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Everything You Need to Know About Email Signatures

Email signatures can play a more significant role in your communication efforts than you realize. Learn what to include in your email signature with this guide.

We’ve all been there: You’re just finishing up an email, only to realize you have no idea how to end your email. Should you thank the person you’re corresponding with, or is a simple “best’ more appropriate? This part of an email is known as the email signature, and that difficult word choice has led to more advanced email signature design. Today, many companies end every email with a large, detailed signature.

So, why are email signatures important and what should you put in your email signature? In this article, we’ll talk more about what kind of information people put in email signatures and why they’re an important part of email content and design. If you want to maximize the ROI of your email marketing campaign, here’s what you need to know about what to include in an email signature.

What is an email signature?

If you are wondering how to set up a business email, you need to think about your email signature. A professional email signature consists of the text automatically added to the bottom of every email you send from that account, which is a crucial part of your email design. An email signature typically consists of your name and contact information, such as your phone number, website, location, and additional information.

If you take a look at email signature examples, you will see that some email signatures consist of only a name. Then, there are other email signatures that might include phone numbers, company names, and photos. With so many variations, you may be wondering how to create an effective email signature that grows your brand and boosts conversions. There are plenty of options available when you are trying to put together an email signature, so you need to understand how to format an email signature as you build your email list. Below, you’ll find more information on why you need a professional email signature and how to create one.

Professional vs personal email signatures

First off, it’s important to understand the difference between a professional email signature and a personal email signature. While using a professional signature in place of a personal one isn’t a big deal, you don’t want to use your personal email signature in a professional email you’re sending to customers or clients.

Lots of people use personal email signatures to put a personal touch on emails they send to friends and family. These signatures can also help people verify that you’re the one sending them an email because an imposter may simply send a plain-text email. You don’t necessarily need to have a personal email signature, but it’s a smart idea in an increasingly digital world.

Professional email signatures are different from personal email signatures because they’re designed specifically for business use. What this means is that your professional email signature will typically include information about the company you work for, your position within that company, and any other relevant details about your professional life. A proper email signature is important when it comes to your business, so you should include a professional signature with any email that comes from your company.

Why you need a professional email signature

There are several reasons why you need to have a business email signature. Keep in mind that there is never a second chance to make a first impression, and your email signature could be an important part of that impression. That is why you need to think about the professionalism of your email signature when starting a business email account.

Some of the reasons why you need to make sure you use the best email signatures include:

  • Build trust: One of the first reasons why you need a professional email signature is that it can help you build trust. Even though you can sign your email with your name, providing your company colors, contact details, and links to other relevant accounts can help build trust with the recipient because it will look professional. It could even be an important part of your lead generation strategy.
  • Provide contact information: You can also make it easier for people to contact you. Many email signatures contain important information, such as your phone number, other email addresses, and even a work address. Even though you should certainly be careful when you are sending emails to people you do not know, you can make it much easier for people to get in touch with you down the road. It could even help you improve client retention.
  • Grow brand awareness: Having a strong email signature is also important for branding. It might be an important tool that can help you make a stronger connection with your target market, so you need to think carefully about how you craft it. You may want to include a picture of yourself, a company logo, and a personalized touch. They encourage recipients to engage with your email in an active way, which can help you expand the footprint of your brand.
  • Expand your social media strategy: Even though it’s important to provide your contact details, using an email signature can also be an important part of your multichannel marketing strategy. For example, you might want to include links to your Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook accounts. Wherever your company has a strong presence on social media, it can be beneficial to include a link to that page. You can generate more followers on social media, helping you improve the effectiveness of your digital marketing strategy.
  • Showcase personality: As you put together your email marketing, you need to find a way to humanize your company. One of the best ways to do so is to showcase its personality. When you put together a strong professional email signature, you can include a variety of images, layouts, sizes, fonts, and colors. All of them are very important design components, and they can make you stand out from the crowd. You want to be creative and professional at the same time, which could help you generate more leads.

Clearly, there are a lot of reasons why you need to have a professional business email signature. What are some of the best ways to make that happen?

What to include in your email signature

Email signatures have changed a lot over the years, but one thing has remained the same: including the right information is important. Your email signature should tell people who you are, what your job is, and how they can get in touch with you, but there’s a lot of other information you should include as well. If you want to make the most of your email signature block, here’s what your email signature should include.

