3 reasons to include email signatures in your marketing strategy
Marketing jobs are changing, and for good reason: in an ultra-connected world, marketing has become the cornerstone through which every department in the company conveys the value of its service. In 2022, according to Gartner, the CMO will become a CCO (Chief Connecting Officer): the person who connects the front with the back, the top with the bottom.
The result? The CMO must now become the conductor of two scores. The first is to reconcile the brand, its services and their values with all its employees. The second is knowing how to juggle all the channels - digital and otherwise - at his disposal. The aim is to communicate the value proposition of the company's various departments as effectively as possible, both internally and externally.
In his new role, the CMO has every interest in capitalizing on tactics that work... and inevitably reviewing his fundamentals.
[Context] 319 billion e-mails in 2021
Unsurprisingly, email is still very popular. Although social networks and the rise of collaborative tools have favored chat and immediacy, no less than 319 billion e-mails are expected to be exchanged in 2021. This represents a 9% increase on 2019, when 293 billion emails were sent during the year...
While we often talk about mass emailings/newsletters, we don't talk often enough about the one-to-one emails sent daily by a company's employees.
And yet... With an average of 121 emails received and 40 sent by an employee every day, email remains considerably the leading corporate communication channel. It is used to communicate with prospects, customers, partners and employees alike. In addition to its considerable volume, one-to-one email has an open rate approaching 100%. So email isn't dead, it's still a highly exploited channel that CMOs need to capitalize on... and make the most of!
To do this, one of the only ways to use one-to-one email as a marketing channel is to transform every email sent into a CTA with a precise objective. In other words, turn the email signature into an advertising insert promoting your brand, news or campaigns. Easy to say, not always easy to do. Fortunately, there are solutions! It's just a question of finding the right one and following best practices. 😊
In this article, Letsignit, the market leader in email signatures, shares with you the 3 pillars that email signatures can help you optimize. The ones that will enable you to transform your e-mail signatures into powerful communication assets with undisputed ROI.
Reason no. 1: Promote connectivity and strengthen your brand
The primary function of an e-mail signature is to introduce you and share your contact information easily. Like an interactive business card, it's essential to include not only the employee's personal information, but also that of the company. There's no need to overload it: you need to focus on your contacts' needs. And above all, you need to *favor connectivity*, i.e., allow your audience to get in touch with you in a variety of ways.
What we expect from a modern e-mail signature
- Your first and last name,
- Your job title,
- Your company, address, logo and website,
- Your social networks and those of the company,
- Your communication channels (landline, mobile, etc.),
- Your photo to humanize your exchanges,
- A link to easily book appointments in your calendar,
- A link to chat in Microsoft Teams in just 1 click,
- Finally, a disclaimer to protect your exchanges.
Remember to give your contacts as many accessibility points as possible, especially if you're in customer service or sales.
Large-scale automation made easy
Once created, your mail signature template needs to be shared with all your colleagues if it is to be effective.
Centralized solutions such as Letsignit enable you to deploy your dynamic signature templates to all your colleagues in just a few clicks. By synchronizing with your internal directory, the software automatically deploys your signature templates to all your employees, on all their devices, and ensures that all their information is always up-to-date. No more headaches when recruiting a new employee, and no more image-based e-mail signatures.
For greater legibility and visibility
At first glance, harmonizing e-mail signatures may seem like a gimmick, but in reality it' s a branding weapon that should be taken seriously.
According to a study carried out by Letsignit among 749 marketing decision-makers from small and medium-sized companies and major accounts (+100 employees), harmonizing e-mail signatures has increased the legibility of their brand portfolio by 34%.
Reason no. 2: The mail signature as an opportunity gas pedal
Now that your e-mail signatures are your brand's strongest arm, it's time to look beyond them and use them as an opportunity gas pedal.
With the rise of telecommuting, the end of third-party cookies and over-solicitation on social networks, especially LinkedIn, it's increasingly difficult to deliver the right message, to the right person, at the right time.
By adding an interactive banner promoting your latest news, your emails will no longer be just a showcase for your brand, but will also carry the messages and value of your services/departments.
A communication channel with multiple benefits
By including email signatures in your communication strategy, you capitalize on a powerful, low-cost medium with a high ROI (on average 4% click-through rate per campaign). What's more, one-to-one emails represent a much less intrusive medium than mass mailings, and are much more targeted according to their audience!
The figures speak for themselves. According to the same study carried out by Letsignit on 749 marketing decision-makers, the generation of traffic and contacts increases byincreases by 25% thanks to asset promotion in e-mail signatures (events, surveys, offers, testimonials, rewards, etc.).).
Orchestrate for better control and performance
The key is to be able to integrate these email signatures into a real campaign dynamic. In other words, you need to be able to take control of these signatures; to tailor them to current campaigns, to sequence them over time, to break them down according to employee roles and, of course, to measure the traffic they generate.
Another example is Letsignit, which allows you to industrialize all this with millimetric precision. No more banners promoting an event that's already over, or an out-of-date offer... By creating your campaigns with Letsignit, you'll transform your emails into a non-intrusive, ultra-targeted and measurable communication channel.
Reason No. 3: Get your staff more involved
The icing on the cake. In addition to the large number of business opportunities that can be generated by your e-mail signatures externally, there are just as many communication opportunities internally.
With the resurgence of teleworking, and despite the introduction of collaborative tools, it's less and less easy to ensure the proper distribution of information internally. Gone are the 4x3 posters in the head office lobby, gone is the natural word-of-mouth... when it comes to communicating and uniting your company's employees, it's now crucial to use all the means at your disposal.s crucial to use all the channels at your disposal - whether synchronous (enabling real-time interaction) or asynchronous (not involving a direct response).
The e-mail signature is one of these asynchronous channels, often neglected, yet terribly effective . Where internal newsletters tend to get lost in email streams, one-to-one emails have the characteristic of being multiple on a daily basis.
By using your e-mail signatures to relay internal initiatives or change projects (calls for projects, surveys, events, new processes, etc.), you can ensure that 100% of your employees will be confronted with the same information multiple times.
All that then remains is to be able to distribute your internal and external campaigns to the right people, automatically and at the right time.
Here again, the figures are clear. According to a study carried out by Letsignit, e-mail signatures help to increase employee awareness and commitment by 34%.
Conclusion
If you want to capitalize on a channel you already have to reinforce your brand image, accelerate your business opportunities and encourage employee commitment, then don't hesitate to deploy e-mail signature tools.
In just a few clicks, you'll have a relevant new communication weapon at your disposal.
Article translated from French