• by Jess Nelson , April 14, 2016

Email etiquette can have a direct impact on engagement, and a new study released Tuesday suggests that certain words are more likely to appear as rude in email marketing messages.

Outsource-Philippines, a global outsource solutions provider, compiled a list of key words and phrases that may give an email recipient the wrong impression.  

The company advises email marketers to steer clear of words that sound demanding, such as “me,” “need” and “important,” as well as any phrases that sound overly negative, such as “no” or making a correction with the word “actually.”

Additional content to avoid in email marketing includes apologies, abbreviating “thank you” to “thanks” and multiple exclamation points.

Outsource-Philippines also advises marketers to stay clear of swear words at all costs.

“Regardless of your emotion, mood or situation, swearing is strictly prohibited because it is offensive and rude,” states the company.

Paradoxically, swear words may actually boost the email engagement levels of British recipients. 

A 2015 report by email service platform Mailjet showed that subject lines containing swear words boosted open rates by 28.6%, and that roughly a quarter of British recipients would open an email containing a swear word. 

In contrast, open rates in the United States dropped 30% when a subject line contained a swear word, according to the Mailjet study.

At the end of the day, there is no definitive rule for what should or should not be said in email marketing because it completely depends on the audience. Instead, email marketers should actively A/B test their campaigns with a small audience to judge the way the email is being received before sending it to the entire email subscriber list.