Email signatures – the often overlooked marketing tool
When did you last update your email signature?
If it wasn't recently, you could be missing out on a valuable, free marketing opportunity!
86%* of professionals prefer to use email when communicating for business purposes. On average, a person receives 120 emails each day and, assuming that the recipient has already made it to the end of your email, they are likely to be interested in your organisation and what you have to say.
Example 1:
A carefully thought out email signature is a great way to:
Build brand awareness
Appear professional and consistent
Increase social media following
Increase website traffic
Give customers contact choices
Share news and offers
Some examples of things you might wish to include in your email signature:
Your name, position within the organisation and business name. If it's not obvious what your company does from its name, consider adding some descriptive text e.g. 'award-winning butcher'.
Your contact information, direct line, mobile number, alternative contact and mail business number along with email (this might seem superfluous but many emails are forwarded on to the relevant person and the recipient will appreciate having all the contact details in one place).
The company website.
Your social links such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc – but be sure only to add the social media platforms that you actively use. (If this is something we can help with, please get in touch).
The address of the business premises if relevant.
The operating hours of the business (alongside your working hours if these are different).
The company logo.
Images can be used to great effect, just don't overdo it! Useful images could include a map to your business premises, photographs of your products, staff photos or logos from recent awards.
Many companies already use email signatures to display legal notices. They are also a good way to remind recipients of your company's ethos and values e.g. “Please don't print off this email unless necessary”.
Don't forget to update your email signature with the latest news. You can showcase your latest content by linking to your blog or podcast, announcing special offers or highlighting seasonal opening hours.
Example 2:
These are just a few ideas – you can probably think of several others that are relevant to your business.
How to create a customised email signature
There are several free email signature generators online. You can choose from a variety of layouts, fonts and colours. Here are some of our favourites:
