6 Email Signature Best Practices

Emails make instant communication possible. They also provide you with a unique resource that can send more traffic to specific landing pages. How is that possible? Through effective use of the email signature. When you’re following these best practices to sign off on all of your emails that are sent, you can see a dramatic improvement in communication, website traffic, and even your revenues.

The best part about following these best practices is that your email won’t say “Sent from my iPhone” any more.

1. Say Cheese

Authenticity is what rules the internet today. For far too long, people have been able to pretend that they are something that they really are not. We almost expect the hammer to drop down at some point because so many people have been able to fool others with their narratives, communications, and websites. Putting your picture onto your email is like a politician appearing in a political ad to say “I’m Barack Obama and I approved this message.”

You don’t actually have to write something like that though. Your smiling face will prove that you are who you say you are.

2. The Email Version of Google Maps

Emails are great for communication, but they are also pretty great for navigation as well. If you are representing a specific website, then put a link to that site within your email signature. Don’t go crazy with a dozen links, but 1-3 links will let people click to your site if they want to do so. A good rule of thumb is to go to a specific landing page, a Facebook page, and then one other social media presence so that people can take a look at their preferred community.

3. Have Real Contact Info

You might be talking with people over email, but that doesn’t mean that the recipient of your message doesn’t want to actually speak with you. It’s important to have real contact information that goes beyond your website and email address so that you can answer that one quick question that someone may have. A phone number, a work extension, or even a mailing address are all things to consider adding.

Just remember to avoid using your personal phone number or residential address for this. If someone gets into your email account and has access to this information, it becomes easier to steal your identity or worse – stop by to pay you a visit.

4. Inspire the Masses

Many people have a personal brand that they promote, whether they realize it or not. It’s a way to show another level of authenticity because it effectively communicates who you are at the core level. One of the easiest ways to add this additional level of “youness” to an email signature is to include an inspirational tag or phrase that sums up your core being.

Here’s where it gets a little difficult: don’t use a phrase or saying from a famous person. Come up with something on your own that is 100% original.

Why be original? Your email recipients might have a completely different perspective on that famous quote than you. It could, in fact, be the polar opposite of your own beliefs. You may intend one thing, but your message will say another. When you create your own original tag or quote, it becomes about you and not about the celebrity.

5. Call Them To Action

Your email probably has at least one call to action in it already. There might be a CTA in every paragraph if you’re an over-achiever. Your email signature should have one as well. If you’ve structured your signature with the previous best practices, then it will catch the reader’s attention. Now that you’ve got their attention one last time, you’ve got the chance to make one last push.

Be gentle. Don’t be demanding. Do keep the call to action relevant. Something as simple as saying “Act now!” and following that up with a link to a landing page can be just as effective after 250 words of email prose as anything other CTA method.

6. Be the Root

If you are writing an email within a chain of responses, then it is a best practice to not include a signature with every reply. If you are creating the root email, then you have the perfect place for a signature. Otherwise just type your message and send it off.

These email signature best practices will help you make even more use out of the messages that you are sending. Incorporate them today on your preferred platform and you may be surprised at how interactive they will become.