The days of deciding between “Sincerely” or “Yours truly,” are over. In today’s digital environment, we have much more to consider when it comes to signing off on our correspondence. In a business setting, your email signature can make the difference between capturing a lead and letting one go. A well-designed email signature also paints you and your company in a more professional light in the eyes of your client base. From making it aesthetically pleasing to flawlessly functional, here are a few ways to optimize your email signature.
Tell people who you are.
This might sound obvious, but if you have nothing else in your email signature, you should at least have your name and title. People receiving your emails should have no trouble identifying you at the outset. Since you are representing your company, you’ll want to be sure to include your company name as well.
Make your contact info clear.
Your email signature should include all of the various ways that a recipient can contact you, including your phone number and business website. It may be redundant to include your email address (since if you’ve sent someone an email, he or she already has your address); however, some people opt to do so.
Link to social.
Efforts to optimize your email signature should include sharing your brand’s digital assets, like your social media accounts. This not only lets people know where online to find you, but it also gives them direct access to follow your pages. Don’t just list your social media accounts, however. Consider incorporating each social icon as a clickable link to that respective account.
Stay consistent with your branding.
If your brand colors are navy and gray, then you might want to avoid a bright purple and green (as cheerful as it may seem) in your email signature. Stay within the color scheme of your brand, and include your business’ logo. It’s just another chance for followers to make that visual connection with your company.
Employ an easy-to-read design.
Your email signature should be easily digestible. Anything too complex, and email recipients won’t take the time to consider its contents. Use design hierarchy to make this happen—emphasizing more important information in larger text higher up in the design. Then, gradually scale down the size of less important information. You want readers’ eyes to automatically go to what you want them to read first.
Make it mobile friendly.
You may be emailing all day long from your desktop, but don’t forget that many of your recipients are opening your emails from their mobile devices. Check to make sure that your email signature design reads well on both desktop and mobile. In addition, if you have your phone number listed, make sure it is clickable for recipients to be able to contact you directly from their smart phones.
Consider a photo.
If you’re in an industry (like real estate or recruiting) where it’s important for your email recipients to connect names with faces, then you might consider including a photo in your signature. While not required to optimize your email signature, a photo is a little something extra that might help in the right situation.
Keep it simple.
Admittedly contradictory to adding “a little something extra,” you should also be sure to avoid information that is irrelevant or unnecessary. Favorite quotes at the end of email signatures, for example, can help show a little personality, but no one wants to read a novel. Some companies may require you to include legal language at the end of your signatures—in which case you should keep the rest of your design relatively simple.
Summary
In the hustle and bustle of a million things to do, your little email signature may not seem like high priority. However, just think about how many emails you send a day! When deciding how to optimize your email signature, think of each message you send as a mini-advertisement for your brand.
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