Best Practices for Mass Email

In general, the goal is for our emails to be read and for students to take action when needed.

Length and content:

  • Be clear and concise.

  • Use formatting tools (like bullets and headings) to organize long text into easy-to-read chunks.

  • Consolidate information and use links for pushing readers to more info.

Accessibility:

  • Do not include important text in an image.

  • Avoid using the phrase “click here” as your hyperlinks, be specific with link text.

  • Avoid sending attachments as they take up more disk space and degrade server performance.

From and Subject lines:

  • Be specific about who the message is coming from (i.e. NYU Wagner Office of Career Services).

  • If appropriate, send with your personal name, but using an alias as a return address (i.e. “From: Jane Smith, wagner.studentservices@nyu.edu”).

  • Use a subject line that clearly defines the purpose of the email.

  • Be consistent with subject lines for recurring emails (i.e. “Weekly Digest”).

Look and feel:

  • Use provided banners for a quick visual cue as to what information will be in the email. Download email banners

  • Does not need to be flashy. Important deadlines and info should be simple.

Timing:

  • For recurring emails, have a set schedule. Same time, same day weekly/bi-monthly/monthly/etc.

  • Try to avoid sending emails on the same day as other units.

  • Keep reminder emails to two times or less.

Audience:

  • Try to target emails to specific groups (i.e. Urban Planning Jobs of the Day to just MUP students)

Other:

  • Combine multiple announcements into one message and collaborate with other departments as appropriate to avoid redundancy and reduce the number of messages sent.

  • Utilize other channels instead of email (i.e. Wagnerds Facebook group).

  • Keep in mind there are NYU Central emails as well and students do not think of them as a separate group (i.e. NYU Weekly always goes out on Tuesdays).

  • Avoid fatigue. Reconsider the goal of the email and whether it is urgent or essential information that needs to be shared through an email.