Don’t miss out on an important marketing tool…..your email signature. Yes, this often underrated feature included in every email is a powerful vehicle for establishing your corporate identity and company brand to a range of diverse stakeholders.
To get a handle on why email signatures are imperative to good business communication, let’s consider the following statistics. According to Radicati Group’s 2017 Study, just over 3.7 billion email users send 269 billion emails each day worldwide. That marks continued growth from 2015 numbers that had about 205 billion emails being sent daily.
The Study also forecasts an annual growth rate of 4.4 percent over the next four years, estimating that by the end of 2021 a little over 4 billion email users (that’s over half the world’s population) will send over 319 billion emails each day.
As for the average office worker, he or she is sending and receiving approximately 150 business emails daily. So say your company has 100 employees, your team will send out 15,000 emails in just one day. Based on 250 business days per year, that culminates into 3.75 million emails annually.
Starting to get the picture? Email signatures can no longer be thought of as a low-value tool. With numerous emails being fired off each day you have a boundless capacity to spread information about your brand to your various stakeholders. Innovative companies fully understand email signatures are a valuable marketing opportunity.
First, that’s because they usually come from a trusted or professional source and getting work emails is a very different experience than scrolling through Twitter or even Facebook. According to Richard Hanna, author of Email Marketing in a Digital World when people read work emails, they are in work mode. They are actively engaged reading information pertaining to what they do and therefore, pay more attention to the signature.
Next, email signatures offer a way to weave in marketing messages. Think of them as a marketing channel to display a current marketing campaign, highlight a new product or service, or emphasize a rebrand.
Lastly, email signatures can be utilized to share critical information like confidentiality disclaimers, without requiring an employee to use valuable time to insert all the appropriate information into every email.
With that being said, email signatures can also quickly become a source of irritation and self-promotion, if not handled correctly. That means not signing off with a long list of awards and accomplishments. You have to find the right balance.
Now is a great time to think through your email signature marketing strategy and consider implementing these five tactics suggested by email marketing experts in your approach.
Good Design. This is really about creating an effective hierarchy of information and maintaining clear brand communication. Branding in this sense means using consistent fonts, font colors, and consistent company or logo colors. And remember at least half of all emails are opened on a smartphone, so make sure your email signature is responsive.
Include Color. According to eye studies that track where the eye goes in the first six seconds of looking at an email, color was the key. People look first at a signature, phone number or image if it has color. So use color and be sure use it consistent with your brand standards.
Be Social. Email signatures offer an excellent way to promote your social channels in an organic way. Be sure to only include the icons for channels that have your strongest business-related content. For many businesses that may be LinkedIn, which has your company information and industry commentary that will be useful for the user.
Highlight One Item. Think 20-second elevator pitch, suggests Hanna. You need to highlight one important thing/message to stand out. People have trouble remembering more than one thing, so don’t include too much information.
Skip Some Things. Understanding the idea of moderation, there may be some elements to skip in your email signature. Things like an inspirational quote may just be too much. Survey findings have also shown that people also find signatures that include, home address, home phone number, awards you’ve won, head shot, personal website link, and higher-education degrees to be irritating and annoying to some recipients.
Additional Marketing Strategy Resources:
Email Marketing Strategy in 2018: All About Data (Part 1)
Email Marketing Strategy in 2018: 3 Other Important Things to Consider (Part 2)
