An average user receives over 100 emails a day. Most of them are boring, unprofessional, or have nothing to do with your interests. Your eyes flag them as spam at a glance. But you wouldn’t want the same treatment for your emails.
What would make them more attractive? – Email signatures.
So let’s get onto what they are, why you need one, and the types of email signatures with examples.
What Is an Email Signature?
Chances are that you’ve sent emails to companies or communicated with professionals, and most of their emails ended with a snapshot of their contact details, website, logo, and slogan. That’s what’s called an email signature.
Email signatures play the role of a virtual business card. They can be formatted in simple text format or embellished with a beautiful design, like a traditional card. Or, you could use online tools to add images, clickable CTAs, and social media icons.
Why Do You Need an Email Signature?
An email signature is proven to boost the credibility of emails and get them to reach their purpose. If you look at attention maps, they capture more focus than any other part of your message. So, if you don’t sign off your emails, you’re losing points.
Signatures also add personality to your emails. Without it, your emails are nothing but dull blocks of text. On the other hand, a creative signature grabs the reader’s attention and makes your emails memorable.
Here are the main reasons why email signatures are considered essential for you as a professional or for your business:
Give stability to your brand or personal image
Each element of your signature, from its logo colors, font size, alignment, and the slogan or quote included (if you decide to add one), helps establish your brand in the industry. It provides uniformity and trustworthiness.
In fact, according to a Newoldstamp report, more than 80% of email marketing specialists use their email signatures to expand brand awareness.
Spark interest in your emails
Branded emails stick in your reader’s mind. Well-known businesses such as McDonald’s or Amazon are recognized in an instant when you look at their logo.
This happens because most people are visually wired — our eyes hold 70% of sensory receptors, and it takes just a tenth of a second to process a visual scene. While the text of your contact details is also perceptible, images and color are far better at catching attention.
Simplify communication links
Email signatures give your interested prospects all the information needed to contact you. Links make your signature more effective and pull down the communication walls standing between you and your clients.
Different Types of Email Signatures
There are a few types of email signatures. But what they all share is professionalism, attention-grabbing elements, and easy-to-read designs.
Here are five of the most commonly used types with examples.
Minimalistic
Your email signature doesn’t have to be super artistic, with high-quality photos and designs that take time to load.
Go for the minimalistic approach by putting only the essential contact information, such as your name, job position, and signature.
Professional
When you’re focused on selling yourself as a professional, your email signature should include your contact information, position or expertise, and name. But it can also do more:
- Promote your services via a link to your website.
- Grow your subscriber base via a link to your blog.
- Promote your brand via social media icons.
Corporate
Sending emails as an individual professional differs from sending emails as a corporate worker. Usually, corporations have signature templates for their employees, so all email communications uphold the brand.
Email signatures for corporate members contain the basic contact information, position in the company, its name or logo, and social links.
Creative
Emails allow you to have an individual relationship with the reader. If your business model and tone of voice have room for humor, some fun would only add to your online personality.
Add a funny picture of yourself or a wild creative design to make your emails more lively.
Informal
When you have the freedom to experiment with your emails, why not spice up your signature? For example, by adding emojis, funny quotes, or gifs.
However, informal signatures are only appropriate if your whole brand goes for the casual tone of voice.
Tips for Creating an Excellent Email Signature
The key to creating a unique email signature stays in keeping it simple. As long as you’re putting in the necessary information, it’s enough. Aim to create readable and simple email signatures that aren’t confusing or annoyingly flashy. To achieve this, pay attention to these three rules:
1. Don’t overdo it with the social media links
Not adding social media links to your signature means losing big, but overdoing it acts to your disadvantage. Adding a bunch of links to your email signature lessens the chances of your readers clicking them.
There isn’t one formula that fits all occasions. But knowing your target audience, keeping in touch with your brand guidelines, and the purpose of an email will give you a fair estimate.
Is your audience spending more time on LinkedIn, Twitter, or another platform? Provide the handles that are most relevant to your readers.
There’s also a thing to add about being appropriate with your social icon selection. You wouldn’t want to attach your Snapchat to your email signature when emailing executives.
2. Don’t duplicate your email address
Your email address is a point of contact for sure. But if it’s already in the email header, adding it to your signature just clutters it.
Use that space for helpful information, such as social media or portfolio links. Direct recipients to your work or website instead of mentioning something they know already. If they want to contact you through email, they can do it by simply replying to yours.
3. The simpler you make it, the better
While stuffing your email signature with details will undoubtedly catch attention, it’s hardly professional.
Go for elegant visuals instead. Add a photo or design to your email signature instead of a specific description of your location. Less means more when you’re using email marketing to sell.
Create an Email Signature in Three Steps
With all the recommendations in mind, let’s go over the steps to creating your signature.
Step one: Pick an email signature generator app
Signature generators make the process more simple and don’t require knowledge of graphic design tools. Here are a few suggestions of apps that can help personalize your email signature:
- Mail Signatures. As straightforward as its name, the app presents numerous templates to choose from and leads you through the creation process step-by-step. It also helps you add the resulting signature to some of the popular email platforms.
- Newoldstamp. This app offers both free and paid email signatures. The free plan includes around 11 templates – enough to cover basic needs. However, the paid plan has more options for customizing your sign-off according to brand and niche.
- Gimm.io. Bringing endless fonts and various styling features, Gimm.io creates email signatures you’ll love. Seamlessly add social icons and banners that showcase your brand values.
- MySignature. This generator creates elegant and compelling email signatures for yourself or your employees. Portray your brand voice through its customizable signatures and reap the benefits of MySignature.io free templates.
Step two: Select a template and start filling it
After picking a generator and an appropriate template, fill it with the necessary details. But avoid turning your email signature into a boring text block.
Keep it short on the text, no more than three or four lines, and play around with the generator features until you see the email signature that matches your brand voice.
Step three: Attach your email signature
Once you deem the signature perfect, attach it to your messages. Most email programs have the option of making the signature automatic. It will appear in all your messages from the address you connect it to, and you can delete it in case there’s no need.
The simplest way of adding an email signature is by pasting its HTML code into the relevant box of your email account settings.
Depending on the number of email addresses you use, you may need to create more than one signature. If that’s your scenario, go through the same steps again.
Wrapping Up
Having an email signature that follows your brand guidelines attached at the end of every email has several benefits. It provides credibility and authenticity for your brand and draws attention to your message.
Create your own signature with a generator, attach it to emails via email client settings, and see your conversion rates increase.
