Does your e-mail show you or your organisation in the best light?

Over the years I have tried many signatures, from an image of a business card, to a fancy logo. Even the standard Apple product signatures of  “Sent from my iPhone”.

You cannot fault Apple for their marketing, when you buy a shiny new product, you are proud to show it off to the world, and they take advantage of that, or perhaps they play on the fact you might not even know: You are giving them free advertising and promoting their brand, when you should be promoting your own. 

In these days of mobile working, does the world really need to know you are writing an important communication on a tiny phone, it's also completely irrelevant where you are sending it from.  Half time at the game, standing outside the school gates, so what that is your business, not the readers.

Your mobile signature, should look as professional as your desktop.

The uses of email and online file storage is now becoming ubiquitous - most people, now have high speed Internet Access with capabilities to download graphic files and links.  Any respectable organisation, has signature files that promote both branding and marketing and so should you.  

The worst I've seen, sport colours that do not match or even compliment the logo, links that don't work, take you to naff web pages, prehaps years out of date.  

Now please think about this :  Should you be creating and forcing the reader to download, thousands of bytes of data, on the green message? I say Hypocrisy

Your e-signature, it's part of your branding, extremely visible, so get it right.

Four things to include in your email signature:

Include the Important Information

Name and Job Title, Contact Information, Direct email address? I'll come to that later, a mobile number (which by the way should be answered by the team and a dealt with promptly)

Include Branding and Marketing

Company logo (image)  Website- detail in Hyperlinked-text, useful- for those who still print things or those who can't actually see, linked to a good website, Is your address and the rest of your content visible to the blind?

Must be Mobile

Does it work on a tiny phone screen or an extra large TV. Not just the signature, but also the web pages that it takes you too.

Facts:  

86% of people in the UK today - now own smart phones (double that of two years ago) 

57% of people wouldn't recommend organisations which have poor mobile sites. 

So checked your content on all sizes of screen.  TV, desktop tablet or phone.  It must be todays priority to think mobile and portable.  This is the computing of the future.  Time spent on mobile devices compared to desktops is growing at an amazing rate.  So continue to plan ahead, think mobile, because one day soon, we will not use an office!

Social -  

Under the contact name and job title, come social links, directly to individuals personal Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook profiles. Note that is not organisational one, your reader should feel they are talking to a real person, and building a true connection.  

Below that, an Organisational twitter feed, lated jobs/ news. That is, if you want people to look?  Background, logo, company livery, branding etc, that matched the organisational website colour and design, perfectly. 

Tweets well constructed, headlines, which linked back to website posts, the same design throughout.  Timed, or Scheduled, so as not to arrive in flurries, a common mistake, one like many others, I too have made.

So I sat down to reprogram, personal e-mail signature files, which may appear simple, but I have give it much thought.

• I decide against including direct email address, it isn’t necessary, if you print or save, it's in the header info.  If you don’t - then that is what the reply buttons is for.   Less is more, or am I missing something?  (OK Just maybe if you are Team Working in distributed environments, work should still be signed from authors and co-authors, only the return address should be the team who will be replying.)
• I opted against Facebook links in email, my reasons are so very many, why is for  another day, and a whole article on its own, of course you are welcome to Share this on Facebook 
• The links to social sites are in hyperlinked text, not logo images - making it both quick to load and practicing the green, value.  Accessible for visually impaired user. Like everything else online, your signature content should be accessible for all.
• The disclaimer and legal bit is reduced to the minimum size.

----------------------

Here is the finish signature file.

Text only for Mobile devices

——————————————————————This is a screenshot, a graphic picture, in the email application the Follow Links have been tested and are all working! 

Like the rest of my work the signature is ever evolving.  For now I'm happy with the results....  Your comments and ideas are welcome.
---------------------------------------

Share

Google+ | Facebook | Tweet

UPDATE:  I am blown away that this page has had over 13,000 hits and the number is rising.    Please note comments are now closed. I would like to thank everyone who has read, commented or shared this page.