Full name

The first thing you want to include in your email signature is your full name. Your full name should be the first thing people see when they look at your email signature, and it should be easy to read. If people know you by a different name in the professional world, you can also include that name at the end of your emails. This makes it easy for people to quickly figure out who an email came from and who they can reach out to if they have any questions or feedback.

You should always include the full name of the person who’s actually sending the email. For example, you shouldn’t use your email signature if somebody else is sending an email on behalf of your company; each employee or executive should have their own unique signature.

Job information

As important as your name is, it still doesn’t give people all the information they need about who’s sending them an email. In addition to your full name, you should include detailed job information in your email signature. You can start by mentioning your job title, which tells people whether they’re dealing with an executive, an employee, or an HR staff member. You should also mention which department you work in, that way people know what your responsibilities are and how to reach out to you.

Including job information in your email footer gives people a better idea of who’s emailing them, which is important when you’re sending out emails that represent a business. Provide as much information as you’re comfortable disclosing about your job.

Contact information

Whether you’re responding to a customer service inquiry or sending out marketing emails, it’s important to give people a way to reach out to you with feedback or questions. This is why contact information is near the top of the list when it comes to what to include in an email signature. After you tell people who you are and what your job is, you should provide them with contact information they can use if they want to get a hold of you.

The contact information you put in your email signature should include your work and/or personal phone number, as well as the phone number and address of the company you work for.

Providing links in your email signature makes it easier for people to take action after reading your emails. You can use these links to direct readers to your social media accounts, give them an easy way to access your website, or allow them to contact your company by simply clicking a link. You can even include social follow content blocks instead of links to your social media accounts. The goal of these links is to make it easier for people to respond to your emails, whether they respond by visiting your website or sending an email through your contact form. At the very least, you should include a link to your company website.

Legal requirements

Depending on your jurisdiction and what kind of company you’re running, you may be legally obligated to include certain things in your email signature. In the UK, you’re required to provide your company name, company registration number, and the location where you registered. You also need to include an opt-out clause that allows people to unsubscribe to your emails.

Some of the other legal details you may want to add to your email signature include legal, financial, and insurance disclaimers. Protecting your company from liability is an important part of email marketing.

CTA

A good call to action can be a very effective part of an email marketing campaign. The goal here is to give the readers a gentle nudge in the right direction, whether you want them to check out your new products, shop your clearance sale, or reach out to your company with feedback about products.

Keep in mind that your call to action shouldn’t be too pushy. You don’t want to pressure readers into taking action, you simply want to let them know what they can do if they’re interested in your email. Including a link makes your call to action even more effective and easier for customers to engage with.

Pronouns

You never know who you’re dealing with on the other side of a computer, so it’s polite to briefly introduce yourself to any new people you may meet. Including your pronouns in your email signature is an important part of making sure people know how to address you if they reach out with questions or feedback. You can do this by listing the terms you prefer to be addressed by, such as “he/him” or “she/her.” Including your pronouns keeps other people from making mistakes when they send you an email, which in turn helps people feel more comfortable reaching out to you.

Social channels

When you send emails, you need to think carefully about the customer journey. What do you want the recipient to do next? Regardless of whether you are sending emails to business partners or clients, you should include clickable buttons to your social media channels. Examples include Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook. You need to drive more traffic to your social media accounts to increase brand awareness. If you include links to social media, you encourage recipients to learn more about your company, which could help you expand your footprint in the marketplace.

If you want this strategy to be effective, make sure the content on your social media profiles works well with the information in your email signature. You want your social media accounts to show the best side of your company.

You may also want to include a photo or logo in your email signature as well. The biggest reason why you want to include a photo or logo is that it is one of the best ways to capture someone's attention in your email signature. Your email has plenty of words, but there aren't a lot of images. A photo or logo can help you draw attention to the email signature and build trust with your audience by showing the person or brand behind the email.

Some of the best practices to follow include:

  • Make sure the text is readable in the photo or logo. The image will have to be small, so if there is any text, such as the company name, make sure it is readable.
  • Ensure the image is not too big. You do not want it to compress the body of the email.
  • Do not make the photo or logo too busy. Too many details can distract the reader, as they might not know where to look.

