When Should You Send Mass Emails?

by Trent Armstrong

In the world of email, there are few practices that can be as damaging or annoying as mass emails. I'm not talking about spam emails. I'm referring to the photo of the kitten your Aunt forwarded to you and three-hundred of her closest friends, or the awkward email you delivered to everyone in the office when you accidentally hit reply to all.

When Should You Send Mass Emails?

In discussing mass emails in general, it's necessary to start with the basics and build from there. With the advent of the computer address book, it has become far too easy to add every single email address you have obtained over the years to one email and blast out a staggering amount of correspondence with a few mouse clicks. However, just because we have that option doesn't mean we should take it. Also, the mere fact that someone has given you his or her email address is not an invitation to flood their inbox with content.

It takes time to answer even the most non-essential emails, and time is very important whether you are running a home or a business. Taking valuable moments to weed through non-essential emails can ruin a productive day.

When Should You Forward Emails?

Forwarding email is not evil in itself. Forwards become a problem when they are sent without personal sentiment in mind. Before you click that button to forward a funny email you just received to all your email contacts, take a moment and think about the content. Is it an email you need to send to someone's work email? Is it something that everyone needs to see? Or would it be better to  select a few of your friends who might find it particularly interesting? Once you've put on the brakes, take a moment to write a personal note in the email like, "Hey! This made me think of you." Suddenly your impersonal email blast has the potential to be enjoyed by a few instead of deleted immediately by everyone.

What if you are the one who is on the receiving end of the mass forward? When you are getting far too many forwarded emails, politely call or email the culprit and calmly explain that you don't look at any emails without a personal message. It's okay to do this--even if the culprit is your mother. I had occasion to take this kind of action not too long ago. My friend understood my feelings and now only sends me emails he knows matter to me.

When Should You Use Reply to All?

Of all the features of email, the one that can be the most destructive is the reply to all option. A typical scenario is when a perfectly innocent email goes out to a group, and the reply—that was just intended for one friend-- included a snippy comment. The person accidentally clicked the reply-to-all button and sent their impolite thought to everyone--at which point they were fired or at least greatly embarrassed. Though these kinds of situations are generally mistakes, it is never polite to purposefully make derogatory comments about someone, especially not in a reply-to-all email.

We all need to keep in mind that it's not mannerly at all to make those kinds of comments in the first place. But there is one more incorrect way to use the reply-to-all button. Consider that you have asked to be placed in a mass email group for notification upon the birth of your friend's baby. The happy email comes, only to be followed by a barrage of congratulatory reply-to-all messages delivered right into your inbox. That should hopefully remind you that replying to all is not appropriate in that situation. If not, I'll say it here. Do not use reply-to-all when you simply want to send a message back to the sender.

Reply-to-all is great for adding valuable information to an email chain that is for the entire group of recipients. In an office situation, it should be used even more sparingly and only for adding to that mass conversation, not as a way to convey a message meant for only one party.

When Can You Send Mass Emails?

Mass emails have a specific purpose: to convey important information to all interested parties at one time. Some of the situations that warrant mass emails are important office business, group event information, and baby announcements. You may certainly forward any of these types of emails if you know of others who are interested but not included in the list. However, these emails should be sent only to those who have given their consent, not to everyone in your email address book.

Yes, you should get everyone's permission before adding them your mass email list. Do not send donation requests, cookie order forms, someone else's personal information, inspirational stories, or jokes to anyone unless you have gotten their permission. Also, be ready for when people request to be taken off the list. Don't be offended. Graciously remove them and apologize for any inconvenience.

After you have confirmed that everyone is okay with receiving these emails, remember that it's important to respect privacy and put all addresses in the Blind Carbon Copy or BCC field of the email. Many of us aren't comfortable with our email addresses being delivered to everybody and their brother.

Also, temper the frequency of your emails. Sending batch emails several times a day might get you added to everyone's Spam folders. 

Once you have put all these tips into practice, you might see an increasing number of folks who are willing to be on your list and actually enjoy getting your mass emails.

Administrative

Thank you for joining me for another of The Modern Manners Guy's Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Polite Life. 

We want to know more about who is listening to The Modern Manners Guy’s Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Polite Life.  Please visit QuickAndDirtyTips.com to take our Listener Survey. You can find it by clicking on the blue "Listener Survey" button at the bottom of the right column on every page of the web site.  Thanks for taking the time to help us out.

Remember that if you have any comments or questions you may email me The Modern Manners Guy at manners@quickanddirtytips.com or leave a voicemail at 206-666-4MRM. And don't forget to become a fan of the podcast on FaceBook. Drop by, join the discussions, and let us know about your manners situations. You'll find a link to my FaceBook group at manners.quickanddirtytips.com.

The Modern Manners Guy is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips Network.