On Email Signatures
May 7th, 2008 by Jeb Foster
We’re in the process of shoring up our email standards here at InsureMe, and our current area of focus is the signature, that last bit of text after the signoff which tends to be either
• too dense with information (or too spare);
• overly colorful (or overly bland);
• unnecessarily blighted with fine-print legalese; and/or
• completely ineffectual from a marketing perspective.
If you’re like most people, you don’t notice other people’s signatures except in rare occasions, when (a) you need to find a phone number or (b) the person’s signature cries out for ridicule (see: bad clip art, comic sans font, color magenta).
But the signature is–well, it can be–an important element of an electronic transmission. Moreover, it can
• provide necessary information;
• convey, through typography and imagery, your personal and/or corporate brand; and
• advertise (casually yet effectively) your products and services.
Why don’t people notice signatures? Because people create them as if they’re not meant to be read. They’re often static and boringly utilitarian. LinkedIn, the social networking site for business professionals, understands what the email signature can achieve. The company often closes its email messages with a short line of text that promotes the company or its users, or offers a tip on how to use a feature or take advantage of new offering.
Here’s another reason to have a signature that works for you: studies reveal that postscripts–P.S.s–are among the most widely read parts of text, up there with headlines and image captions.
If you’ve ever been to a career coach, it’s likely that he or she has cautioned you against putting too much personal information in your resume: it’s extraneous detail, the conventional wisdom holds, and you might give a potential employer a reason to discriminate. He has the second-largest collection of what? Let’s put this weirdo’s application in this pile.
The same is true for email signatures–feel free to add personality, but do it at your own risk: not everyone has your taste, sense of humor, religious affiliation, etc. In general, consider your audience and the relevance of any additional information, and remember this maxim, as elucidated by copywriting legend Donna Baier Stein: “Response is the end goal of everything you write.” You may be a big Nietzsche fan, but ending your messages with quotes from “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” probably won’t help you sell more policies.
Brevity is also important. Purists will say that your signature shouldn’t be longer than four lines. I disagree with that prescription because it follows the signatures-are-meant-to-be-ignored line of thinking. Still, things are getting out of hand if you’re including your ham radio callsign and/or MySpace page URL.
Well, it’s time to wrap this post up, so I’ll close with a plea: if your signature has Comic Sans type, please replace it with one of the other 100 typefaces available through Microsoft Office. In all seriousness, it’s time to start thinking of the signature as valuable real estate that can tirelessly work for your cause.
[Hat tip: Cassie]
[Bonus reading material]
• Information Week article on signatures (includes a lively comment thread)
• Lifehacker blog post on e-mail sign-offs (also with lively comment thread)
• Wikipedia entry on “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”
