What is an email signature?
An email signature is a text block at the end of an email. It includes professional details, company branding, and contact information about the sender. Sometimes called an email footer, it should end the email professionally by letting the reader know who someone is, the company they work for, and how they can be reached.
Some organizations may use email signature software to incorporate branded elements and enhance marketing programs within the signature. These tools simplify creating branded email signatures by inputting basic information, like an employee’s name, phone number, and job title.
Basic components of email signatures
When it comes to the email signature design, basic components of a professional email signature should involve:
- Signoff. “Best Regards” or “Thank you!” are common examples.
- Company name. The name of the organization the individual works for should be part of the email signature.
- Name. An email signature should always include the employee’s first and last name. If someone goes by a nickname, they can use that as well.
- Pronouns. If an individual has pronouns they wish to go by, they can go in their signature. Pronouns can be listed as “he/him”, “she/her”, or “they/them”.
- Job title. An individual's job title should be in their email signature. If an employee receives a promotion or title change, it should be reflected here.
- Phone number. If an employee has a work cell phone or prefers phone conversations when customers or clients have concerns, it should be in the email signature.
- Branded elements. A branded logo, slogan, or banner can also be part of an email signature. These can be especially beneficial when marketing a new product or sharing an announcement.
- Company links. A signature can link to the company website –but it doesn’t have to be a homepage. If an organization is ramping up its recruitment marketing strategies, signatures can drop a link to a company’s careers page.
- Registered address. If an organization has multiple office locations, an employee can include the address of the corporate headquarters they work at.
- Social links. Employees can list links to their social profiles, like LinkedIn and Twitter, in their signature to connect elsewhere with clients and customers.
- Headshot. Depending on the industry and an individual's role, an employee may place a professional headshot within their email signature.
Benefits of email signatures
A well-thought-out and constructed email signature leads to many benefits. Below are some that could be experienced.
- Standout professionalism. When done right, an email signature makes the message look and feel more professional. This information lets people know the business, the sender, and the profession are trustworthy.
- Increased efficiency. An email signature provides clients and customers with an individual’s key contact information clearly and concisely. Plus, every email contact has the sender’s important contact information without the sender having to type it out every time.
- Branding awareness. A great place to push brand awareness is within an email signature, as it can tie into a company’s color palette, logo, slogan, and overall aesthetic.
- Opportunities for traffic and lead generation. Hyperlinks in an email signature can drive traffic to social channels, a company website, or a landing page.
Email signature best practices
As employees create email signatures, they should remember the following best practices.
- Keep it simple. Despite several components listed above, an email signature doesn’t need every single one to be effective. If the design is too busy or packed with information, the recipient will ignore it. Besides the must-haves, like name and title, focus on the information that matters most.
- Choose links wisely. Even though an email signature is a great spot for a call to action (CTA), don’t include too many. One important link is usually enough.
- Be consistent across the organization. Businesses should set guidelines for email signatures or have these automatically generated to match across departments and employees.
- Test on desktop and mobile. Before an employee begins emailing customers and clients with a newly designed email signature, test how it looks on both desktop and mobile devices to ensure the sizing works and everything is easy to read.
Email signature example
Below is an example of what an email signature may look like.
In addition to an email signature, learn how an email can be customized based on branding and style preferences.
Mara Calvello
Mara Calvello is a Content and Communications Manager at G2. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Elmhurst College (now Elmhurst University). Mara writes customer marketing content, while also focusing on social media and communications for G2. She previously wrote content to support our G2 Tea newsletter, as well as categories on artificial intelligence, natural language understanding (NLU), AI code generation, synthetic data, and more. In her spare time, she's out exploring with her rescue dog Zeke or enjoying a good book.
