3 email signature styles that will garner you respect

We have all seen it. After receiving a message from someone’s official work email, we scroll to the bottom of the lengthy text, and bam – there it is. A perfectly crafted, eye-catching email signature with the person’s name, website and links. 

Email signatures can be a powerful marketing tool. They can build website traffic and establish an identity for yourself. Many people use them to add a creative, personal touch to an otherwise mundane block of white and black text.

But the email signature holds more power than just fancy script and good marketing. Adding a custom signature to your work email can actually help garner more trust to whomever you email.

1. It makes you more trustworthy

What happens when you receive an email, out of the blue, from a company or person you have never heard of? Perhaps you open the email and read it. Now think to yourself – if that email doesn’t have a signature, linking to a website and the person’s LinkedIn or other social media platforms, would you question its’ legitimacy? 

Most people would. That’s why adding an email signature is important to build credibility for yourself and your brand. Anyone can send an email, making it easy for people to craft scam emails, according to Mailshake. Adding a signature to your email can help link clients to your professional page and company website. Having this feature for recipients to do their research eliminates doubt in their minds, increasing the chances of a reply.

“The most important thing to establish between you and your potential customers is trust. Having an email signature shows that you’re real and you take business seriously. Gaining your customer’s trust is a large prerequisite for closing a sale,” reads Mailshake.

2. It increases your website clicks

 Not only does an email signature make your brand more trustworthy, it can also help your marketing. When a signature has a link to your portfolio, a company website or a social media page, it builds traffic for your brand. 

Website traffic increase, in turn, helps make your product more believable to a new potential client. “Providing a link to your site in the email signature takes out the effort on the part of the lead. They don’t have to pull up their search engine of choice and do some digging,” says EngageBay. “On your site, they can educate themselves about your company history, your branding, and your products and services.” 

3. Brand recognition & personal association

We all know the phrase “putting a name to a face.” Using an email signature that features a head shot will help further establish credibility and trust for those receiving your email.

Adding a photo as a personal touch removes the mystery of who is behind the screen sending the email. “It will allow the person receiving the email to make a personal association and connection with you,” says OCreative. “A signature is the perfect opportunity to brand every message you send. It establishes and reinforces who you are as a company.”

The signature also allows you to get creative and create a theme that represents your brand. This will create brand identity and create an association between your company and you as an individual. Having a cohesive theme in the workplace for other employees to use will also help reinforce this branding and stick in the client’s mind. 

So, what should your email signature have?

We’ve given you all the reasons why to have an email signature, but what does it need to make an impact? A strong email signature should be both informative and engaging. While some people may hire a graphic artist to create a detailed, visually immersive signature, you don’t need to go that far to be effective. A good signature should always have:

1. Name

2. Title

3. Website/portfolio/social media links

4. Email 

5. Logo

6. Phone number

7. Photo (optional, but helpful)

Including these key details will increase trust exponentially for the person receiving an email.

The signature is a one stop shop for clients to learn about you, the company, and it saves them a ton of time having to search for you – which could, ultimately, result in them scrapping the email due to lack of time to conduct a thorough investigation.

There’s no doubt the signature increases brand awareness, generates social media traffic and establishes relatability and connection between you and the client. So, what are you waiting for? Get designing.