Your Emails Should Sound Human. But How Human?
Conversational doesn’t always mean casual. How far should your emails go? Here’s how to find the right voice for your brand—and your audience.
by Marie Caraig
There’s a piece of email marketing advice you’ve probably heard a hundred times:
Write like a human.
I agree.
Your audience may be B2B or B2C. They may be business owners, parents, executives, accountants, shoppers, or engineers.
But ultimately, they’re all people.
And most people would rather not open their inbox and find themselves talking to someone they imagine sitting behind a desk with a perfectly straight back, expressionless face, and absolutely no intention of smiling.
We are pleased to announce that our latest collection is now available for purchase.
Nobody talks like that.
So yes, the days when marketing emails had to sound stiff and painfully formal are largely behind us.
But there’s a problem with the advice to “sound conversational.”
How conversational should you actually be?
Because sounding human and sounding like someone’s best friend are not the same thing.
Conversational Doesn't Mean Casual
This is probably the distinction that matters most.
You can sound conversational without being overly casual.
Consider:
We are pleased to announce that our latest collection is now available for purchase.
Now compare that with:
Our new collection is here. Take a look and see what catches your eye.
The second sounds more human. It is easier to read. It sounds like one person speaking to another.
But it isn't particularly casual.
There’s no slang. No joke. No emoji. No attempt to sound cool.
It simply removes the unnecessary stiffness.
That’s what conversational marketing email copy often needs to do:
Make the communication feel like it came from a person without forgetting who that person represents.
Yes, B2B Readers Are Humans Too
The B2B-versus-B2C distinction sometimes gets more attention than it deserves.
Of course, the two can require very different email marketing strategies.
But a B2B email isn't being opened by a building.
It's being opened by a person.
A procurement manager is a person. A CEO is a person. A mortgage broker is a person. The owner of a manufacturing company is a person.
They don't suddenly develop a preference for lifeless writing when they arrive at work.
They still respond to clarity, personality, relevance, and a sense that someone is actually talking to them rather than issuing a corporate announcement in their general direction.
That doesn't mean every B2B marketing email should start with Hey! and end with a GIF.
It means:
Professional doesn't have to mean impersonal.
But There's Such a Thing as Too Conversational
Suppose you're receiving a marketing email from a company asking you to trust it with your money.
Which sounds more convincing?
Want to make your business payments simpler? See how our platform helps you manage transactions securely and efficiently.
Or:
Money stuff is annoying, right? 😩 Let us handle the boring bits so you can get back to making that $$$.
The second one is certainly conversational.
But depending on the company, it might also make you a little less enthusiastic about trusting it with your money.
Context changes what sounds appropriate.
If a balloon decorator sends you a playful email about making your child's birthday spectacular, enthusiasm feels natural.
If a financial services company is asking you to trust it with your business transactions, you probably want confidence and competence.
If an industrial supplier is promoting a product that could affect safety or operations, clever jokes may not be what builds confidence.
If a financial adviser is asking you to trust them with a major financial decision, trying too hard to sound like your drinking buddy can work against them.
Warmth builds trust. Forced familiarity can destroy it.
Your Brand Decides Where the Line Is
There isn't one correct level of conversational writing for email marketing.
There is only a level that is right—or wrong—for the brand.
Some brands can say:
You seriously don't want to miss this.
Others would sound more natural saying:
Here's something we think you'll find useful.
Another might simply say:
Three things to consider before making your decision.
All three can be conversational.
They're just different people in the room.
This goes back to something I consider essential before writing email copy for a company:
Know the brand first.
What personality does it project? What does it sell? Why do customers trust it? What does the audience expect from it?
If reliability, expertise, security, or precision is central to the brand's value, its conversational voice may need to be more restrained.
If energy, creativity, entertainment, or personal connection is central to the brand, there may be much more room to play.
Neither is inherently better.
The goal isn't to make every company sound casual. The goal is to make every company sound human.
Imagine the Person Behind the Email
One technique I find useful is to stop thinking about “tone” for a moment and imagine an actual person.
If this brand walked into a room, how would you feel talking to them?
Maybe they're knowledgeable and confident but easy to talk to.
Maybe they're energetic, expressive, and always ready with a joke.
Maybe they're calm and reassuring—the kind of person you would want around when something goes wrong.
Maybe they're precise and straightforward. They don't waste your time, but they don't make you feel like you're wasting theirs either.
Now write from there.
Because professional yet approachable can be difficult to translate into actual sentences.
But a knowledgeable person who explains things clearly without talking down to me?
I know how that person sounds.
Read It Out Loud—But Ask One More Question
Another common piece of advice is to read your email aloud.
It's good advice.
If you stumble over a sentence, there's a decent chance your reader will too. If you hear yourself saying something you'd never actually say to another person, that's worth fixing.
But there's a second question I'd add:
Can I imagine this brand saying it?
Because a sentence can sound perfectly natural coming out of your mouth and still be completely wrong for the company you're writing for.
That's the part “write like you talk” misses.
You're not necessarily writing like you talk.
You're writing the way the brand would talk if it were sitting across the table from its customer.
Natural Writing Usually Gets Simpler
One of the easiest ways to make an email sound more conversational isn't adding jokes, slang, emojis, or clever expressions.
It's removing things.
Corporate filler. Unnecessary formality. Long sentences that could have been two. Words chosen because they sound impressive rather than because they're clear.
At this point in time becomes now.
In order to becomes to.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you becomes Thank you.
This isn't about dumbing down the writing.
It's about removing the things real conversations rarely need.
The result is often warmer without becoming any less professional.
So, How Conversational Should Your Emails Be?
Enough that there is clearly a human being on the other side.
Not so much that the reader stops recognizing—or trusting—the brand.
That's the line.
And it won't be in exactly the same place for every company.
A fintech startup, a law firm, a balloon decorator, a software company, and an industrial manufacturer can all write natural, conversational marketing emails.
But they shouldn't all sound alike.
One may be funny. One may be reassuring. One may be enthusiastic. One may be quietly confident. One may simply be clear, helpful, and pleasantly easy to read.
That's why “Does this sound conversational?” isn't quite the question I want to ask when reviewing an email.
I'd rather ask:
Does this sound like a real person—and is that person someone I would expect this brand to be?
Get both parts right, and you don't have to choose between sounding professional and sounding human.
You can be both.