Visibility

How many emails do you send each day – 10, 25 – 50 or more? And your staff? Even a small business typically sends more than 100 email messages daily, and many thousands annually. But few companies make effective use of this, dare I say, “free,” powerful, and versatile marketing tool.

Most business people, and even many large corporations, give little thought to consistent email signature design and formatting, including just the basic contact information, often just their name, if they use a formatted email signature at all. What a shame when an email signature can be the least expensive yet one of the most effective tools in anyone’s online marketing kit.

Consider Sig Power
It’s high time to consider the power of your “sig line,” which enables you to effortlessly promote your personal brand and your business with great frequency and without paid advertising. Sig information, which is automatically added by your email software at the end of each out-going email (set in email preferences), tells the recipient who/what/where you are, as well as why you are the one. But its flexibility extends far beyond emails. 

It’s easy to set up individual signatures to promote various aspects of your business, its services, and products. Consider creating several email signatures for different audiences – clients, prospects, business associates, fellow employees, etc. – and do the same for your smart phone. I often include links to my columns, as well as to articles that quote my clients to expose them to a broader audience.

Creating Your eSig
To create an effective email signature, follow the KISS rule, and be sure that everyone in your organization follows the same layout format.

•    Keep it short and sweet. Limit yourself to no more than six lines, 65 characters wide. Discussion lists or online forum moderators generally limit signatures to five lines so keep the most essential information upfront. This is one reason you should consider creating several email signature files for different uses.

•    Include only essential contact info: name, title, company tag line, phone number, website url, email address, and perhaps a small logo, photo or graphic file. And don’t forget to include your social media networks - Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and relevant blog URLs.

•    List only the preferred contact methods.  Stick to one or two phone numbers. Forget fax numbers, street and suite addresses, state, zipcode, etc.
 
•    Offer something free. Whether a newsletter, a special report, whitepaper, or an article reprint, an eBook chapter, audio or video clips, etc. give people reasons to visit your website. In short, your email signature should be a leading driver, along with your Google citations, of traffic to your website.

•    Auto sendout. Make sure that feature is turned on in your email program so you don't miss any valuable marketing opportunities.

•    Plain text or HTML?  Plain text is best for day-to-day email correspondence but using company designated fonts or corporate colors can add extra punch. Since many online discussion forums don't accept attached image files or HTML, you should familiarize yourself with your audiences before formatting.
 
•    Live links. Because you don’t know which email program your recipients use, always type in the extra characters required to create a live link in the email address and website URL. For a website, include http://. Add mailto: at the beginning of your email address.

•    Borders /Shading-  Insert a simple border line to separate your signature from the contents to eliminate potential confusion. Shading can be an effective device to set off the entire signature or a key element, but don’t get carried away with design do-dads.

Using a consistent email signature will deliver a potent marketing message, over time reinforcing your personal brand, corporate image and identity, drive traffic to your website, increase the viral pass-along power of your emails, flags company recipients, and, best of all, it costs you nothing but a minimal investment in time. Isn’t it time you signed on?