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A CEO's guide to professional email signatures

As a CEO, you're the face of the brand. So why not remind recipients with an email signature? This guide will go through best practices and more, so you too can create a winning CEO email signature. 👇

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You’ve worked hard to get to the top. 🏆

You should celebrate your win! But then, maybe the fact you’re the new face of the company begins to sink in?

Your professional reputation is on the line...

No pressure, said no one ever!

Now when you’re in-person, it’s easier to come across as professional. But what about online? Unfortunately, writing out formal emails isn’t enough. 

But not to worry, because creating a professional email signature can help. And this guide will tell you everything you need to know about tailored CEO email signatures. 

We’ll cover:

Why CEOs need email signatures. 

What to include in a CEO email signature.

What to remember when creating a CEO email signature. 

Scroll👇  or use the menu to find out more. 

What are the benefits of CEO email signatures? 🤔

Now you could just sign off with plain text. 

But then your emails will blend in with everyone else’s. And as a CEO, you need to represent your company well and leave a lasting impression.. 

With a properly designed, customised email signature you can achieve this. After all, they’re: 

Professional 👩‍⚖️

As a CEO, being professional is non-negotiable. 

You’re charged with being the face of your company and setting an example to your industry and your workforce. 

An email signature can help you achieve this aesthetic online, working in the same way as a business card. 

Personal 👤

Sometimes messages over email can feel cold. 

But having an email signature can fix this problem, because certain features help to personalise  your email conversations. 

For example, adding a professional photograph reassures recipients there’s a human on the other side of email conversations. 

A Marketing Weapon 🔱

If you’ve not made use of calls-to-action (CTAs) before, you’re missing out. 

There are different banners, buttons, and icons that all help direct recipients in the next step of their customer journey. And with them you can generate conversations, traffic and nurture relationships. 

As a CEO, your focus will be on how you can promote your company to new recipients, and not lose the loyalty of existing recipients. CTAs on your email signature can help you do just that. 

They’re also an easy way to inform recipients of company updates, new products and services that are going to be released, and much more. 

 

What should I include in a CEO email signature? 🤔

When creating your CEO email signature, don’t just copy and paste information. 

You need to tailor it. Here are some ideas to get you started.👇

Include basic information 📞

Starting from scratch is always the best way to go. That way you won’t forget the most simple components. 

Basic information that’s easily accessible is the best sign of a helpful email signature. Take guesswork out for recipients, and provide: 

Basic information that should be in an email signature

Include relevant calls-to-action ⏭️

In order to make the most of CTAs, add the ones that are most relevant. Here’s a list in case you need some inspiration:👇 

Clickable LinkedIn icon ⬇️

Sometimes, CEOs can get a rep for being distant or out of touch. But that’s why LinkedIn can help. Because you can bridge the gap between:

  • you and your customers or clients;
  • you and your employees. 

And as the figurehead of a brand, this is really important. You’ll appear approachable and genuinely passionate about your company. 

For example, you can use your LinkedIn profile to create a post about your employees who helped reach an important company milestone. 

Linking your LinkedIn profile confirms to your recipients that there’s a human being behind the email chains. And someone who’s passionate about representing the company. 

It’s clear that as a CEO, the benefit of including a LinkedIn account on your email signature is more than just showing your experience. It gives recipients a chance to see your leadership skills in action, and much more! 

And once recipients gain value from looking at your LinkedIn profile, you’ll be able to focus on nurturing relationships with them. 

Clickable Calendar icon 🗓️

A hectic schedule isn’t something you can escape as a CEO. 

You’ve got meetings with lots of different people, and sometimes it can feel impossible to keep track of it all. 

And it’s a hellish experience when two important meetings end up clashing…

But that’s where a clickable calendar icon comes in. Recipients can easily see your availability. And once they enter their details in a meeting slot, you can automatically send them a Zoom invite. 

Scheduling meetings, especially for your personal assistants, will never be a pain again👌 .

Include a professional photograph 📷

Little personal touches go a long way to help with your image, so include a professional photograph. 

Recipients will be able to put a face to a name, which will reassure them that your emails aren’t automated or written by a bot. 

And remember these points when taking your photo: 

The 3 pillars of a good photograph

Include formal phrasing 👔

It’s not a good look if you sign off with phrases like “Cheers”, in a CEO email. 

Opt for these phrases:

3 formal phrases to sign off emails with

 

What are the best practices for CEO email signatures? 🔝

Once you’ve decided what to include, think about how you’re going to organise the information on your email signature. 

Here’s some tips: 

Stick to a simple design template ✏️

Tip no.1: stick to one colour scheme 🎨

Align the colour scheme of your email signature with company colours. 

The more emails that are sent out, the stronger brand awareness will be by your recipients. 

This’ll become important, because when it comes to certain buying decisions, you’ll be at the top of recipients’ minds. 

Tip no.2: stick to one font 🔤

Remember that if you don’t make the information legible, your email signature will just be pointless. Recipients will be distracted and just lose interest. 

Stick to a maximum of 2 CTAs ⏭️

It’s easy to get carried away with CTAs. 

But if recipients just see a cluster of buttons, icons or banners, they’ll be overwhelmed. 

Unfortunately you won’t be able to generate valuable traffic or conversations, because recipients have just clicked on your CTAs for the sake of it. 

That’s why we recommend sticking to no more than 2 CTAs. 

 

CEO email signature key takeaways 🗝️

That was a lot of information, and we completely understand if you’re feeling a little bit lost. 

Here’s the key points to recap on CEO email signatures: 

CEO email signatures will help with your professionalpersonal and marketing needs. 

The key things to remember to include in CEO email signatures are:

  1. Basic information. 
  2. Relevant CTAs. 
  3. A professional photograph. 
  4. A formal sign-off phrase. 

When creating your CEO email signature, remember these design tips:

  1. Have a simple design template. 
  2. Have no more than 2 CTAs to avoid confusion for recipients. 

And that’s it! You’ve got everything you need to create a winning CEO email signature. Sign up for our free trial and create one now. 

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