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As a person, you have a name – this helps to identify you from everyone else. As a brand, you have a business name and image which you want to resonate with your intended audience and for it to stick and be remembered when someone else wants your service.

Identification, Recognition, Interaction.

There are many challenges for new business owners and start-ups, in navigating all the important organisational, operational, financial and marketing components of establishing a new business. Choosing a suitable business name, creating a brand, differentiating yourself in the market place, highlighting your points of difference and placing that messaging in front of the appropriate audience at the right time – when they are looking for your product or service.

Communication of your brand’s message and key points is paramount. This is marketing.

One commonly forgotten and poorly executed aspect of brand communication is the email signature. Many organisations send hundreds of emails daily whether to clients or prospects, B2B or B2C, and of different types and strategic intent; Welcome Emails, Newsletter Emails, Lead Nurturing Emails, Transactional Emails, and even Anniversary Emails.

With e-marketing platforms such as the popular bulk email ESP (Email Service Provider) Mail Chimp, the email templates contain by default an email signature area which contains all compliance information to conform to the Spam Act, with clearly identifying information such as business name, address and contact details.

However, for many new business owners, setting up their business email starts with creating an Office365 account, Gmail business account or working with their local ISP and setting up the MX (Mail eXchange) records so that their domain name becomes their company email which they access from any number of types of email clients.

Depending on the email client chosen, and their level of technical capability, they may take the time to explore the email application to work out how to create a text email signature which can also be set by default to appear in each new email, or in reply to any email.

But what to include?

What sign-off expresses the brand, your tone of voice, and the professional approach that you wish your brand to reflect?

What identifying information will you include to show who you are, what your brand is?

Which contact information should be considered beneficial to be added to the email signature?

What opportunities can you create from the email signature? Discovery… links to your important social media channels which you wish customers to discover, connect and stay in touch with. Should you include personal channels such as your own LinkedIn account or only the brand channels? What is the social media policy that you have created or are required to comply with for your brand.

Power Tip: Remember to check the accuracy of your social media links that they do actually work for the recipient on a different computer not logged directly into your own account. You will be surprised at how many novices make this mistake and cause frustration for the recipient trying to connect and discover you on social media.

What CTA (Call To Actions) are included within your email. Are you missing out on the perfect opportunity to sell or reinforce a monthly special offer. Do these offers link to a targeted landing page where you can track and measure the consumer journey to acquisition?

Does your phone or Skype information work as clickable elements, particularly to enable or encourage that engagement action of the user calling you?

When a new user receives your email for the first time, commonly images are turned off within the email client as part of the security protection. Until permission is clicked to show the images within the body of the email. Understanding this, what information in your signature is actually text and not all contained within an image, so that it can show regardless of this factor?

Have you included appropriate ‘Alternative’ text for your images so this information is displayed instead?

What about printing… how will your email signature print out, on A4, either greyscale or in colour. Many people like to retain a physical copy of the email to write notes, share and discuss. Particularly in the research phase of consumers engaging with businesses and their quote and proposals. If there was no clear signature included, your information could be easily confused with another brand, as consumers typically research 6-8 other brands in the buying decision process.

What compliance or legal disclaimer do you need to include to keep the legal team happy and protect the brand from information loss?

Now with all of these considerations in place have you made your email bigger than Ben Hur? Is it so heavy and unwieldy that it kills a few trees in the process of printing out? Is the design too wide to fit on the common computer resolution or device screens of most users causing them to now horizontally scroll? Or on a mobile device it is all to illegible that no-one can read the information without pinch zooming three times.

There should be a strategy, and an ongoing marketing plan behind your email signatures. Perhaps even a seasonal refresh with different themes, new offers, or just simply applying good marketing techniques of test and measure. We like to even track the clicks to measure the attribution and engagement from our own email signatures.

Which is where we come in. Toby Creative offer a fully integrated approach to marketing your business and ensure you get the most out of every option available to you. We offer strategy, and email template creation and implementation for business.

Special Offer: 20% OFF HTML Email Signature creation until Tuesday 31st October, 2017. Contact us on 0412 622 262, email info@tobycreative.com.au or fill in our contact form to book a no obligation free initial consultation at your location so that we can discuss your specific marketing requirements.

The Toby Creative difference:

  • Toby Creative is a Perth owned and operated company since 1991.
  • We offer a free initial consultation meeting at your location.
  • Cost-effective marketing services with no lock-in contracts.
  • Delivering targeted, qualified leads to your business.
  • We provide measurable results with clear communication.
  • Highly experienced, well respected local Perth team.
  • We care about your business success.

Toby Creative – Branding & Marketing is located in Perth, Western Australia.

1 Comment
  • Matt Lynch - November 3, 2017 at 6:30 am

    Provide useful information in your email signature that helps people to reach you. Remember that a business may collect information to add to their CRM system so as to stay in touch with you in any manner of ways. Are you encouraging discovery particularly on social media and providing the opportunity to connect. Test and check how your email signature appears across various platforms, as the width and features such as an animated .GIF may not work in the way you expect particularly in Outlook.

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