A.Point.Marketing

Simple marketing tool – your email signature

Ann

January 31, 2012

I’ve used an email signature for a while now but just this week went with a professional signature from WiseStamp.com. It took me about 20 minutes from start to finish to create my new email signature. And I recommend that you put this on your to-do list for the week. You might be shaking your head at this point and thinking that there’s already enough on your plate. Why add one more thing? Because,

A professional email signature is a great inbound marketing tool.

Here’s what you can promote with an email signature:

1. Your website. Your company website is the hub of all online activity. It’s where you want to drive traffic to learn more about what you do and why they should engage your services or buy your product. Even if you work for a large company, pointing people to your employer’s website shows that you’re a team player. (Note that companies can set up standard signatures for all their employees. This is a great way to maintain a consistent image.)

2. Your blog. I know, no one reads your blog, right? Well, when they’re ready to read more about you, you want to direct them to the great posts you’ve been writing. Remember, your posts build trust by demonstrating that you know your business. You can even choose to have a link to your latest blog post. Just remember to be writing frequently enough to not look stale.

3. Social media. You can use your personal or business social media accounts here, depending on what you’re promoting. From LinkedIn to Twitter, Facebook to Flickr, they’re all here. You can also choose how to share. You can include your latest tweet or Facebook post or Google+ update. Again, I can imagine a head or two shaking here. Mine would be too. Therefore, I didn’t choose to have feeds in my signature. Instead I went for the icons to link to my profiles.

4. Timely Events and Offers. Although you can set your signature up and forget about it, you can also use it to promote an upcoming event, trade show or marketing offer.

5. White papers, books and research and more. Perhaps you’ve got a download on your website that you want people to read. You can include a link to it in your signature.

What I like best about using a professional email signature is that my content is only a click away for people. We are all so busy that I want to make sure that I do what I can to make it easy for people to find me and my content. Furthermore, a well-designed email signature is also a subtle but powerful call to action.

Start simply. When composing your initial email signature, keep it simple. Include your logo and the basics such as your title, website and phone number. Add social media icons for LinkedIn and Twitter. Once you are humming along with regular tweets, posts and updates, then consider having a feed running at the bottom. Remember that your signature should be consistent with your brand image. That’s why I suggest taking the time to add your logo. As a bonus, the more people see your logo, the better.

However you decide to use it, a signature will make your emails look more professional. Now it’s your turn. Send me an email with your new signature. I’d love to hear from you.