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You know that you're a true email marketer if every single one of your emails includes a call-to-action. And I'm not talking about email marketing blasts here. What I have in mind are the individual, personal email messages you send on an everyday basis. Yes, your personal email signature can provide a serious marketing opportunity.
You are most likely already using your own email signature to provide information about who you are and where you work. But you can take this practice to the next level by updating your signature to reflect the marketing campaigns you are running today. Company employees, particularly those in sales and marketing, might be missing out on another opportunity to spread brand awareness or nurture prospective customers with their personal messages. Encourage them to turn their email signatures into a marketing mechanism, and they will most likely leap at the chance to sound smarter and help you in your promotional efforts. You, in turn, will get more traffic to certain pages and boost conversions.
Wondering what exactly you can promote through your email signature? Here are ten awesome suggestions:
1. Your Website (Homepage)
The least you should promote in your email signature is your company's website. In order for this tactic to be efficient, you have to make sure your homepage acts like a landing page. In other words, it directs the visitor’s attention to the activity you want them to take. For instance, HubSpot’s homepage suggests that you start a free, 30-day trial or receive a free product demo. Including your website's homepage in an email signature also helps to expand awareness of your brand.
2. Your Blog
Your blog is one of the smartest things you can include in your email signature because it provides value to the community and gets updated on a regular basis. The fresh content on your blog is more engaging than a static homepage and will most likely retain the attention of the visitor for longer. Also, don’t forget to include calls-to-action throughout your posts, because once a reader has landed on your blog, you want to encourage them to take the next step and become a lead. Using the free tool, WiseStamp, you can create a dynamic email signature that includes an RSS feed, which shows the title of your most recent blog article and automatically updates as new articles get published.
3. Social Media
When it comes to the usage of social media in email signatures, you have two options. You can either include a link to your personal accounts on sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, etc., or you can include links to your company’s accounts. Both are good options.
If you are building a personal brand, you will want to spread the word about who you are outside the company. That will help people to get to know you better and get more familiar with your interests on a personal level. Including links to your corporate social media profiles, on the other hand, will help you grow the reach of your organization and gain more followers. WiseStamp offers a ton of great social media add-ons for your signature, including a Facebook Like button that encourages email recipients to Like your Facebook page, social media icons that link to your profiles, and features that allow you to highlight your latest tweet, Facebook post, or Google+ update!
4. Book
Have you written a book? Has your manager or CEO written one? Don’t be shy about it! Share a link to the book in your email signature. That will help you build authority and credibility among the people you communicate with. For instance, some employees at HubSpot include a link to the Inbound Marketing book in their signatures. Authored by HubSpot's co-founders, the book does a great job at conveying our mission and vision.
5. Conferences & Events
Is there a company trade show coming up soon? Or maybe you are speaking at a conference? Change your email signature to reflect that. While your email signature might not necessarily help you generate more registrants, it will surely spread the word about the event and gain some awareness among your target audience.
6. New Marketing Offer
If you are an inbound marketer, you must have a few offers lying around. They could be a number of different things, such as whitepapers, ebooks, webinars, or kits. Which ones are the best at converting traffic into leads? (You can tell by looking at their corresponding landing pages' visitor-to-submission rates in your marketing analytics). Identify your best performing offers, and then expose them to more traffic! Use your email signature to share a link to a popular ebook or a webinar. Or if you're currently featuring a new campaign that highlights a particular offer, use that in your signature instead.
7. Case Studies
Salespeople love this one! If you're talking to potential customers, what’s better than sharing stories of successful ones? Use these examples profusely, and make sure you highlight some data points. For instance, you can mention how the ROI of a customer has increased since they started using your services or product. You can even quote a customer in your email signature!
8. Industry Research
Speaking of data, don't underestimate the impact that facts and figures can have in a marketing context. People on the web are overwhelmed with vague information, which encourages them to look for specifics. If you publish an industry report based on proprietary research, consider including a link to it in your email signature.
9. Free Tool
If your company happens to have a free tool, such as an online calculator, educational game, or even a free trial, give it some marketing love. Free online tools have the power to engage readers and get them further interested in your product or service. (And if you haven't already, check out HubSpot's newest free tool, Marketing Grader!)
10. Demonstration of Your Product / Free Consultation
When you are having a tough sales month, consider using an email signature that promotes a free consultation with your team or even a demonstration of your product. In that way, you'll increase traffic to these middle-of-the-funnel marketing offers and show your sales organization that you're taking advantage of every possible opportunity to help them out.
Have any other ideas for what your email signature can promote? Share them in the comments section below!
Photo credit: Hammer51012
