Did you know that many professionals, particularly younger ones, overuse exclamation points in office emails!?!

Perhaps you yourself are part of this group …

Did you also know that of those exclamation points used in a professional setting, 73% are made by women!?!

Yes!!! A study comparing gender and exclamation point usage in computer-mediated communication conducted by Carol Waseleski found a large majority of professionally used exclamation points are placed by women!!!

Basic grammar lessons teach us that exclamation points are a good way to communicate emotion, create a tone of voice, or simply to describe someone YELLING!!! (All caps work too, as you can see.)

However, using too many of these may cause them to lose their effect!!!

While there is no easy formula or magic number to determine how many exclamation points are too many (sorry millennial women!!!), there are ways to check your work to find the optimal amount for your specific need!!! For example, try reading your work out loud, including reading the grammar. Meaning, you pause at commas, and exaggerate sentences with exclamation points!!! While doing so, pay attention to both your tone and inflection!!! The goal should be natural and conversational — not like an infomercial!!!

“With every never-stick skillet you order, you’ll receive a free set of Ginsu knives!!!”

How can this information be helpful in marketing? Just as you should limit exclamation point usage in business emails, be mindful about how you use exclamation points within your marketing campaigns!!!

You should save your exclamation points for a) the most exciting part of the message, or b) the most important part of the message — like your call-to-action!!!

Here’s good news!!!

Calls-to-action that include exclamation points have the ability to increase click-through rates!!! But, you want to be careful with where and how you use exclamation points because if every call-to-action ends with a !, the visitor could very likely get overwhelmed!!! They can lose their effect if used too frequently!!! It is just not believable if you’re excited about everything!!! Right?!

And, lastly …

If you’ve been paying attention, you can probably guess the gender and age of this blogpost’s author, right? Right!!!