When it comes to getting noticed in a prospect’s inbox, we generally think of catchy subject lines, eye-catching headers, and compelling “hooks” at the beginning of the message. 

But one element that is often overlooked is the email signature. 

Email signatures are nothing new, but in recent years, a trend has emerged: email signature marketing. 

That’s right, you can actually use your email signature as a marketing tool. Email signature marketing has almost become its own separate marketing channel and we believe that it will continue to evolve in the coming years.

It’s a low cost, low effort and potentially high reward effort.

According to a recent email marketing report, email “remains the king of business communication. The majority of respondents said that they still rely on corporate email when it comes to the interaction with both customers (66%) and colleagues (47%).”

And since email is already one of the most ROI-effective and wide-spread channels of business communication, why not take advantage of ALL aspects of email for lead generation and brand awareness?

Instead of using an email signature simply as a professional sign-off at the end of an email, professionals are experimenting with incorporating different marketing elements to their day-to-day email correspondence. 

The result? Businesses are realizing the marketing power of highly personalized business emails. You can even use different signatures depending on the recipient.

Yes, you should definitely include elements like corporate colors and a logo, but beyond that, you should also include things like unobtrusive promotional messages at the bottom of the signature. It’s becoming more and more clear that banners, buttons, images (and more) can effectively increase brand awareness and convert leads into customers.

The space below your contact details is prime real estate for marketing campaigns. You can create a banner to drive traffic to your website, download an ebook, showcase special offers, share company news, book a free demo, promote a conference your company is attending…and much more.

Ideally, you would coordinate your email signature with an existing company campaign.

Sales and marketing departments can benefit the most from email signature branding — and it can be an effective tactic across many different industries.

Here are some tips for creating an email signature that will help turn leads into customers:

• Use a clean, minimalist design
• Include a clear CTA with clickable links to your website, landing page, ebook, or anywhere you want to drive traffic
• Add social media buttons to encourage engagement with your brand
• Make sure your signature is aligned with overall company branding
• Use a banner to draw attention to a certain campaign, like an upcoming event or a promotion
• Make sure your design is responsive, so it automatically adjusts to all screen sizes
• Always track the analytics so you can measure and manage your results

If that sounds like too much to handle, fear not! There are several online services that can help you create a shiny new signature. Some of our favorites are Wisestamp, MySignature, and Hubspot, but there are plenty of others to choose from as well!

So now that you know that email signature marketing is a low cost, high-profit marketing channel, will you make some changes to your email signature?