4 examples of bad email manners

Ths story originally ran on PR Daily in March, 2015. Whether it’s the neighbor who mows the lawn at 7 a.m. on a Saturday or the woman who cuts in front of you in the elementary school drop-off line, bad manners are everywhere. The online world is no exception.

Last year, I wrote a post about social media etiquette, matching social media errors to Jane Austen characters. As a follow up, here are a few email faux pas. Communicators with plenty of corporate experience have likely experienced these and cringed accordingly.

1. Solicitation emails with huge attachments.

In my day job, I often receive calls from publishers asking if our company would like to advertise in their publications or websites. Recently, I’ve been dealing with an overly persistent ad sales rep. I know she’s in sales and that it’s her job to keep pushing, but after several polite phone conversations and email exchanges, she’s still not taking “no” for an answer.

This week, I received an email from her with a 12 megabyte attachment, a PDF of the publication in which she would like us to advertise. The attachment landed me in email jail and most certainly did not convince me to advertise with her.