The Top 10 tips for email signature contact details

Email signature contact details are more important than all other signature elements. They give all recipients the right details for getting in touch with you and give a window into the company. 

Turn your business email signature into an electronic business card. Make sure you’re following best practices with our top 10 tips for email signature contact details.

1. Don't include everything 

Only include essential contact details within a signature block. These details include name, job title, company name, phone number, and email address. Too much contact information can come across as slightly old-fashioned. 

Also, only use four to seven lines for your email signature contact information. Using more than this will make the signature cluttered and harder to read. Remember that less is always more! 

2. Do include a full name on all email signature contact details 

Did you know that over 30% of professionals don’t include their full name in their email signature contact information?

Everyone should include their first and last names at the top of the contact information section of their email signature. Your name should always be your proper name, not a nickname. A middle name or initial can also be included if you prefer. 

3. Do make sure all contact details are up-to-date 

The primary purpose of a professional email signature template is to provide contact information to recipients over email. If an email signature doesn’t include up-to-date information, then there’s no point in it. 

People change job roles, phone numbers change, and organizations move offices. Make sure this is reflected in all users’ email signature contact information. Ideally, you’d pull the details from your Active Directory so you know they’re always accurate. 

4. Don't forget to include your email address with a ‘mailto:’ link 

Including an email address in a signature template is often thought to be pointless. After all, you can see who an email is from by looking in the ‘From:’ field. 

However, some email clients like Outlook use display names rather than email addresses to improve readability and familiarity. So, when an email is forwarded to another person, the display name will appear rather than the email address. For example, ‘john.doe@exclaimer.com’ would be shown as just ‘John Doe’. This isn’t much use if you want to email that person. 

The best way to avoid this is to include an email address within the signature and link it with a ‘mailto:’ link. This makes it easy for someone to send an email to the original sender. 

5. Do use different signatures for internal and external recipients 

Different email signature templates are really important if you have multiple office locations or many employees. So, for an internal recipient, you’d use a simplified version of your primary corporate email signature. 

This email signature template doesn’t need as many contact details, but including full name, job title, department, and extension number does make it easier for colleagues to contact you. 

6. Don't include personal information 

This is a professional email signature, not a place to promote your personal Twitter page. Personal data shouldn’t be used for business purposes or to communicate with professional associates. 

Most recipients won’t be interested in your personal social media profiles, and you probably don’t want them to know how to contact you outside work hours. 

7. Don't forget to check the rules 

Depending on where you‘re based, a good email signature includes additional information such as a company registration number, office address, and VAT number. 

These are legal requirements in many European countries, so don’t risk your organization getting fined. Make sure you do your research and find out what rules apply to your company so you can include the right information in your email signatures. 

8. Do consider adding a photo 

Used by many people who work in real estate, finance, and law, a photo in an email signature adds a much more human touch to corporate email communications. You’re a faceless entity on the other side of an email message without a photo. 

Letting people see what you look like is a great way to increase trust and build positive business relationships. Coupled with your company logo and corporate branding, you’ll also increase the effectiveness of your email content. 

9. Do have different email signatures for different departments/locations 

Do you have salespeople who work out of the office? Do you have employees working in different locations? This can be reflected in their email signature contact details. 

Keep everyone happy by letting each team use a different template to suit their email signature needs. For example, you could give extra branding to the marketing team’s signature but give a promotional banner to the sales team. 

10. Don't do email signatures by yourself 

If this all sounds too daunting, don’t worry. There are third-party email signature software solutions that can do the hard work for you. 

By using an email signature solution, you’ll always get consistent email signature contact details like names, departments, and job titles pulled from your Active Directory/Google Directory.

You can also accurately control email signature designs and easily vary them for different teams/departments. You can even add additional elements such as an email banner with a specific call to action, social media icons, and more. 

Learn more about Exclaimer or get yourself a free trial to see the power of email signature software for yourself.