10 Internal Email Best Practices to Drive Engagement

1.11.2023
Read time: 13 min
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10 Internal Email Best Practices to Drive Engagement
Try Publicate For Free Today
02.03.2022
Read time: 13 min

In a lifetime, the average person will spend nearly 10.2 years at work. Just as communication is key in personal relationships, the same can be said of work relationships. Internal email communications are a great way to achieve constant and effective communication, especially when practicing internal email best practices.

Let’s take a look at how you can create, design, and send the most optimal internal communication email with the help of an email builder.

Guide Index
Employees working together on computers
Picture from Unsplash

What is Internal Communication?

Internal communication (IC) is the process of connecting with employees on a regular basis and keeping them up-to-date about the company strategy, values, goals, happenings, and culture.

Internal communication can take place across a variety of mediums, including: emails, surveys, newsletters, town halls, meetings, and the like.

The importance of internal communication cannot be understated as it can dramatically impact how employees feel, act, and behave in the workplace.

What is an Internal Email?

An internal email is exactly what it sounds like, any email that is sent within the organization to people in the organization. Internal emails are a popular method for internal communication because email is reliable and far-reaching.

Additionally, with the aid of email builders, it’s never been easier to create branded and engaging emails for employees.

Email builders have hundreds of professional pre-built templates to choose from, which means that all you have to do is search for the type of internal email template you want and get going. With an email builder that features drag-and-drop functionality, there’s no need for coders or graphic designers.

Anyone can simply customize the email however they’d like to and then send it out. The best email builders integrate with your favorite email service providers so you can export your HTML creation directly into your favorite email provider to send.

Why are Internal Emails Important?

Internal emails are valuable for employees and employers alike. For starters, they help to motivate employees and keep morale high. For employers, they are a great way to retain employees as you are able to help your team feel a part of something bigger than just themselves.

Additionally, there’s always something important that employees should know about, so an internal email is an easy, straightforward, and cost-effective way to spread the news!

What are Types of Internal Emails?

Anything you want to say can be said in an email. When it comes to internal emails, there are many types based on the message you want to convey. For example, you can use internal emails to share information about:

  • Change management
  • Team-building activities
  • Financial updates
  • Office closures
  • Policy updates
  • Employee feedback requests
  • Leadership messages
  • Recent hires
  • Promotions

We’re going to share internal email best practices soon, but if you’re looking for more examples, ideas, and tips, check out this blog.

How to Build an Employee Email Strategy?

There are many different modes of communication that you can use within your organization, including: intranet, chat platforms, social media, and more.

That being said, email is one of the most effective methods of communication in the workplace because it’s centralized, organized, and always accessible. Plus, with email builders that boast the feature of analytics, you can see exactly how your internal emails are performing with open-rates, click-through rates, and heatmaps.

Building an email strategy is of value because it enables organizations to:

  • Be consistent
  • Improve engagement
  • Increase transparency

When you have a strategy in place and the right tools by your side to help you achieve it (i.e. an email builder), internal email best practices are easy to execute. Overall, employees who feel engaged and motivated will perform better, so a single step forward in your communication efforts can result in giant leaps in productivity for your business.

How to Write an Internal Communication Email?

By now, you know the value of internal communication emails, and you may be itching to craft your own. But, how? Where do you start, and what do you need to do before doing so when it comes to the writing portion of things?

The following points, of course!

1. Spark Curiosity

Your employees have emails coming into their inbox all day, every day. You want to be sure that they’ll click on internal email, so you have to give them a reason to do so. Some ideas for making that happen are to: ask questions in your email, write emails like a story, or present interesting statistics.

2. Lead their Eyes

Many people end up scanning their emails to quickly find the news that is relevant to them. To help them do so and ensure that the most important points don’t get overlooked, you can use fonts, colors, and font sizes to your advantage. You can also include bulleted lists, white space, and images to help lead their eyes to where they should be looking.

3. Remain Focused

You might have a lot to say, but you don’t want to say it all at once because it can become overwhelming. That’s why it’s valuable to focus your emails on a central thought and include sub-thoughts that naturally follow the flow, or point, of the email overall.

Gmail on laptop browser
Picture from Unsplash

What are Internal Email Best Practice Tips?

With the array of messages you can send, there are seemingly equal internal email best practices to incorporate. We’re going to share some of our favorite best practices, focused around boosting employee engagement.

1. Leverage Email Builders

First and most importantly, let’s recap how email builders can make such a big difference in your internal communication efforts. Email builders equip you with everything you need to design effective and engagement emails and newsletters without much extra effort.

From pre-built templates to built-in image editors, analytics, and an easy-to-use interface, anyone can design and send internal communications seamlessly. Plus, every best practice tip on this list is already taken care of when you use an email builder.

2. Make it Responsive

Email responsiveness means that your email will render and appear as you design it across different device sizes. It’s so important these days because the majority of emails are read on mobile devices, and that number grows yearly.

3. Choose Readable Fonts

With the amount of font choices available to you, you may want to get wild and try “fun” fonts. However, you have to remember that the font you choose can dramatically impact readability.

That’s why it’s better to go with safer, simpler, and web-ready fonts. For example, is it easier to read this Comic Sans portion of the sentence or this one in Arial?

4. Include Call-to-Action Buttons

Some emails are intended to simply inform, whereas others may have actions you want your employees to take.

Whether you are hoping they’ll RSVP to an event, read more on the company blog, or sign up for professional development classes, a call-to-action button can help get you to your desired outcome. Call-to-action (CTAs) should stand out from the rest of the email, be clear, and pop out with contrasting colors.

5. Mix In Visuals

No one looks at a long, copy-heavy email and thinks, “I can’t wait to read that!” Mixing in multimedia, like GIFs, images, and videos, can greatly impact employee engagement.

Not only does it take less effort to watch a video, but images can help break up text-heavy email content to help retain attention. Email builders with built-in image editors allow you to quickly and easily edit, crop, and resize images within your design.

6. Pay Attention to the Subject Line

When you’re building out your email, it’s easy to get sucked into what you see in front of you, but you can’t forget that the first thing readers will see is the subject line in their inbox.

That’s why it pays to craft something catchy, concise, and intriguing to promote them to open the email to read more.

7. Write in an Active Voice

On the point of copywriting, it’s also a best practice to write in an active voice, as opposed to a passive voice. Active voices provide clarity and make sentences easier to read. Here’s the difference:

  • Active: Sam used an email builder to make his internal email creation a breeze.
  • Passive: The email builder was used by Sam to make his email creation a breeze.

8. Solicit Feedback

Internal communications are best executed when they allow for interactivity and feedback. To ensure open communication, you can include surveys, polls, and the opportunity for employees to respond to emails.

Additionally, you can share your internal email newsletter within your company’s communication channels (i.e. intranet and Slack) to ask for feedback in those locations.

9. Use Analytics

Knowing whether or not your email is being read or opened shouldn’t be a guessing game. Email builders provide analytics so you can see how employees are receiving and engaging with your emails in real-time.

10. Remain Consistent

Last but not least, keep your internal communications consistent. Employees don’t necessarily have to receive an email on the same day each month, but it is beneficial to send internal emails

at a regular frequency. This way, it’s on their radar, so they know to look out for it and expect one to come.

Wrapping Up

It’s undeniable that internal communications are of value in any industry. Employees seek to be involved and want to know how their day-to-day duties impact the company on the whole.

At the same time, internal emails are a cost-effective way to share company updates, promote events, and boost engagement amongst employees. Email builders provide for a straightforward creation experience with little to no learning curve.

With these internal email best practices and an email builder in your court, you’re on the right track to make an impact using email!