What Are Bad Email Examples?

As a quick and efficient way to get in touch with people, email is a huge part of business communication. It can be a great way to build relationships with potential clients, existing customers, team members, stakeholders, and potential collaborators.

However, if you’re not careful, your emails can come across as unprofessional or even rude.

In this blog post, we will take a look at some examples of poorly written emails and discuss how to avoid making the same mistakes yourself and then having to come up with apology messages.

That’s why it’s useful to have some examples of unprofessional email practices to refer to before sending out any messages to potential customers or colleagues.

By knowing what not to do, you will be able to write effective business emails instead of ones that don’t even get opened or – worse still – harm your professional image.

How to avoid bad email titles

The subject line of every email you send needs to be concise and relevant to the content of the message. As such, always state the topic of your email in the header and not just something vague like “hello”. Avoiding mistakes in official communications is crucial, and using a well-structured news release template can help you ensure your announcements are professional and clear.

For instance, if you are sending an email to connect with someone who you met at a recent event, a subject line such as “Nice to have met you at the conference last week” will provide some context to the recipient. They will know exactly what the email is about and make for a much more effective email than just “Hey, let’s catch up”, which is likely to be ignored or skipped in a crowded inbox.

It is even more important to clarify what your message is about in the subject line if you are cold emailing, as the recipient won’t recognize your sender’s name.

When an email is replied to and the conversation moves along, it’s typical for the subject line to be prepended with “RE: “. This is an acceptable practice as long as the topic of the discussion hasn’t altered, in which case it’s best if the header changes to stay relevant to the current subject and a new email thread is created accordingly.

Additionally, you should always avoid using all caps or excessive exclamation points in your subject line, as this can come across as aggressive or unprofessional. What’s more, the use of such formatting or punctuation could trigger spam filters and prevent your message from landing in the recipient’s main email inbox.

Examples of bad emails subject lines

How not to write a bad email

For the email body, it’s important to use a courteous and professional tone. This means not using any slang, abbreviations, or jargon that the recipient might not understand, as well as emoticons that have no place in formal communication.

It’s also best to avoid making jokes, witty remarks or sarcasm, as it doesn’t translate well in text and could lead to awkward or even unpleasant misunderstandings. The same goes for complaining or gossiping about colleagues or home life, which should be confined to personal emails.

Additionally, keep your email messages as brief and concise as possible. No one wants to read a long and rambling email, so get straight to the point and provide any relevant information or attachments up front.

Excessive capitalization in the body of the email, as in the case of the subject line, can also come across as aggressive and potentially trigger spam filters. It is also unnecessary to use different colors and/or fonts because custom text might still show up in the default way for the recipient or, worse still, be illegible.

Starting the body of your message with a poor and ineffective line opening is another surefire way to make a bad impression. Some of the commonplaces include “Hi there”, and “I hope this email finds you well”. These lines are often overused and clichéd.

Formatting your email as something other than a business letter is another blunder. This includes the aforementioned capitalization, colors and fonts, as well as adding videos or images that are not relevant to the discussion.

Another element of a bad email would be the inclusion of unclear Calls to Action (CTAs) or their overuse. An instruction to the email recipient telling them what to do next, such as “Please call me back at your earliest convenience”, can be effective. However, if your CTAs are vague or there are a number of them, they could be ignored completely.

What might be included in a bad email

Unprofessional email examples and templates

URGENT!!!!

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We need to talk

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Quick question

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Just following up

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Hi there!

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How are you?

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Re: Re: [Topic]

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Fwd: Fwd: [Topic]

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Have you seen this???

Bad email practices

• Including too many recipients in the “To:” field – use email lists if you are messaging many people at once.
• Cc’ing or Bcc’ing someone without their knowledge – include someone in a conversation only with their consent, otherwise it can lead to misunderstandings.
• Forgetting to attach a file that was mentioned in the email – this is a common mistake and can be frustrating for the person you’re emailing. You will also have to then send a follow-up email with the attachment, possibly cluttering up the recipient’s inbox.
• Sending large attachments – if you send a large file, upload it to a cloud storage service like Google Drive or Dropbox and share the link instead.
• Replying All when it’s not necessary – only include everyone in the conversation if your response is relevant to every single one of them.
• Forwarding a forward – avoid passing around an email so many times that the original message is barely recognizable. If you forward a previous email, trim it down to the relevant parts.
• Not including a greeting (such as Dear) or a closing (e.g. Kind Regards) – these are basic manners that should not be overlooked when starting or closing an email.
• Omitting a “from” name – if you don’t include your name in the email, the recipient may not know who it’s from. This can be especially confusing if you’re replying to an email thread where the other participants’ names are visible.
• Not proofreading your email before hitting send – always take a few moments to read over your message before you send it off, to avoid any embarrassing typos or grammatical errors.
• Sending an email when you’re annoyed – it’s always best to wait a few hours (or even better, a day) before hitting send on an angry message you’ll regret later.
• Writing something in an email when you could say it to the recipient face-to-face – if possible, it’s often better to have a conversation instead of trying to hash things out over email.
• Failing to use a professional email address – if your mail is something like “iluvkitties@gmail.com”, it’s time to create a new one for business purposes.
• Insufficient personalization resulting from insufficient research – generic messages are more likely to be ignored. Take the time to learn about your recipient and what they might be interested in before you start writing.
• Lacking benefits for the recipient – every email should have a purpose and that purpose should be clear to the person you send it to. Make sure your message is something that they will find useful or interesting.
• Leaving out a signature altogether – at the very least, include your name and contact information so the recipient will know how to get in touch with you. You can also add your job title, company, and other relevant information such as social media profiles.
• Sending messages to the wrong recipients – although particularly embarrassing, it can happen more easily than you might think. Always double-check the recipient(s) before you hit send.

Summary

Bad business emails can cost you time, money, and clients. Remember to proofread your messages, be respectful of the recipient’s time, and make sure your email has a purpose.

By following our simple tips and not repeating the bad examples mentioned above, you’ll be sure to make a good impression with your business correspondence.