build an email yourself. For the most part, every email, regardless of its contents, will follow the same structure with the same basic elements. You should get to know these elements in order to ensure proper and effective email writing as a whole.

  The basic elements of professional email writing:

  1. Your email address
  2. Subject line
  3. Email opening
  4. Email body
  5. Email ending
  6. Email sign-off
  7. Email signature, or “footer”

  Now let’s break these down, one by one:

  1. Start with a professional email address

  Your email address is often out of your control. If you work for a company, or operate under the umbrella of a brand, your email address will likely include the company or brand name domain.

  For example, the emails in WiseStamp are all in the following format: [employee_name]@wisestamp.com. This ensures that we all have a professional business email address. Since only the owner of wisestamp.com can issue email addresses under that domain name, this ensures our emails appear legitimate.

  Imagine if each employee had a random Gmail address like [name]wisestamp@gmail.com. Anyone can create that email, which would make it suspicious. Email open rates are first and foremost dependent on trust, so make sure you have a trustworthy email address—otherwise suffer very low open rates.

  If you are a freelancer professional, working separately from an established brand, consider buying a domain name for your personal brand. You can look up available domains on Google domain registrar.

  2. Email subject lines

  Your subject line will be the single most important element in your formal email writing. It is the first thing your recipient will see, so your goal here is to convince them that your email is a safe, relevant, and high priority (in that order). If you don’t succeed in doing that, your email may never be opened, and any effort you put into the rest of the email elements will go to waste.

  Your subject line will depend on the purpose or content of your email, but overall, you want it to be something engaging enough for a recipient to click on.

  Email writing subject line guidelines:

  • Be clear and specific: Avoid using generic or clickbait subject lines that say little or make unrealistic promises, like “Find out how to double your business in a week!”
  • Be original: Avoid the overused subject line templates you find on the internet. Instead, make original subject lines that are relevant, personal, and concise.
  • Add relevance: Address something that the recipient will recognize, like an acquaintance’s name or an article, show or book they appeared on.

  Studies have shown that personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened. You also want to tailor your email subject line to your email goal, whether it’s a sales email, a personal email, a newsletter, or something else. Think of 3-4 refined options then narrow them down to which will likely be most appropriate.

  

  3. Email opening

  The next most important way to hook a recipient into your email is by writing a strong email opening line. Like your subject line, the email opening is mostly used as another filtering stage for most people. If it fails to meet the promise made in the subject line, your readers will bail.

  Therefore, it’s extremely important to state your main point in 1 to 2 paragraphs, tops. When you clearly convey your request or question, and your reader feels it’s relevant and interesting, they’ll continue reading your email. If you manage to get them to stay beyond this point, then in most cases, they’ll reply to your email. Good for you!

  

  Email writing opening guidelines:

  • Address your recipient by their preferred name: Look up an article they’ve written or their LinkedIn page for reference. Some people will use their full name or their nickname accordingly. For example David might go by Dave, or Anastasia goes by Ana.
  • Establish a connection: In your email, reference a personal experience that involves the recipient, like an article or a news piece you’ve read about them, or a conversation you had with an acquaintance.
  • Match the opening with the subject line: Your opening message has to mirror the promise made in the subject line because this is how the reader determines whether your email is relevant or not. If you don’t connect the subject line to the opening, readers may get confused or even assume that you’re using clickbait.
  • Get to the point fast: Tell your reader why you reached out and what’s in it for them.

  

  4. Email body

  The body of your email is where you get into your main message. Whether you’re composing an email to establish a new business connection or just following up on a meeting, the body of your email should be detailed enough that the reader isn’t confused, but also brief and to the point. No one wants to sit and read a long-winded email when they have dozens of other unattended messages in their inbox.

  Email body writing guidelines:

  • Be concise and detail only what’s needed to get your point across.
  • Use words that convey (authentic) positive personal emotions, like “glad,” “excited,” “intrigued,” and “confident.”
  • Use the word “because” when asking for something. It’s been scientifically shown that people are more easily convinced to do something if told why, and even more so if the reason is important to them.
  • Show, don’t tell. If you can’t explain something in a few words, see if you can add a screenshot, a video, or a link that explains it better.
  • Use headings to split long content into sub-topics. If you can’t avoid writing a long email, make sure to break it up into subsections with headings. This will help your time-scarce readers to scan and find their points of interest.
  • Add your concrete request or question in bold text. To best ensure your readers do not miss the most important piece of content (i.e. your request or question), add it to a separate line, in bold. You can also use a different color, if that works for your brand. Just be sure to avoid light shades for a high contrast between the text and the white background. Oh, and once you pick a color—stick to it throughout your email!

  5. Email ending

  After you’ve addressed all your main points in the body of your email, you’ll want to add a respectful and brief conclusion. You can either invite your recipient to reach out for more questions, wish them success, or ask a question. It all depends on the motive for your email. If it was a long email it could also be a good idea to gently reiterate your main request, question, or motivation.

  6. Email sign-off

  When closing your email, choose a suitable email sign-off. There are different sign-offs you can use for each occasion, such as “best regards,” “sincerely,” or “with love.” Use your best judgement on which to use that best suits your email content and recipient. For example, you obviously wouldn’t want to send the last one to your manager!

  A cool tip you can apply is to add a handwritten signature sign off.
  A handwritten signature give your recipient the feeling that you gave the email special attention and a personal touch. You can create one here.