Maybe it’s a victim of mobile devices, but I miss the days when everyone had their contact information in a signature at the bottom of an email. These days all I get is “Sent from my iPhone, please excuse the typos.” When did we get so lazy as to blame our typos on our phone? That’s beside the point of this article, so I’ll save that rant for another day.
I know people don’t seem to talk on the phone anymore, but there are times when things are too complicated to type out or could actually be resolved so much quicker by making a quick call instead of multiple back and forth emails trying to troubleshoot an issue. These days, if I want to call somebody, it seems like I have to stop and either go to their website or send an email asking for their phone number. So I’m making a push to bring the email signature back.
There’s a Tool for That
First of all, mostly everyone knows how to create an email signature—I hope—so you know there has to be some cool gadget that can assist in creating an effective email signature, right? Well, that gadget comes from the marketing geniuses at HubSpot. I’ve talked about one of their other tools before, the Website Grader. This month, I’m sharing the Email Signature Generator.
Why am I suggesting the Email Signature Generator when you can go in and easily create your own through your email software? For a couple of reasons.
Brand Consistency
How many times do you get emails from multiple people from the same company and notice how extremely different their email signatures are? It happens to me a lot. Being a communications professional, brand consistency to me is huge. The Email Signature Generator is an outstanding way for an organization to select a predesigned template and have everyone on staff use the same design. Now your members will be impressed with the level of your branding details.
Creative Designs
I get it, not all of us are designers. Not only that, but if you are including your chamber logo and social media icons, there is a bit of technical knowledge needed in order for them to look right and also link to the appropriate website.
HubSpot’s Email Signature Generator does all of the heavy lifting when it comes to the design while you simply supply the details. Want to add an icon for your LinkedIn page? Just put your profile’s URL in the appropriate blank in the Generator’s form and it adds a LinkedIn icon. Want to add your professional headshot? Include a URL that directs to your photo and it will be included in the design.
Call to Action
Probably one of the most underutilized marketing tools we have is our emails. There are many chambers that do this well, but there also are many chambers that miss the mark. The HubSpot Email Signature Generator allows you to create a custom Call to Action, or CTA as they have labeled it. Maybe you have a big event coming up or maybe there is a new service you are providing. Your emails are a great place to share that call to action and drive more traffic to your website.
So take your marketing efforts to the next level and get your customized email signature. It just might be a lifesaver!
Suggestions
If you have a comment or suggestion for a future article, email me at russell.lahodny@calchamber.com.
Russell Lahodny is vice president of W.A.C.E. and vice president of local chamber relations at the California Chamber.