Listen to the audio version. 👆
Email signatures are an oft-neglected space.
Most people don’t create one, or if they do, only share their name and perhaps other basic information.
You can add a little pineapple flavor to your email signatures to make your life easier and better serve your customers.
WHY IT MATTERS:
The email signature space is tiny but mighty. It draws the eye and can direct your customers to do something you want them to do, provide helpful resources, and create a mini-experience that leaves a lasting impression.
WHAT’S NEXT:
More Than A Signature
Using The Peak-End Rule
Prompt Action With Your Email Signature
Using Multiple Email Signatures
Design Your Email Signature
Where To Design Your Email Signature
Signature Set Up Video Walkthroughs
Test Your Signature
More Than A Signature
When you think about a signature, you may think of it literally - your name to sign off on correspondence. Technically, you’d be right.
But a signature is also about your identity, style, and approach to business. It says something about who you are and how you work.
For example, I want to be seen as bright, fun, and helpful, but these are also values that I share with my ideal customers.
In my email signature, you’ll see that I’ve made choices to highlight those values.
In contrast, others may take a no-frills approach to communicate that they’re focused on simplicity and professionalism. There’s a ton of space in between my close-to-over-the-top approach and no-frills.
So the question is - what’s your signature?
Using The Peak-End Rule
There’s a psychological heuristic called the peak-end rule. It basically means that we judge our experiences largely based on the peak and end moments of an experience.
Your email signature is the last thing your customers will see, and it’s a chance to take advantage of the peak-end rule on a small scale.
You’ll be able to try to cement the impression you want the reader to remember, but you can also use it to prompt them to take action.
Prompt Action With Your Email Signature
Once you decide what values you want your signature to highlight, you should also consider what other purpose your email signature will serve.
Your email signature can do a lot more than just share your contact information.
💡 Your email signature can… | 💡 Your email signature can… |
|---|---|
💵 Sell products or services | 💛 Highlight a core value |
🆘 Offer self-service help | 🙏 Ask for feedback |
📥 Lead generation | 📱 Invite to follow |
📢 Promote something | 💡Ask for ideas |
📰 Inform | 📊 Share an industry stat |
⭐ Share social proof | 😋 Have fun / Spread happiness |
If there was one thing you could guarantee all of your email recipients would see - what would you want it to be?
Do you want to drive traffic to a resource you’ve created?
Do you want to prompt readers to book a service?
Do you want to spread awareness?
Do you want to get more people to opt into your email newsletter?
Once you identify what’s most important for your email recipients to know, see, or do, you can start to narrow down what else you might include.
⚠️ Word of caution: Don’t include too much information. I would suggest no more than one call to action. If you find that you want to include a lot in your signature you may want to create multiple signature options.
Using multiple email signatures
Depending on your email provider, you may have the option to create multiple email signatures.
There are pros and cons to using a single signature or multiple signatures.
✍️ A single signature | ✍️ Multiple signatures |
|---|---|
✅ Simple for you | ✅ Provide the most relevant information per email conversation |
❌ May overwhelm by sharing too much | ❌ More work for you |
❌ May miss sharing something helpful |
Having more than one email signature can be a great way to nudge action based on the conversation you’re having, but be realistic about whether it’s a function you’d actually use.
With that being said, you’re not locked into whichever decision you make. If you don’t like the option you choose now, you can always shift gears later.
👩🎨 Design Your Email Signature
Once you have a plan for your email signature, you can dive into designing it.
Designing doesn’t have to mean getting creative with colors but making the choices that best represent the values you want to highlight, even if that means plain text.
Do I have to include my email address and website?
Your name is the only thing I’d argue is mandatory. I’ve included my email and website in case an email gets forwarded and for convenience.
I could also play devil’s advocate and say they’re not necessary, especially since I include a call to action to read an article. They’re pieces of information I’ve decided to include as a default. Feel free to use something else or omit that information altogether.
General Design Tips
It’s fun to design something like an email signature, but it's easy to get carried away. It can start to look messy or confusing. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
Choose a large enough font size and an easy-to-see font.
Choose colors that are easy on the eyes.
Allow white space between sections of text and images to make it easier to read.
Including Images
Especially as the only person working in your business, I would encourage you to use a headshot with your email signature.
People like seeing who they are potentially working with. It aids in building trust and familiarity.
There are other types of images you may consider including in addition to or instead of your headshot. These could be logos, icons, a signature banner, or an infographic.
I'm worried about judgment or discrimination - should I still include a headshot?
This is entirely up to your comfort level. I have dealt with very little discrimination, to my knowledge, so I can’t speak to that experience.
The one thing that I will say is that it can also act as a filter. If someone is enough of a dumbass to discriminate against you based on how you look or the color of your skin, then the photo has helped eliminate someone who isn’t worthy of your services.
With that being said, use your best judgment. Your safety and comfort come first.
Properly Size Your Images
Choosing the wrong image file type, size, or dimensions can wreak havoc.
Images may not show up, load slowly, or become distorted. This is especially true if you’re going to design your email signature using the tool inside your email provider.
Below is a handy guide to help optimize your images.
Image size: PNG or JPG, no larger than 40-70KB
📸 Headshots | 📸 Logos or Icons | 📸 Signature Banner | 📸 Infographic or other Visual |
Pixel size: 100x100 or 150x150 | Pixel size: 100x100 or 400x100 | Pixel size: 600x100 | Pixel size: 200-300 pixels in width and 100-150 pixels in height |
💡 Want to add a little fun and silliness? Make a GIF.
Where To Design Your Email Signature
You have a few options when setting up your email signature. You can:
Use the built-in tools your email provider offers.
Use design software like Canva
Use email signature software
They each have their own pros and cons.
🤔 Built-In Tool | 🤔 Design software | 🤔 Email signature software |
✅ Free | ✅ Design it to look exactly as you want | ✅ Easiest to set up |
✅ Low or no issues between email providers | ✅ Many free options | ✅ More intuitive for email recipients |
❌ Limited design capabilities | ✅ Templates available | ✅ Looks more professional |
❌ A lot of work to set up | ❌ Links aren’t as straightforward to use for readers | ❌ Limited options for free plans |
❌ May run into problems between email providers | ❌ Need a paid plan for certain features | |
❌ A lot of work to set up |
Personally, I use MySignature. It’s a lot easier and faster to create my signatures.
I’m not a fan of accumulating subscription software because it’s so easy to let small subscriptions turn into big bills month to month, but you can look for a good deal on AppSumo like I did. It was a one-time purchase, so it was worth it.
If you want a few walkthroughs on designing and setting up your signature, check out the videos below.
Setting up your email signature inside of Gmail
Setting up your email signature in Outlook
Setting up your email signature using Canva
Setting up your email signature using MySignature.io
Test Your Signature
Your signature has a job - just like creating content, sending emails, or sales calls. In order to know if something is working, you want to test it.
You don't need to conduct some big research project, but pay attention to see if it's serving the job you want to serve. For example, if you're trying to get more people to opt-in to your email newsletter, then check if it's helping after a few months.
If it is - great! If not, make some adjustments and try again.
THE BIG TAKEAWAY
Great customer experience doesn't just happen in big moments but can be built on small moments. Your email signature is one of the small moments where you can leave a lasting impression, give your customer's experience a little boost, and try to direct your reader's behavior to what you want them to do next.