An email signature isn’t just a means to identify who you are and where you can be reached. If you run a business, it is also an important way of creating brand awareness, generating more traffic to your site, and being remembered for your services. For these reasons, having a solid and professional signature is vital, but many people end up getting this wrong.
Below are a few tips for creating a professional email signature and what things you should and should not include.
Keep It Short and Sweet
This rule applies to almost anything on the world wide web today. Nobody wants to read or look at overly long text that doesn’t serve a purpose. This is especially the case when it comes to email signatures. If it’s huge and bleeding off the page, then you may need to rethink your approach.
To ensure your signature is noticed, keep it simple and short. You don’t need to include an essay about your qualifications or what you do. Experts suggest keeping your signature to three or four lines with brief information that includes your name, title, company (if needed), and contact details. Easy, right?
Showcase Your Expertise
While keeping it short is a must, you can also use your signature to showcase your expertise. This can be as simple as saying ‘ranked #1 on Forbes for travel sites.’ Whatever it is, keep it simple, but do it in a snappy way that shows off your experience and encourages engagement. After all, a signature isn’t just about giving your contact info. It’s also about drawing traffic to your business or website.
Add Social Media Icons
Social media icons are an excellent way of succinctly driving traffic to your platforms. Avoid writing out the links and wording to your social media sites. For example, “Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/johndoe”, only uses up space and makes it less easy to read. Instead, you can easily download social media icons that are sized correctly for email signatures. This allows you to hyperlink the icons so that a reader can click on it directly.
Use Images
Images are always a great idea as they can make your signature more personal. You could include your company logo here, or better yet, you could add a picture of yourself. People will remember visuals much more than they will remember text, so utilize this option if you can.
If you’re having difficulties designing your signature, it’s a good idea to use email signature software. This will allow you to personalize your signature and ensure that it looks neat and professional.
Avoid Unnecessary Information
Another mistake that people often make is to include information or details that aren’t very relevant. For example, avoid writing out your email address in your signature. After all, they’ve already got access to your email by hitting reply to your message or hovering over the sender info. Also, try not to add bits of your resume on your signature. While showcasing your expertise is a great idea, listing out all your accolades, is not.
Content marketing and inbound marketing expert, Steve Conway is passionate about discovering new tech which will enhance his already well-honed digital marketing skills.
