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Make your email signature work for you

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][dt_gap height=”20″][vc_column_text]In personal branding, everything counts, from the way you answer the telephone to how you behave at a networking function. Your email signature can also say a lot about you. It makes sense, then, to use it to your best advantage and make sure it generates a great impression. Here are five top tips to make your email signature work for your personal brand:

1. Include what you do. This is especially important in emails to people who don’t yet know you. It allows you to summarise the service you offer without even being asked. Consider how you describe what you do and make sure it’s easy to understand and not just a complicated job title. Be as specific as you can be.
2. Make sure you include contact details. This may sound obvious, but not everyone puts their contact details in their email signature and it can be very frustrating for someone who would like to reach you telephonically rather than via email, especially if it’s urgent. Make sure you include your telephone details and other relevant contact details, such as social media and website address. It’s unnecessary to include things like your physical address in an email signature.
3. Incorporate your business logo. This adds weight to your signature, particularly if your logo is a well recognised brand. Even if you’re a small company of just a few people, including your logo adds credibility and professionalism to your emails. Just be sure that the display side is fairly small and unobtrusive. Although some email servers are set up so that images don’t automatically download, many will see your logo. Whatever you do, don’t include your contact details as part of the image, as those who cannot see images will not be able to see your details either!
4. Consider including a photograph. A photograph of yourself may be appropriate in your signature if you want to make it more personal and if it’s a well-chosen image. A blurry or badly lit photo won’t do you any favours. If you do choose to include an image, make sure it’s professional and once again that it’s not too big (in terms of display size and file size).
5. Exclude any clutter. Keep your signature simple and clean. Don’t add in too many colours or unnecessary design elements. Be careful with including quotes too. They may not resonate with everyone and just take up space, making for lots of scrolling in an email thread.

Those are my thoughts. What works for you? Drop me a comment and share your views.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]