How to Leverage Your Email Signature to Supercharge Your Cold Outreach

Brad Beutler

March 21, 2018

Contents

There’s a lot of noise in B2B business – especially the SaaS world – and prospecting emails can fall through the cracks. Finding creative ways to stand out is vital to separate yourself from that noise – and the email signature is the perfect space to elevate your outreach strategy.

Every email you send has the same general features: subject line, greeting, body… there are only so many ways you can drive engagement through these features. The email signature, however, though seemingly small, can hold significant power. They often aren’t given a second thought, but the signature can carry as much weight as the body of your email. Think about it – it’s in every email you’re sending, it’s often where the recipient’s eyes travel first to learn more about you, the sender, and it’s an opportunity to do some incredible things. From standardizing your branding and contact information to appending an enticing call-to-action banner, the uses for this piece of undervalued real estate are abundant.

It’s time for sales teams to start thinking of the email signature not just as an afterthought, but as an essential ingredient in outreach.

Stay on Brand

Consistent email signatures will not only standardize the branding across an organization, they’ll also allow your team to make sure that the actual signature content is optimized for success. There are good and bad ways to set up the “business card” portion of your email signature (name, title, phone number, etc). Certain fonts are more appropriate than others (please, ditch the comic sans) and some things are just plain outdated or unprofessional (long quotes after each sign-off, for example). Reading up on best practices can guide you to use this space most effectively and make sure you’re being taken seriously.

If a prospect can’t immediately find a way to reach you by glancing at your email, then you aren’t using the space right. Including contact information is key – you could even include a button inviting them to “schedule a call,” linking to your scheduling tool. “One of the most effective ways in building emotional connections with customers is to prove that they are dealing with an actual person and not just a nameless, faceless corporation,” writes John Rampton for Forbes. Personalize each signature with an avatar photo of yourself and social media icons – showing that there’s a real human behind the email can make the recipient more inclined to read and respond.

Drive Engagement

When a recipient opens your email, you have the chance to draw their eyes immediately to an important message. Eye-tracking tests and analysis show that an attention-grabbing email signature banner will draw the view of the reader within 3 seconds – that is a huge opportunity to differentiate yourself from wall-of-text emails that might be skimmed over. The call-to-action at the end of your email signature can reinforce or supplement the body text of your email – making that messaging really pop.

Use a banner with a simple “Request a Demo” CTA, or ask them to sign up for a free trial. Think about how many impressions – and clicks – a captivating offer appended to every single sent email will achieve.

Show off what people are saying about you – promote reviews or ratings to increase trust from your prospects and communicate value.

In need of new event promotion ideas? Believe it or not, your company email signature can become a leading source of registrations. Rotate out the banner before, during, and after the event to always be giving the latest information for a prospect to register, tune in, or review what happened.

Add Value with Relevant Content

When you’re reaching out to someone cold, it’s important that you’re providing value for them. An email full of asks will get you nowhere – showing how you can help will allow you to be taken seriously. Ebooks, whitepapers, webinars, and case studies offer a chance to not only be helpful, but establish you and your company as a leader in your industry. Where better to promote this type of content than in everyday email communications?

Invite recipients to download a piece of content that would benefit them in their specific role. Delivering value immediately will differentiate you from other emails hitting their inbox.

Webinar promotion ideas are endless with email signature marketing. Link the call-to-action banner to an optimized landing page to showcase exactly what value the webinar can deliver.

Personalize Effectively

Personalization in prospecting emails is a no-brainer in theory, but it’s difficult to implement across hundreds – or thousands – of emails. You don’t want to serve the same content to all different personas, so using different campaign banners to target each persona separately with relevant content is a great way to ensure you’re providing value to the email recipient.

For larger sales teams, an email signature marketing platform can help guarantee that you’re targeting efficiently and effectively in every sent email. For example, including a case study that is specific and relevant to a particular prospect will show how your product or service provides value to their niche industry.

Conclusion

Incorporating email signature marketing into your email outreach provides value for your team and the recipient. If you’re not currently optimizing your own email signatures for outreach, it’s like you’re leaving a billboard on the side of the highway blank. Make yourself stand out from the noise while being relevant and helpful. Every single email you send will contain this piece of real estate, so it’s imperative that you’re intentional with how you use it.

Brad Beutler

Brad Beutler is the Director of Marketing at Sigstr, an email signature marketing platform that provides simple, central control over your company's email signatures.