We’re often asked questions like “What do you put in your email signature?” or “What should be in my email signature?” and the answer we usually give is an annoying one “It depends”.
The details you include in your email signature completely depends on your situation and what you want to achieve with your email signature. Do you want an email signature so people can contact you easily? Or do you also want it to promote your business or products?
First things first, let’s figure out some goals!
What’s the goal for your email signature?
There are usually 2 types of email signatures, and they are:
Contact Information Only
This is when you simply want to show your contact information and aren’t interested in promoting your business/products.
Often these are the types of signatures where you can be a bit more creative and adventurous by using some “exotic” email signature templates.
Contact Information + Promotional Material
When using an email signature to promote your business or products, you have to be careful not to create a signature that is overcrowded with information. Otherwise, you risk overwhelming your recipients with too much information.
A clear and concise Call-To-Action (CTA) with only some essential contact information is the perfect combination. These types of email signatures can do wonders for your business.
Now that you’ve chosen which type of email signature you want to use, head over to our email signature creator and select one of the templates.
Once you’ve done that, keep reading to find out which details you should include in your signature.
Recommended Details for ALL Email Signatures
Heres a list of recommended details you should use in your email signature, no matter what type of signature you’re using.
Full Name
Notice we didn’t just say “name”, but instead “full name”? You want to build credibility and trust with the people you’re emailing.
There’s also another reason you should use your full name. Ever searched for an email from someone and you remembered only their first or last name? Well, that’s a good reason to use your full name in your email signature, so your recipient can easily find your email later on.
You should never include a nickname in your email signature. It’s seen as unprofessional by many and may hurt your reputation.
Job Title/Position
It’s important to let your recipients know what your job title is so they are reassured that they are talking to the right person within your organization.
If you’re a business owner, it’s fine to use “Founder”, “CEO” or “Director” for your position even though, you’re likely doing multiple jobs at once!
Company Name
For similar reasons as the job title, it’s a good idea to list your company in your email signature.
This creates uniformity and also shows that you are part of a larger team.
Qualifications (optional)
Would you trust a surgeon that didn’t have the necessary qualifications? Of course not!
Certain industries such as real estate agents, doctors and engineers generally display their qualifications as a way to show credibility.
An electrical engineer might show a BSc at the end of their name. Similarly, a lawyer might show LL.M.
So, if you’re in an industry where this is common practice, you should consider adding qualifications to your email signature.
Logo/Photo of Yourself
A logo can give your email signature some much-needed color. If done right, your logo should blend right in with your signature and look like its meant to be there.
Some professionals such as realtors or mortgage brokers prefer to use a photo of themselves because it adds credibility and trust to their signature, and that’s a huge bonus.
Whether you use a logo or a profile picture, just remember to make it blend in. Take a look at our email signature design tutorial for more details on this.
When adding an image to your email signature, remember to follow all the best practices to avoid blurry or pixelated images on retina screens (mobile phones).
Phone Numbers
Well, duh… Of course you want phone numbers in an email signature, isn’t that the whole point?
Add a landline number for your office (if you have one) and a mobile or cell phone number so your customers can contact you.
Remember, when using phone numbers, it’s a good idea to add click-to-call links. That allows your recipient to simply tap on your phone number in your signature, and it will automatically open up the phone’s dialer and start calling you.
Office Address
If your business has a physical presence, adding an address to your email signature helps new customers find you.
When you add an address, make sure you insert a Google Maps link to it. That way, when someone clicks on your address, it will show them your location on a map and they can easily navigate to your office.
Website
Having a hyperlink to your website will help people learn more about your business and what you do.
How many times have you seen a logo and thought “I wonder what they do?”.
You can also track clicks to your website via Google Analytics to see how many people click on it.
Email Address (optional)
We’re opening a can of worms here since this has been a widely debated topic all over the internet for quite some time.
We even created a blog post outlining the pros and cons of including an email address in your email signature.
There are many benefits to including it in your email signature, as there are drawbacks. Hence, this is an optional field that you can use if you like.
Social Media Icons (optional)
Social media is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it is an important part of how businesses connect with customers.
If your business has social media profiles, why not build up your following by adding social icons to your email signature?
Disclaimer (optional)
Although disclaimers are legally unenforceable, some companies still prefer to use them as it sets a good tone of confidence and trust in an email.
Just remember to keep your disclaimer size to a minimum, since you don’t want it to take up too much room in your email signature.
Additional Details for Email Signatures with Promotional Material
If your email signature is a sales and lead generation tool for your business, you may want to include one of these too.
Promotional Banner
One of the tried and tested methods to generate leads and sales in email signatures is to use a banner.
If your company sends a combined 1000 emails per day to recipients outside your organization, that’s 1000 opportunities to promote your products or show sales offers to new and existing clients.
A banner can promote an event, advertise your services, show off new products, promote giveaways and much more.
Don’t underestimate the power a well-designed banner can have on your bottom line!
GIF Animations of Products
In recent years, we’ve seen a huge rise in the use of GIF animations in email signatures.
Although GIF’s can cause some problems when used in email signatures, we also know that they attract a high click-through-rate when used in promotional material.
If you have a product which would look great in animation with about 5 or so frames, maybe this could be your ticket!
New Posts, Products, or Testimonials
Letting your customers know when you publish a new blog post or start selling a new product is a great way to keep them engaged with your brand.
Likewise, good testimonials or reviews should also be shared with your prospective customers. A great example is showing off your overall rating from all your customers.
Add these features to your email signature and you’ll likely see outstanding results.
What NOT to Include in Your Email Signature
We’ve been creating email signatures for years, so believe me when I say this…We’ve seen it all.
Yep, we’ve even seen an email signature that was longer than a short novel with over 30,000 HTML characters.
Here’s our list of things you should avoid doing.
Previous Job Positions or Work Experience
This is an email signature, not your CV.
No one will be interested in knowing what you did in your previous job or how you landed your dream job 15 years ago.
Save it for job interviews.
Year of Graduation
Similar to above, this just isn’t needed, unless you’re a student applying for internships.
The most common ones we see are “Class of xx” or “Student at <school>”.
Awards or Achievements
If you’ve won an award, that’s great. However, it doesn’t belong in your email signature.
It’s hard enough trying to keep an email signature small in size without having to worry about where to place the award.
The only exception to this rule is if the award is a part of your overall marketing campaign and you use it in your banner where you have more room.
Motivational Quotes
Motivational quotes are nice to read and often give off a great vibe. However, they don’t have a place in professional business emails.
If you only use your email for personal use, then go for it!
Videos
Yes, we’ve seen it done! People have tried to use a movie of their product in their email signature.
Now, we probably don’t even need to mention why this is a bad idea, but we will anyway.
No email clients can play videos, and also the size of the email signature would be enormous.
Wrap Up
It’s hard creating an email signature that ticks all the boxes, but it’s not impossible.
One thing that helps a lot is using a great email signature maker. It takes the pain away from countless hours of coding your HTML signature and then realizing it’s not compatible with all email clients.
When you’re creating your signature, ask yourself this question at every step of the way: “Is there too much garbage in here?”
If at any point the answer is “Yes”, then immediately stop what you’re doing and read this post again 🙂