Make sure you get the most out of the photo or logo you add to your email signature.

What to avoid in your email signature

Knowing what to avoid is just as important as knowing what to include in an email signature. You want your signature to be readable by everybody, so don’t include any custom fonts that some devices or email clients might not support. You should also avoid including any unnecessary contact information to keep your signature short.

As tempting as it can be to fill emails with graphics and other neat-looking media, that can cause your emails to load slowly and display incorrectly on certain devices. Try to avoid including things like bullet points, animated GIFs, and videos in your email signature to make sure it loads quickly and is easy to read.

Your email signature is one of the main things people use to identify your emails, so knowing what to include in an email signature is important. Your email signature should include your full name, contact information, job information, any important links, legal requirements, a call to action, and your pronouns. You want to write a detailed email signature, but don’t go too crazy with it.

If you’re having trouble learning the ropes when it comes to email marketing, Mailchimp can help. We’ve got lots of great resources that can help you write better emails, plus we offer email automation tools that can save you time. Try Mailchimp and see what a better email marketing service can do for your brand.

Tips for Creating an Email Signature

If you want to create one of the best email signatures, you need to think carefully about what information to include. There are plenty of design options available, so how can you make sure your email signature does what you expect? Some of the most important tips to keep in mind include:

  • Use consistent branding: You need to make sure the branding in the email signature is consistent. For example, you should make sure the color scheme is consistent with the company brand. If there is a motto or slogan, you need to make sure it is consistent across the board.
  • Ensure all links work: If you include links in your email signature, make sure they work. For example, you might include a link to the company homepage, so make sure the destination URL is correct. If you include links to your social media account, make sure they are correct as well. Keep in mind that URLs might change from time to time, so you will need to update your email signature as well.
  • Include white space: Even though you might be tempted to cram all of the information in your email signature into one small area, be sure to include white space. If the email signature is too compressed, the recipient may have a difficult time reading all of the information. Furthermore, it will make your email signature appear busy, causing recipients to have a hard time figuring out where to look. Make sure to include some white space to make it easier on the eyes of the reader.
  • Choose the font carefully: You need to choose the font in your email signature carefully. Even though it does not have to perfectly match the body of the email, you do not want the font to be difficult to read. You also need to choose a font that reflects professionalism. Getting creative is always accepted, but do not stray too far from what is readily accepted.
  • Double-check your contact information: Always double-check your contact information to make sure it is correct. Your phone number, address, and office location may change from time to time, so if it does, do not forget to update your email signature. If the recipient realizes that the contact information in your signature is not accurate, it may not reflect well on your company and can result in a lost lead.

These are just a few of the many points you need to remember if you are interested in crafting a strong email signature. With these tips, you can ensure you create a professional email signature that performs well.

Email signature examples

Now that you know what email signatures are, their importance, and how to create one that stands out, let’s take a look at a few email signature examples. Below, you’ll find three email signature examples that you can draw inspiration from:

Email signature example #1

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In the email signature example above, you’ll notice that Michelle includes a clear headshot as their photo, uses plenty of white space, and has clickable links to her social media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Email signature example #2

Mailchimp Refresh -4 graphic -2-01

In Eric’s email signature example, viewers can note his position as manager, as well as find his contact information, such as his phone number, email address, website, and location easily. Additionally, Eric has a link to connect with him via Zoom, which can help drive conversions.

Email signature example #3

Mailchimp Refresh -4 graphic -3-01

Jon takes a different approach in this email signature example. Above, you’ll notice he has his company logo, which helps increase brand awareness, as well as his role listed as a financial advisor with his contact information below. Although simple in design, this email signature gives viewers all the information they need to contact Jon directly.

Wrapping up: What to know about email signature formats

Your email signature is one of the main things people use to identify your emails, so knowing what to include in an email signature is important. Your email signature should include your full name, contact information, job information, any important links, legal requirements, a call to action, and your pronouns. You want to write a detailed email signature, but don’t go too crazy with it.

If you’re having trouble learning the ropes when it comes to email marketing, Mailchimp can help. We’ve got lots of great resources that can help you write better emails, plus we offer email automation tools that can save you time. Try Mailchimp and see what a better email marketing service can do for your brand.

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