• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, January 10, 2020

Don’t use emojis in an email — they annoy many people. That’s one of the findings of  The Most Annoying Phrases You Can Use In Email, a study by Perkbox, a provider of a work experience platform.

Also, don’t say “Happy Friday” or “Just looping in,” according to the survey of 1,928 working individuals.

Granted, this research examines work emails, and it identifies the clichés that most of us use in our rush to communicate with colleagues. But it has import for marketers, too, for many B2B emails mimic work emails, and that's especially true of pitches personally sent by salespeople.

For my part, I’m put off by personalized B2B emails saying “Hello, Ray.” They don’t know me, and half the time the emails are irrelevant — why are they using my first name?

Then there’s this ridiculous opener: “Hope you had a good weekend.” We’re at work now — who even remembers last weekend?

But enough of my personal gripes. The study found that email is still the most popular means of communication at work — 73% say so.

Personal contact is preferred by 50%, phone by 33%, instant messaging by 16%. And only 8% choose text and 3% social media. 

Most adults check emails for one to two hours per day.

A fifth ofadults spend between 1 and 2 hours a day checking emails. Another 16% spend from two to three hours, and 15% spend five-plus hours scanning and sending emails.

Does your marketing message stand a chance?

Here are the most popular greetings:

• Hi — 49% 
• Good morning / afternoon — 48% 
• Hello — 21% 
• Dear — 20% 
• Happy [insert day]! e.g. Happy Friday! — 7% 

• No greeting — 53%
• To whom it may concern — 37% 
• Hey — 28% 
• Happy [Insert day]! e.g. Happy Friday—23%
• Greetings — 22%

It may seem contradictory to have Happy Friday (or Happy Monday, etc.) in both the best and worst lists. But you can tell by the numbers that it doesn’t do much for people.

Now for the most appealing sign-offs: 

• Kind regards — 69%
• Thanks or thanks again — 46%
• Regards — 31% 
• Thanks in advance — 21% 
• Best wishes — 20%

The worst ways to end an email? Here are the bottom 10:

1. Love — 57% 
2. No sign-off — 44%
3. Warmly — 31%
4. Cheers — 26% 
5. Yours truly — 24%
6. Yours faithfully — 18% 
7. Talk soon —14% 
8. Sincerely — 12% 
9. Best — 12%
10. All the best — 9%

Finally, avoid these annoying email clichés:

• Just looping — 37% 
• As per my last email — 33% 
• Any updates on this? — 24%
• Confirming receipt/confirming that I have received this — 16% 
• Per our conversation — 15%
• Please advise — 8%

And try to steer clear of these worst practices: 

• Using capital letters for whole words or sentence — 67%
• Using kisses or ‘x’ — 65%
• CC’ing people who don’t need to be involved — 63%
• Using slang, e.g. OMG — 53%
• Using too many exclamation marks — 52% 
• Sending an email without proofreading — 50% 
• Sending very long emails — 29% 
• Using emojis — 29%
• Not having an email signature — 23%
• Double emailing — 22%
• Using smiley faces — 22% 
• Using colored fonts — 21% 

One more word on exclamation points: Only 16% are against them, with 48% saying one is acceptable in an email and 24% allowing up to two.

Happy Friday.