Signature files — or just sig files — are a few lines of contact and other information regarding the sender of an email. It usually appears at the bottom of every email we send.

Most email programs and webmail services allow you to customize signature lines or choose from different pre-defined files.

Many marketers overlook the importance of email signatures. They fail to utilize it and leave their signature untouched, probably just displaying the name or nickname of the corresponding sender.

Can you maximize the limited space available for siglines? How do you empower the space to get the most of out it? Read on to find how.

Why Sig Files?

There are a few reasons why you should take advantage of email signatures in every piece of email you send:

• They are free. Adding several lines after the body of the email costs nothing. It is free promotion so don’t miss out.
• They provide easy access of your information. People may have your address or phone number somewhere in the pile of papers, or somewhere in their business card box, or it might be in an address book in a separate email account. If you provide those information in every email, they should have contacted you instantly.
• They promote you and your business. You never know who those emails might end up with. If an email subscriber forward your latest newsletter issue to her friends, you might want to introduce yourself to increase your exposure. Who knows, they are interested in hiring you? At least, they may have saved your contact information for further reference if they are interested.

Components of a Good Sig File

A good sigfile should contain at the least your contact information and introduce you to those who don’t know you. Some of the most common items to place on siglines are:

• Your name
• Company name
• Tagline, audio logo or elevator pitch
• Address
• Phone and/or fax number
• Email address
• Website/blog

You can always insert one or two promotional lines under the information. Note that in some public mailing list, the etiquette is to limit your sigfile to at most 4 lines. For business use, I recommend to have no more than eight lines.

Tips: You can take advantage of horizontal space to introduce more items, but remember to make it easy to read too! Selectively choose important items to include in your sigfile.