In today’s technology driven marketplace, being able to offer an incredible customer and prospect experience with your brand and the content you create is important. There are a number of ways to do this, but getting the word out to keep them engaged is paramount – and needs to be a consistently evolving process. Although you may have a large following, or send out a number of communications through various channels, are you using your 1:1 employee emails in the best capacity to ensure your audience is truly engaged with what you’re creating?
Many companies don’t understand the influence of 1:1 email (or that 112 BILLION 1:1 business emails are sent every day!). These personal touchpoints can play an important role in getting your external audience more in tune with your brand and company initiatives. When your employees send out emails to different customers, vendors, or prospective customers, this is a great time to engage them beyond the words in the email, but through creative campaigns and calls-to-action. How can you do this? Through the email signature – the real estate at the bottom of every single 1:1 email sent.
Compelling email signature campaigns that include a call-to-action not only increase the level of professionalism your company displays, but provides a reason to explore more. Getting the word out about your company’s most important content has never been easier! Below are 10 ways to promote your existing content and initiatives through email signature marketing (and we’re giving you some examples, too!)
Email List Growth
This campaign can prompt individuals to sign up for an email program to get value through your best company emails such as weekly newsletters that display your best content or specific promotions. This will allow the prospects to stay in the loop on new information, while building your database of valuable opt-in email addresses.
Whitepapers or ebooks
Depending on the audience, whitepapers and ebooks are a great way to keep your customers engaged by offering additional insight and thought leadership into a certain topic. Whitepapers add depth and knowledge on products and topics where you can be viewed as an expert and thought leader, and promoting these collateral pieces through email signatures shows that you care about education and innovation.
Webinars
Have an upcoming webinar? A campaign in your employee email signatures is a great way to get the word out and promote sign-ups so your audience can benefit from helpful thought leadership or content information presented in your webinar. It’s extra promotion that will ensure your team gets the word out without having them manually promote the webinar – which takes away valuable time. When the prospects click on the signature campaign, they are directed to a prompt that will provide all the information they need as well as a sign-up form.
Events and User Conferences
Broadcasting upcoming events through email signatures is a smart idea if you’re trying to boost attendance over an extended period of time. Not only does it engage the email recipient, but it keeps them aware of what conferences, trade shows, job fairs, and other events your company is hosting. One of the best use cases we see is promotion of user conferences for several months leading up to the event. In some cases, the email signature campaign drove more visitors to the registration page than any other marketing tactic!
Product Release Promotions
New product releases need all the publicity they can get through your content – especially with existing customers who use your product on a regular basis. With the volume of emails being sent from employees, being able to subtly broadcast an upcoming product release that will prompt users to click and learn more is a smart way to build buzz.
Non-Profit Activity
Non-profit events or involvement always need publicity. A content campaign promoting a food drive, blood mobile, or charity event keeps the customer or prospect engaged with your brand on a personal level and kept aware of events your company is participating in to encourage civic activity.
Analyst Rankings and PR
If your company is number one in a particular industry, is ranked as a top workplace, or has won a recent award, highlight it in your employee signatures through a campaign! It brands your company as best in class, while providing the 3rd party validation and report or magazine where further information can be found.
Promotional Video or Product Teasers
Video teasers are engaging, informative, and most of the time, fun. You can tie your promotional video teasers to almost anything, and they are a great way to disseminate information on new product releases and other events happening at your organization, or to get the word out on initiatives your company supports.
Team Culture & Referral Programs
Email signature marketing is effective both internally and externally for providing incentives through referrals for new customers or new employees – get your network talking about why your company is a great community for employees and customers alike.
Training and Certification Program Promotion
Trainings and certifications are an excellent way for organizations to advertise their achievement programs. This works well in settings that have school-based programs, or those large professional associations that offer in-depth certifications. An email signature campaign is a great way to promote a call-to-action that will allow the customer to find out more information, register, and learn about the training materials that can help them pass the exam.
Using email signatures as campaigns is the one of the best ways to leverage your content and build relationships. It allows customers and vendors to be more responsive, and can help you determine where you can improve in your marketing efforts.
Without a doubt, the integration of technology is important in any company that wants to remain ahead of the game. Human resources professionals can benefit from using this tool in a number of ways to keep employees and prospective employees engaged and aware of job fairs or new open positions. For marketers, having the ability to inform current customers and prospects about important content can have a direct impact on the ROI. Adaptable to any scenario, the power of the email signature campaign is a quantifiable step in the right direction.
Image Credit: Flickr/Jim Hammer