10 things to do and not to do when it comes to an email signature
Email signatures are widely used in business to foster brand recognition. There are a few things to avoid when signing off your emails. Have you ever wanted to know the most basic do's and don'ts when creating your email signature? Say no more, this article is made just for you.
1. Don’t use unsafe web fonts
You may want to have an original signature with fancy handwriting font from a signature generator tool. However, the font may not be always rendered by other browsers; thus, the information will not be visible to your intended recipient. This is because the font may not be installed in the recipient’s browser. The font may be automatically rendered into the default character like Times New Roma or Arial. Sometimes, some of your custom characters in the signature may completely change into another character, and the information may completely change as a result. The solution is not to use any fonts that are not available in most browsers. On 1001 Email Signatures, you can learn about the safe web fonts that should be used in your email signature.
2. Do not add a video
Sometimes, you may want to market your brand with a video; but it is not a good idea to sign off your email that way. Some clients may not have enough time to watch a video right after reading your email. Aside from that, videos do not play automatically in most emails for security measures. The content may be sometimes considered as an unsafe attachment by the email supplier. Thus, the content won’t play automatically. But if you want to share a promotional video with your audience, it is a good idea to share the link to the video through a banner or an alternate text.
3. Do not add quotes
If you intend to use your email signature for marketing purposes, avoid using a quote in your signature, whether it is to motivate or to inspire the audience. This is because everyone may have their conviction and cherished values. However, if the quote is relevant to your brand or company motto, then, it is appropriate to use an inspirational quote in your email signature. Otherwise, it may seem awkward to quote an irrelevant statement at your email footer.
4. Avoid using colorful fonts
Using so many colors in your signature will only give unprofessional look to the most important component of your message, especially if the colors are flashy, with messy font styles too. To look more professional, it is recommended to stick to the rule of two, one dominant color and a second one, to complement the color. The background color might be white or black, but the font and image colors should not distract the email recipient from the main purpose of the email footer.
5. Do not use an outdated promotional banner
The signature should be updated regularly to keep the customer’s and prospect’s engagement. Thus, you should avoid using an outdated promotional banner or call-to-action as a signature. The banner is intended to show new content and new offers. Once the time for the offer is over, it is important to change the email footer with a more current and edgy image. If you always end your message with an obsolete banner, the client will stop paying attention to your future promotional email signature.
6. Do add a few social media icons
Adding too many social media icons in the email footer will simply make the signature overloaded. Also, some of the icons may not be used by your company at all. Linking your site to too many social media icons will distract the attention of the audience, because they may simply end up comparing your pages, instead of focusing on the product or the service that you intend to promote. Besides, it is rather difficult to manage all messages from the audience if you ask them to connect with you from various social media. For the best result, it is safe to add only the most common social links. The channels that are most likely to be updated regularly should be used on your website.
7. Do add the most recent certification
The point of having a certification image in an email signature is to display the company's credibility to the contacts. Also, it is an incentive to achieve trust and authority for the brand. However, the best thing is to put the most recent certificate to show that you have made a great achievement. It is recommended to add only the certification that the company has achieved within the past 5 years.
8. Do add adequate content
Avoid including too much content in an email signature as it only distracts the focus of your signature as a promotional tool. The best signature has about 4 or 5 lines of text with a logo, a banner, and a CTA. Also, you may add a disclaimer, which can be omitted if it is irrelevant to the intended email recipient. This means that it is not professional to add more than 2 phone numbers in the email footer. Also, the idea is to add only 1 call-to-action to generate more leads to your marketing purpose.
9. Do check the image file before using it
Avoid using a large image file in your signature, because it might be too heavy to open, and it may not display appropriately on mobile devices. If you use an oversized image as a banner, it can also hide the overall message in your email. In fact, the recommended banner size is between 300 x 70px and 400 by 100px.
10. Do use email signature templates
For the best result, it is good to start with templates. For more tips on how to design the most appropriate email signature, you should get free templates from a tool like Scribe-Mail. It can help you to decide on the right fonts, and help you to readjust the banner size to suit your signature.
