What should I put in my Out of Office (Automatic Reply) message?

There’s nothing better than having some time off work and getting out of the office. There’s always those last few tasks to complete before you get to leave and one of those is setting up an out of office (automatic reply). We recently published a guide on how to create an out of office reply, but what should you put in one?

The common template for an out of office (automatic reply) is the basics of why you’re out of the office and when you’re expected to be back. Most people will also include the e-mail address of somebody they can contact in case of an emergency. Both are important, but there’s also an array of other things you can include in your out of office messages. Be different, be funny, it’s still a chance for business!

What is good to include in your out of office?

1. Images
2. Social media links
3. offers you have
4. Links to specific pages on your website
5. Who to contact
6. When you’re back in the office
   
   

Images

This is where you can get creative. Add in an image in of where you’re on holiday or something that would make you smile. Who doesn’t love a picture of a cute puppy? Research shows that you’re more likely to remember an image than words. Make somebody’s day with a memorable image!

Social Media links

There’s nothing like a little self-promotion, and if you’re on holiday, you’re going to want to share your holiday pics. Why not include your latest or funniest post in your message and link people to your various social media accounts? It may even be a way to contact you while you’re out of the office.

Links to specific pages on your website

Imagine somebody is enquiring about a service you offer or a product you have in stock. If they’re met with a dull standard out of office message what are the chances of them buying from you? Not a lot. Why not include a link to ‘problems we solve’ page or your products? You never know you might just do a bit of business without even doing anything.

Your business' offers

Is there a promotion happening in your company while you’re away? Make sure you mention it! Create a companywide image for the promotion that everybody will be able to share.

Who to contact

This is an important one. If there’s something that needs to be dealt with urgently make sure there are contact details of a person who’ll be able to deal with any problems. This may just be the office phone number or company e-mail address, but it may stop you from losing business.

When you’re back in the office

Another important point. Let people know when you’re back and when you’ll be able to contact them. Don’t be afraid to tell people it will take you some time to work through your backlog of e-mails either. We’re only human!

What shouldn't I nclude in my out of office?

1. Your email address
2. Lines and lines of text
   
   

Your E-mail address

It’s the year 2017 and people still do this! Why do you need to include your e-mail for people to contact you when you’re back when people have JUST e-mailed you! It gives an unprofessional look. By all means, tell people they can e-mail you on the date you stated you’d be back in the office.

Lines and lines of text

If people know they’re not talking to a human, they’re going to lose interest quickly. Don’t bore them with paragraphs of text and get your point across quickly and this is where images are useful.

We hope this guide has given you a few different ideas for what you could include in your out of office (automatic reply). If you have any other questions about e-mail put them in the comments below and don’t forget to check out our related content.

If you are unsure how to set up an out of office them read our next article:
How to set up Out of Office (Automatic Replies) in Outlook