3 reasons to include the email signature in your marketing strategy
In an ultra-connected world, marketing has become the cornerstone through which every department in the company communicates the value of its service. In 2022, according to Gartner, the CMO will become a CCO (Chief Connecting Officer): the person who connects people with each other, front to back, top to 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 their 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 capitalising on tactics that work... and inevitably reviewing his fundamentals.
[Context] 319 billion emails in 2021
Unsurprisingly, email is still very popular. Although social networks and the rise of collaborative tools have encouraged chat and immediacy, no fewer than 319 billion emails are expected to be exchanged in 2021. That's 9% more than in 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 is still considerably the number one communication channel in companies. It is used to communicate with prospects, customers, partners and employees. In addition to its considerable volume, one-to-one email has an open rate of almost 100%. So email isn't dead - it's still an ultra-exploited channel that CMOs need to capitalise on... and make the most of!
To do this, one of the only ways of using one-to-one email as a marketing channel is to turn each email sent into a CTA with a specific 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! You just need to find the right one and follow best practice. 😊
In this article, Letsignit, the market leader in email signatures, shares with you the 3 pillars that email signatures enable you to optimise. The ones that will enable you to transform your email signatures into powerful communication assets with undisputed ROI.
Reason No. 1: Promote connectivity and strengthen your brand
The primary function of an email signature is to introduce yourself and easily share your contact information. Like an interactive business card, it's essential to include both the employee's personal details and those of the company. There's no need to overload it: you need to focus on the needs of your contacts. Above all, you need to *encourage connectivity*, in other words, allow your audience to get in touch with you in a variety of ways.
What we expect from an email signature today
- Your first and last name,
- Your job title,
- Your company, its address, logo and website,
- Your social networks and those of the company,
- Your communication channels (landline, mobile, etc.),
- Your photo to make your exchanges more human,
- 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 as many accessibility points as possible to your contacts, especially if you are in customer service or sales.
Large-scale automation made easy
Once created, your email signature template needs to be shared with all your staff if it is to be effective.
There are centralised solutions such as Letsignit for deploying your dynamic signature templates to all your employees in just a few clicks. By synchronising 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 email signatures in image format.
For greater legibility and visibility
Harmonising email signatures may seem like a gimmick at first glance, but in reality it' s a branding weapon that should be given due consideration.
According to a study carried out by Letsignit involving 749 marketing decision-makers from SMEs and major accounts (over 100 employees), standardising email signatures has increased the legibility of their brand portfolio by 34%.
Reason no. 2: The email signature as an opportunity accelerator
Now that your email signatures are your brand's strong arm, it's time to look further afield and use your email signatures as an opportunity accelerator.
With the rise of teleworking, 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 choosing to include email signatures in your communication strategy, you'll be capitalising 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 are a much less intrusive medium than mass emailings, and much more targeted depending on who they're talking to!
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 the promotion of assets in email signatures (events, surveys, offers, testimonials, rewards, etc.).
Orchestrate for better management and performance
You still need to be able to integrate these email signatures into a real campaign dynamic. So you need to be able to take control of these signatures; to adapt them to the campaigns in progress, to sequence them over time, to break them down according to the roles of the employees and, of course, to measure the traffic generated.
Another example is Letsignit, which enables you to do all this with millimetre precision. No more banners promoting an event that's already over or an out-of-date offer... By creating your campaigns with Letsignit, you can 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 arise from your email signatures externally, there are just as many communication opportunities internally.
With the resurgence of teleworking, and despite the introduction of collaborative tools, it is less and less easy to ensure that information is properly circulated internally. Gone are the days of the 4x3 poster in the head office lobby, gone are the days of natural word-of-mouth... when it comes to communicating and uniting company staff, it is now crucial to use all the tools 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 email signature is one of these asynchronous channels, which is often neglected, but is nevertheless terribly effective . Whereas internal newsletters tend to get lost in the flow of emails, one-to-one emails have the characteristic of being sent several times a day.
By using your email 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 this information several 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 by Letsignit, email signatures contribute to a 34% increase in employee information and commitment.
Conclusion
If you want to capitalise 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 email signature tools.
In just a few clicks, you'll have a relevant new communication weapon at your disposal.
Article translated from French