Apart from an email’s subject line and body, there’s another aspect marketers need to pay attention to— the email signature. An email signature is a small but relatively powerful tool that helps establish identity and credibility.
It’s like a business card found at the end of your email that details who you are, what you do, and how others can reach you. But if you want to create professional signatures that attract and prompt action, here are nine ways to make that happen.
But before that, make sure you have one of the best email hosting providers backing you up. When you have a reliable email hosting plan, you know information between you and your customers are safe and secure.
9 Best Practices in Creating Email Signatures That’ll Impress Your Customers
Keep it short and relevant
Don’t try to stuff your signature with too much information.
The best email signatures should convey the information you want to display: your contact information.
Limit your email signature to three to four lines with these info:
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Name
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Company position
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Contact number
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Social media icons
Your complete name should be the first line of text a recipient sees.
If you have a physical storefront, place the address at the bottom or beside your contact details. Adding two to three lines will make your signature look cluttered.
You can also give it more life by placing branding elements, such as your company’s logo, motto, or banner.
Make it social
Adding your social media handles is an excellent way to build brand engagement. It gives users options to communicate with you other than email.
And if you’re consistently posting your website links on any of your social handles, expect a boost in their traffic.
Tip: Instead of placing all your social links, use icons to make it stand out and save space.
Incorporate your brand colours
If you want to amplify your branding in your email signature, use your brand colours when designing one. You may use them as font colours or in your social media icons.
Either way, both help your signature stand out. Plus, your recipient can take a hint who the email is from. It’s also a win for branding!
Read: 5 Low-Cost Branding Tips for Your Small Business
Redirect your readers through smart designs
The structure and design of your email signature guides the reader’s eye movement. Through visual hierarchy, you get to influence which line or item your customer will likely to read first.
Visual hierarchy is a principle that arranges graphic components according to their importance in a design. Aside from this, elements such as font size, colour, and space all play a role in telling readers what to pay attention first.
Keep in mind that people read from top to bottom, large to small, and bold to thin — and use this to your advantage.
Use glyph dividers
A glyph divider is a vertical bar symbol that allows breathing space for all the elements in your email signature.
Use a glyph divider in separating your headshot from social media icons, long texts, and even your calls-to-action (CTAs), just like in this example:
Showcase your expertise or distinctions
Wrote several bestsellers? Got awarded as the best hole-in-the-wall restaurant in your city? Don’t miss out on the opportunity to let your customers or partners know about it.
Place it on the second or third line of your email signature.
Attach a call to action
Email signatures are also an excellent way to place CTAs that lead to a specific product or goal. You can get more people to download your new ebook or register for an upcoming webinar.
When you’re able to craft an irresistible CTA, you’ll see the results in no time.
Place a headshot
Establish trust with your readers by uploading a headshot of yourself next to your name. Be sure to place an image that not only captures your best smile but is also well-lit and professional-looking.
Placing your photo in your emails lets the recipient know you value professionalism and credibility. And in a world where a huge number of fraudsters operate via email, these are vital aspects customers will look into when engaging with a business online.
Design should be mobile-friendly
According to Adestra, 61.9%Â of readers open emails on their mobile devices with only 9.8% doing it through their desktops.
This alone tells marketers how important it is to create emails, and email signatures, that display well across all mobile devices.
To optimise your email signature for mobile screens, use a design template that looks good and reads well. Make sure your fonts are large enough to be seen and apply space through icons, lines, and logos.
Of course, the best way to check is to send test emails and see how they display on smaller screens.
Boost your online identity now
We’ve discussed how email hosting allows you to create customised email addresses that build customer trust. If you pair it with a great email signature, you double that credibility.
So, what are you waiting for? Start adding a creative and professional touch to your email signatures today.
