The way you sign off in your email leaves the person with a lasting impression of you and your company. If you are letting your employees create their own, you are doing yourself a disservice.
Consider this super personal example.
While living alone I received a message on my door when I returned home from work. Now the first part could be flattering (if not a little odd) and left me thinking “well maybe this guy is shy…”
However, the sign off is what really creeped me out (enough to report it to my front office).
Sort of makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up, right? You have been watching me, live in the area and can only sign with one letter instead of a name? Are you a wanted criminal? Is your name simply “N”?
Don’t cause this same panic/fear/doubt with an ineffective email signature.
If your closing is vague or slightly off, you are going to illicit the email version of creeper, which is spammer.
Creating a uniform and good email signature is one of the most effective (not to mention easiest) ways to improve your daily correspondences and even help the way in which your cold emails are perceived.
Just as uniforms create a sense of professional unity, the same can be said of your signature. Consider it your email version of a business card…but more interactive.
10 Items You *Can* Include in Your Good Email Signature
So you get the point, signatures are kind of a big deal but what are you supposed to include in them?
Go from perceived spammer to legit business contact with these 10 popular items commonly found in great signatures.
1 Company Website Link
What’s the first thing we do to make sure a company is real?
We check out their website.
Your signature should make this as simple as clicking a link. You have the reader’s attention, so capitalize on it. After all, the average adult attention span is only 8 seconds.
Be sure you are directing them to a landing page that contains your main call to action. If you want to test the effectiveness of your signature, you may want to add a tracking code for your own analytic.
2 Social Media Icons
Garnering social media followers is something marketers have struggled with since the beginning of the online explosion.
Some people have taken the cheater way out (p.s. I don’t recommend this) and purchased “followers.” What good does this actually provide for your company?
Include your social media buttons with embedded links to maximize traffic. Share on XUtilize the interest of those you are communicating with to direct them to social media. Chances are, that’s likely the first place you post company news, offers or giveaways so make your accounts easy to find and follow. Include your social media buttons with embedded links to your accounts to maximize traffic.
3 Blog Link
Writing blogs isn’t just something you do for the heck of it – the more eyes reading your content, the better!
Including your link in the blog just makes sense. You can simply put a link to your site, or if you prefer, you can highlight a recent post and switch this out regularly.
4 Upcoming Webinars or Other Events
Email signatures are an awesome way to promote upcoming webinars or other events. Whether you are hosting a webinar, heading to a trade show or appearing as a guest speaker at a conference, this is the place to spread the word.
Every time you reach out to your client, they will see what events your are promoting.
5 Newsletter Sign Up
Chances are, you have more than one way to reach out to clients. This is a great chance for cross promotion.
If you are frequently publishing a newsletter, this is the opportunity to build your subscriber list, become the authority in your field with great content and market to your clients through a different channel.
6 White Paper or Other New Content
A great way to build your lead generation campaign is with a white paper or case studies. Including these in your closing can capture the attention of prospects through your cold email.
Case studies continue to be so effective because people want to see results and know that you have been able to deliver in the past. They see your success stories and instantly envision their company in your capable hands.
7 Product Free Trials
Free trials continue to be popular in sales, after all is there really a better way to know if a product is for you than grabbing the wheel and taking it for a spin?
8 Demo Info
Along the same lines, providing demo info in your signature is a terrific call to action.
9 Video
Video catches the attention of audiences in sales and marketing. People want to visually see what you are all about. Videos are also easy to share with others, setting yourself up to let your new clients essentially market for you as they share your visual content with others.
10 All Your Contact Info
This may seem basic but having a well-branded and effective signature means including all your contact information. People are busy so allow them to choose the easiest way for them to contact you. Include phone, email, social channels etc.
Email Signature Design Best Practices
When crafting your email signature, follow the basic best practices to get you started on the right track. The following are some great guidelines from Email Monks.
- Length – a maximum of 7 lines is considered ideal for a business signature.
- Design – While you want to let your creativity guide your design, remember to keep it professional. Branding is key, so stick within your company color scheme and make sure it’s industry-appropriate.
- Color – Your contact details should be the same color as the email body to create consistency. Links should be a different color in order to stand out .
Using Our New Signature Creator for Email
Okay, all this information is great and you want a good email signature, but what if you aren’t really a designer?
Not a problem, LeadFuze has created a brand new email signature tool! Here’s a quick look at it in action:
Now you have the knowledge, best practices and tools to create your company’s email signature. Have fun, play around with the new tool and don’t be afraid to take a look at what your competitors or others in your industry are doing. You can learn a lot from example!