In a world where digital marketing is becoming increasingly important, digital marketing efforts are becoming increasingly important as well. Email marketing, in particular, is an integral part of digital marketing efforts. This means that everything ranging from the content in the email to the structure of the email are things that have been picked apart and discussed by marketing analysts.
If you are a fortune 500 company, employing an army of marketing professionals to dissect and alter each aspect of your marketing campaign is feasible and possibly even profitable. However, small business owners and freelancers are not afforded the same luxury, given their tight marketing budgets.
Regardless of your marketing budget, one thing all email marketing experts agree on is that an eye-catching email signature for freelancers can increase your income. Essentially, if you are a remote worker, your freelancer email signature is your digital business card.
So, why exactly should a freelancer use an email signature?
Though we have established that marketing experts believe an email signature to be a good way to put forth a digital business card for freelancers, the appeal has not been clearly established. To help understand it, here are three reasons why a freelancer email signature is a must-have.
Personal branding
An email signature is a great way to establish and promote a personal brand. It is an opportunity to share your website, social media accounts, and other relevant publications without intervening with the main message of the email content. As a result, an email signature for freelancers helps strengthen your credibility by providing an added personal branding opportunity.
Trust
In line with the effects of personal branding, an email signature is an opportunity to highlight notable publications or achievements. In case a freelancer has a credential worth highlighting, an email signature is a great place to include it. Notable credentials include things like badges and certificates; both of them strengthen credibility. As a freelancer, you want to make sure each contact with customers is used effectively. In the long run, this helps build connections and trust.
Uniqueness
An email signature can give an email a personal, friendly, and unique touch. Let's face it, all freelancers have an online presence that showcases their digital footprints. Each independent specialist is unique, and an email signature for freelancers provides an opportunity to showcase their unique digital footprints. This uniqueness helps prospects and customers form better connections and ultimately help the efforts of freelancers.
So, it has been established that an email signature can help a freelancer. The next step is to understand how to use an email signature effectively. In other words, what are some marketing tips and tricks that freelancers can employ in email signatures? Here are five ways this can be achieved:
- Portfolio: Whether a freelancer is a writer or a designer, chances are they have a portfolio of samples. An email signature for freelancers is a perfect space to place a link to a portfolio without being spammy. This will allow interested individuals to access relevant items and help improve conversion rates.
- Testimonials: Whether a fortune 500 company or a freelancer is sending a marketing email, there is nothing that helps more than honest testimonials (okay, maybe freelancers benefit more). Including testimonials about happy experiences will showcase a freelancer in a positive light. An email signature for freelancers is an ideal place to integrate these positive thoughts.
- Awards: Whether it’s a local society award or some internationally acclaimed accolade, an award is an award. Especially for a freelancer that wants to establish some credibility, adding these badges of honor can strengthen their efforts. Include these awards strategically in an email signature and impress prospective clients.
- Social Media: Whether someone has a million followers on Twitter or one hundred, it does not matter. Just make sure the account being promoted is professional and in sync with freelancing efforts. Professional social media accounts integrated into an email signature can provide interested individuals with an added insight on a freelancers' area of expertise.
Email signatures are essential and can positively help freelancers. But there are some key elements and design tips freelancers should be mindful of to ensure their efforts are well received.
Design tips for freelancer’s email signature
A clean email signature and clutter-free design will ensure a reader is not lost or confused while looking at an email signature. Yes, an email signature for freelancers is an opportunity to list important digital footprints but is not a place to stack everything important without any thought.
A freelancer should ask themselves, what is most important and create an email signature design that works best with the information in hand. For example, things like name and website are no brainers, but do all social media accounts need to be listed? Maybe not.
Layout
This overlaps with design. The layout needs to be built based on the intent of the freelancer. Whether the purpose is to list the things from most important to least important or blindly follow a business card layout, it needs to be well thought out and clearly established. Regardless of how the content is organized, it needs to be perfectly developed. For example, if a publication is more important than a Facebook page, make sure the layout showcases that.
Photo
Freelancing and remote work have made it possible for people across borders to collaborate. This means that prospects and possibly some clients do not know what the freelancer they are working with looks like.
Adding a photo to an email signature lets a freelancer connect with their audience. This adds familiarity and helps strengthen business connections. This does not mean a photo of a recent adventure expedition, but a professional mug shot like the ones people prefer to upload on professional networking websites. So, a professional photo is a great email signature addition.
Branding
As a freelancer, it is important to invest in personal branding. For starters, here are few simple branding questions a freelancer should ask themselves: ‘Do I have a website? What are the colors I use? Do I use these colors across all platforms?’ Establish a color of preference or one that works with the overall personal branding appeal and use this across all marketing efforts, including an email signature. Branding will help create a strong freelance email signature and help remote workers establish a strong personal brand.
Call-to-action
Any seasoned marketing expert will say that a call-to-action is a must in all email marketing efforts. In line with this thought, an email signature for freelancers is no different. Remember, it is the last thing people see in an email. So, a strong call-to-action is a must in an email signature to maximize its benefits. Whether it's a simple ‘click here’ that directs readers to a website or some clever quote that encourages a click-through, a call-to-action is like the cherry on top for an email signature.
In summary, we have established the importance and productive uses of email signatures, but what exactly does a good email signature for freelancers look like? Here is a checklist for a good email signature and what differentiates it from a bad signature to help explain what works and what does not.
What separates a good email signature from a bad one?
A general rule of thumb to keep in mind while identifying a good email signature is to make sure it has the following:
- Link to portfolio and/or awards and/or testimonials and/or social media accounts
- Clear design and layout with personal branding efforts
- Photo and call-to-action
Consequently, a bad email signature either lacks one of three things or has an overdose of them all.
There are countless websites that offer insights and help on email signatures, their benefits, and how a freelancer can get started. All of the information can be overwhelming, and a freelancers' life is stressful enough. We have identified two excellent email signature generators for freelancers that can help them get started with their first email signature:
Long story short, an email signature has become a must-have for anyone who uses their email account for any professional purpose. Standing out online is becoming increasingly important, and an email signature has become an essential step in this process. Arguably, an email signature for freelancers, in particular, is an essential and a bare minimum. So, it is best to rely on professional email signature generators, particularly if you are a freelancer, to ensure your efforts are not in vain. This will ensure that you have an eye-catching email signature that can help increase your income.
If you are a freelancer and have some insights on the use and benefits of email signatures, let us know what you think in the comments section below.
