Looking to promote your brand or business at no cost? Don’t overlook your email signature block. This small piece of electronic real estate has the potential to showcase your capabilities with each and every email you send. The most common elements of the signature block include contact information, logos and other graphics, tag lines, quotes, and links to your website and social media.
If you are using all of these, however, you probably have too much of a good thing going on. Consider reducing the amount of information in your block because:
1.) more than one link in the signature block can mark your email as spam and cause your communication to bounce to the recipient’s spam folder, and
2.) some email systems will “hide” elements of lengthy signature blocks causing recipients to see only a portion of your block.
Start the trimming process by asking what links are absolutely essential. For the majority of businesses/brands, a link to the website alone, where all the social media links will be prominently displayed, is sufficient. Use of a single link will keep your email safe from the spam filter.
If you believe more links are necessary, add just one-but only if it is essential to defining you to your audience. For example, if you are an active blogger, you may want to link to your blog. If your company is a visual business (design, photography, retail or architecture), then your Instagram or Pinterest link may be a plus. The inclusion of LinkedIn is a good choice for consultants, professionals, and industry leaders.
Evaluate the other elements in your block according to their relevance as well. Are you including extraneous contact information that can be found on your website? Have you tested any graphic elements to make sure they are rendering properly on different email systems? A tag line that defines your business is probably a universal keeper.
Pare down your signature block and you’ll discover, like I did, that less is more. Your streamlined block not only will communicate your brand message more clearly-but with fewer links your email will more likely reach its intended destination.