signature.jpgLike all of us, I receive a ton of emails on a daily basis. I have three email addresses and each receives plenty of emails needing attention and/or follow-up. One aspect of email that I’ve come to appreciate is the signature. My inbox also becomes my to-do list at times because I don’t always have the time to put contact information in Outlook or the to-do in my Palm Pilot.

The email signature is becoming a form of marketing in itself - especially for small business. I almost expect a large corporation to have either a complete branded email signature that is mandatory for all employees or no cohesiveness at all. Small businesses can take advantage of that and use that to their competitive advantage. Try something unique, yet professional that may help you stick out in the world of cluttered inboxes. But, don’t go overboard!

Here are some quick tips on email signatures:

  • Contact Information: Obviously, right? Well, some people don’t get it. The goal of the signature is to provide contact information. Make the information simple and in plain view. I don’t want 50 options - give me one or two options to contact you.
  • URL: Many times I like to visit a website prior to talking with someone so I can become more familiar with why they may want to speak with me.
  • Be Clean: I don’t want to have to scroll through a signature or read full paragraphs. Be clean and simple. Remember, the signature is a reflection of your business and your potential first impression. I also think one font type and one or two font sizes is plenty. Too much and you’re taking away from your contact information any maybe even the body of the email.
  • Be Consistent: I recently worked with a company from which I communicated with three different individuals. Each had a very different signature. Coincidentally (or maybe not) they also worked like they didn’t know what the other was doing. Again, a reflection of your business.
  • Tagline/Value Proposition: I may be in the minority on this, but I don’t mind a tagline or value proposition with a URL. Sometimes knowing why a company thinks they’re unique helps in forming an image.
  • Keep Offers to a Minimum: I’d rather not have to think about 10 free offers when you write me. I would however, take a look at look at one or two or maybe a link to an email newsletter sign-up. But, I think this should be secondary to the contact information. The offer should not dwarf the main reason for the signature.

For more technical HTML advice on email signatures, check out Scott Hanselman’s post which I found via one of Douglas Karr’s daily links posts.

How do you use email signatures? Any other advice?


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