Tweet

Signature Line: An overlooked, virtually free marketing tool

Written by: Veronika Noize

Article Overview: No matter what kind of business my clients are in, they all have the same excellent relationship marketing tool at their fingertips...

Signature Line: An overlooked, virtually free marketing tool

Once my clients truly understand that marketing is about relationships, we start talking about how those relationships are created and maintained to determine appropriate marketing tactics for their businesses and personal styles. But no matter what kind of business my clients are in, they all have the same excellent relationship marketing tool at their fingertips: Their e-mail messages.

E-mail messages are the most frequently overlooked (and virtually free) marketing tools available to entrepreneurs. No, I’m not talking about electronic mail campaigns, or spamming, but using the messages you send out every day to your clients and colleagues as a subtle marketing tool. You can do this by adding more information to your signature line in all your e-mail.

How many times have you received a message from people who aren’t using a company domain name in their e-mail address, so you’re not sure who Bill or Sally @Hotmail.com is? Or what if you’re in that position yourself? Many low cost Web hosts will forward e-mail received to you@yourdomain.com, but don’t provide an e-mail address from your domain name. So how do you look professional when you’re dealing with a $35 a month Web site and free Internet e-mail? You use an annotated signature line.

Most e-mail programs allow users to create an individual signature line that is appended to all outgoing messages. If you’re not using one, you are missing an effective and virtually free way to market your business. And as an added bonus, your marketing message can be seen where paid advertising is forbidden such as on electronic bulletin boards, giving you a competitive edge is such circumstances.

So why bother to annotate your signature line? Here are some good reasons:

1. Annotating your signature line makes it easy for your clients to find your contact information when they want t o buy again. Sure you may have given them a business card, but what if business cards are lost or misfiled? Creating a situation in which your client has to look in the Yellow Pages for your phone number may be risky, especially if a competitor has a more compelling marketing message.

2. Annotating your signature line reminds and makes it easy for your clients to visit your web site. Of course that’s assuming you want your customers to visit your Web site. And why wouldn’t you? Your Web site is a great visibility tool that builds your relationship with your customers.

3. Annotating your signature line identifies the origin of your messages so that if they get forwarded, people who are interested in what you have to say or offer can find you easily. Evan if you know for sure that your customers have your address, your fax number or understand the full range of your products or services, that information does not forward with your e-mail unless you put it there. So if one of your loyal customers forwards an e-mail from you to a colleague and your contact information is not included, you’ve just closed the door to a new business opportunity that your customer opened for you by forwarding your message.

4. Annotating your signature line can be a gentle way to remind customers of upcoming events (“Sale end Friday, Dec 27th” or “Don’t miss our open house on Jan 17”) to buy again (“Call today for a free quote”), to promote a new product or service (“Ask me how our new widget will save you money”), to encourage forwarding and referrals (“Forward this newsletter to anyone you thing will find it valuable”) or to call for feedback (“If you like working with us, tell your friends. If you don’t, tell us and we’ll make it right”).

So what should you include in an annotated signature line? At the very least, your e-mail signature should include you full name, title, company name, web site link, plus you phone and fax numbers. Also consider a direct access phone line (if different than the company phone number), cell phone number, company tag line or motto, an offer, a reminder to buy, last call for a special deal, teaser for the future products or services, or even an inspirational quote, if it reinforces your marketing message.

It doesn’t have to be fancy to get read. You can make simple borders around your key messages or information by using your title key (~), a dash (-), and underline (_) or even a series of asterisks (*). Bottom line: Every professional needs a standard signature line in all business correspondence. Because that is exactly what e-mail is professional correspondence. Of course, we use it so casually and so frequently that it hardly seems like something professional at all. But bear in mind that all correspondence between you and your customers is an opportunity to enhance you business relationship, even if that communication happens only in cyberspace.

Related Articles
  Email: An Overlooked and Virtually Free Marketing Tool
  The Little Internet Marketing Tactic That Could
  Marketing Through Your Signature File
  Email Marketing Made Easy #08 - More Marketing Methods
  Five Ways to Market Using Email

Article Tags: added bonus, appropriate marketing, company domain name, e mail address, electronic bulletin boards, electronic mail, free marketing tools, hotmail, mail campaigns, mail messages, mail programs, marketing tactics, marketing tool, matter what kind, outgoing messages, personal styles, relationship marketing, signature line, some good reasons, web hosts



Related Forum Posts
Re: Blog Marketing - This selling and promotional strategy is often overlooked by retailers, however it's one of the cheapest and effective marketing avenues available. Great post, thanks Jeff. Phil
Re: Promoting Videos On YouTube.com - Tube ToolBox - Hi, Yes, YouTube.com is a great way to promote a message. Google loves youtube.com (they should they own them) and it is another way to show that social media marketing is the wave of the future.... But my question is do you think this product, Tube Toolbox, is a good marketing tool. To me it looks like an early attempt for black hat marketers to use & abuse YouTube.com to send spam to users. The whole point of the tool is to contact people in bulk on YouTube.com. Isn't it a shame that people that call themselves marketers do this?
Re: New Keyword Research Tool - [quote="thpalex":1g9u68nb]Thanks for the new info on keyword tools..... as I keep looking for suggestion and tips on keyword tools so these were very helpful to me. ....... however, Adwords keyword tool was not giving me exact search ideas.... so I was looking for other way.[/quote:1g9u68nb] Yeah, Google Adwords Keyword Tool is a bit limited and doesn't always show exact results. Overall, It's a very nice tool considering it's free. Use it in conjunction with something like WordStream or other keyword tool, and you can't go wrong.
Voice SMS! - Thanks Andy, Shouldn't be overlooked, appreciated.
Re: Question of the week: Does free work? - I think it depends on how relevent the free thing is and how good it is, also it is about how targeted you are with your marketing and the way you are doing your marketing. I would say that if you are say building an email list of subscribers to try and build a relationship with and then sell to at a later date then the free thing will work, if you are giving in exchange for nothing then i dont think it works as well. Nothing is really for nothing


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

BUILDING A HIGH PERFORMING TEAM

Too Many Sales Reps Are Wimps

Track Your Time for Increased Productivity

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.