The History of Email Signature

Email signature has become an important part of branding and marketing strategies. Every professional brand and business use email signatures in their outgoing emails and avails of its amazing benefits. 

It is a block that has personal details attached to the footnote of an email but there is a lot more going on than just that. It can be very useful for email marketing campaigns and branding. 

What is an Email Signature? 

An email signature is a block of personal details and information that is attached to the footnote of your outgoing email messages. It usually contains your company name, address, phone number, link to your website, social media icons, image, offers, and other related information.

An email signature shows additional information about the sender of the email that is not already included in the email message. A typical professional email signature includes- Your full name; the name of your company; your job title; your contact information such as phone number, email address, and mobile number; website link; social media account links; a picture or banner; a disclaimer such as privacy policy. 

Historical Development of Email Signature 

An email signature is a form of general signature. Earlier, it was commonly used in forum posts or in Usenet posts. The historical origin of email signatures is located in these posts. 

In the beginning days of the internet, forum users created wither posts with a personal signature. Usenet introduced the possibility to add the name and email address of the sender in the header of the post in 1983. This way, users put their personal information in the footer of their posts. It indicated who sent the post and how the sender can be reached. This was later included in the emails which are popularly known as email signatures these days. 

As the usage of the internet and popularity kept increasing, companies also started using email signatures. Email signatures also started being used for marketing purposes in the early days. For instance, Hotmail started placing advertising banners in the footer of their outgoing emails to increase their reach significantly. 

These days, an email signature is being used popularly by loads of individuals and companies to increase awareness, reach and brand recognition.

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Why is Email Signature so Crucial?

An email signature is a must for a growing business that really wants to make an impact and stand out. Read below to understand why an email signature is so crucial and how it can benefit you. 

• Content Marketing

An email signature can make your content marketing a huge success. If you have something that you want everyone to see, you can add a link to that content in your email signature. Your email readers can easily click on the link and read the amazing content you have to offer. There must be a separate link from your website or social media pages too. 

Adding a call-action button (CTA) helps to draw the attention of your recipients to your content too. After this, you can watch your views for your content increase drastically because of the link you added to your email signature. 

• Increase in Website Traffic

Adding links to your website can help in increasing your website traffic to a great extent. When your customers open up the email and scroll to the bottom, they will reach an interesting and attractive email signature. If they are interested in your brand, they will definitely want to look at your website and see what you offer. They can easily click on the link provided and reach your website without typing and searching on the internet.

You can add a call to action button with a tempting offer for your potential customers. This will make sure your audience clicks and reaches your website. You can increase website traffic by a great amount and even convert more leads with this idea. 

• Increase Social Media Traffic

Just as an email signature can be used to increase traffic to your website, it can also be sued to increase traffic to your social media pages. This is the same as inserting the website link into your email signature. 

By adding social media links and icons to your email signature, you can direct your readers to social media pages in just one click. There is no need for them to type your name on social media platforms and find the right page. It is so easy, quick, and convenient for your customers. 

You can add links and icons to various social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. Adding links can benefit your brand in different ways. You can build your social media audience, increase traffic, earn more followers, make more leads, etc. 

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• Ensures Trust and Credibility

Moving further, adding a Designhill email signature to your outgoing emails increases trust and credibility without you even knowing. You can display information about you and your company in the email signature. This way you show your recipients that you are a credible individual and the company is legit and not fake. Your picture and logo are also included in the email signature. It further increases the level of trust and credibility that your viewers will have for you. 

By adding your email signature to outgoing emails, you show your recipients that you are someone that can be trusted and not a scammer. It will help them be at ease and respond to your emails. 

• Makes Your Brand Unique

Furthermore, statistics have shown that on average an office worker receives 121 emails per day. Most of these emails do not contain any email signature in it. 

You need to stand out from the crowd and look different in the eyes of your viewers. This is a great way to get noticed. You can show your uniqueness by adding email signatures to your outgoing emails. By adding your email signature, you will increase the chances of your email being read and responded to carefully. 

• Shows a Sense of Professionalism

Adding an email signature to your outgoing emails shows that you are a professional that pays attention to important details. A lot of users still do not use email signatures. Anybody can write an email but only professionals will add an email signature to their emails. 

Furthermore, your email signature creates important brand details and a professional picture of you. You can use a picture of your professional attire and show a solid sense of professionalism. 

• Increases Brand Recognition

Email signatures are quite useful in creating great brand recognition. You can tell people who you are and what you stand for on regular basis with your emails. Your readers will see your email signature every time they open your mail and get reminded of what your brand is about. 

When you get a team for a specific project, they can create a unique brand and use it when sending emails to clients and customers. Not only does it increase brand recognition but it also increases recognition of the particular team and mission. 

• Makes Email Marketing More Effective

Digital marketers use email marketing quite commonly to promote their business. This helps brands reach the people who are interested in reading emails about your brand. This is a cost-effective and very easy method. However, you need to be innovative, different, and appealing to your clients and customers to keep them engaged with your brand. 

An email signature combined with your business’s information. It includes contact details, address, logo, website link, social media account, links, and much more in just one place. This makes your email look more effective and action-oriented. Email signature also includes CTA buttons for the convenience of users and to generate more clicks and leads. 

• Acts as Digital Business Card

Email signature acts as a digital business card providing necessary information to potential clients and impressing them. 

Businesses often need a business card for a variety of reasons. They are handy when introducing an individual or a group of people to the company they work for. A business card also introduces business to people outside the business. An email signature is a great alternative to business cards. These can be easily used in the digital world to share information and increase recognition. It is a great way to represent your company and build a personal connection with the readers. 

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• Provides Links to Important Details 

Email signatures contain important links that are related to necessary details. This makes it easy for prospects to get information that is important to know about the company. They can easily click on the links and reach the website, social media accounts, offers, etc in just a second. You can modify the information and links in the email signature on the basis of your needs and target audience. 

Adding a contact number takes communication to a personal level. Potential customers can just tap on the link and make a quick call. You can also mention links to social media accounts and YouTube channels and make it easy for customers to communicate on a personal level. 

You can grab inspiration from the email signatures of companies in the design industry. For instance, Designhill’s email signature is simple, professional, and filled with the necessary details. 

Would you like to read more about the History of Email Signature-related articles? If so, we invite you to take a look at our other tech topics before you leave!