When you work in email marketing (which I do), you get a lot of emails. and when you get a lot of emails, you see a wide variety of email approvals, signatures, and disclosures, many of which… are not good.
a personal favorite of mine:
(“I send when available, you send when available” is pretty much how emails work, right? Also: email scheduling is a thing for exactly this reason.)
The conclusion I’ve drawn from my years in the trenches of email marketing is that no one should be trusted to create your own email signature. or at least using a template is always the safest bet.
To help avoid as many signature errors as possible, I asked our designers to create some free email signature templates to share. they range from polished classic formats to more sophisticated industry-specific templates with extras like booking links, social media embeds, and product photo carousels.
Once you’ve chosen a style you like, you can copy it directly from the email signature templates in this document. then scroll to the bottom of the page for instructions on how to install your email signature.
simple gmail signature templates
This first category of signatures contains what might be called “old trusted signatures”. these are simple and straightforward, with a few design extras that polish them up a bit more than a regular plain text signature. (personal note: the first one on the list is very similar to the one I use).
Basic Email Signature Template #1
Basic Email Signature Template #2
Basic Email Signature Template #3
Basic Email Signature Template #4
The circular profile photos in these templates are 75px in diameter and the square profile photo is 100 x 100px.
professional gmail signature templates
short and simple gets the job done, but there are also some great things you can do with your email signature. These templates offer ways to put your email signature to work for your marketing, advertising, scheduling, and sales efforts.
brand promoter email signature template
Many companies invest heavily in their social media presence. This signature allows you to maximize the return on that investment by getting as many eyes on your content as possible.
To use this signature, replace the photos in the template with your own images (size 50 px square; profile photo is 75 px square). You can maximize the impact of this signature by using tracking links to collect data on which photos attract the most engagement from your email recipients.
email signature template for small business owners
This signature is designed for independent sellers to showcase their featured products. It’s direct without being pushy, and it allows you to start spreading the word about new products as soon as they’re released.
replace the photo of this product with an 80 x 80 px image. the profile picture above is 115 px square.
designer email signature template
The profile picture above is 75 px square.
Appointment Scheduler Email Signature Template
nothing earns my brand loyalty as quickly as a super simple checkout or booking process. Link these signatures to your calendly or doodle (or, if you work in the restaurant industry, opentable) so email recipients can schedule appointments or reservations without picking up the phone.
This profile picture is 75 px square.
restaurant email signature template
This profile picture has a diameter of 100px.
Sales & Retail Email Signature Template
beautiful website photos are only useful if people click through to view them. A gif carousel of your four or five best-selling products is an eye-catching way to encourage email recipients to click through to see more.
I’ve used this type of signature in the past and it gets surprisingly positive feedback. it’s better suited to retail and lifestyle businesses and less effective in b2b spaces, but don’t be scared off by something bold like this.
To create a gif carousel from photos, gather the images you want to display and enlarge them to 100px square. then use an online tool like giphy’s gif maker to turn them into a slideshow. add the gif to the signature the same way you would add a photo.
sales promoter email signature template
You may not have access to an inflatable tube man to promote your sales, but you can place your sales ads in your email signature to make sure everyone knows when you’re running a promotion.
Size your sales banner to 450 x 150 px to embed using the template above. To place a photo or logo in the space above the banner, use an image that is 140 x 100 px in size.
email signature template for lawyers
In some industries, legal disclaimers are a required part of all professional emails. this signature offers room to include a longer paragraph without sacrificing the clean, professional look of the email.
This profile picture is 105 px square.
email signature template for real estate agents
Real estate listings require a bit more information than product listings, which can make it difficult to include a property in your email signature. This template allows room for two different property photos, as well as addresses, prices, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and total square footage.
The profile picture in this template is 75px in diameter. Property photos are 60 x 90 px.
how to install your gmail signature
once you’ve selected the template you like, follow these steps to set up your gmail signature.
-
open your inbox on a desktop. don’t even try to do this on a phone, it’s not worth the headache.
Go to the settings icon in the top right corner of the page, then click view all settings in the menu.
will automatically take you to the general tab. scroll down until you see the signature section. the text box to the right of this tag is the signature editor.
click create new. (gmail now allows you to save multiple signatures, so you can switch between them if you’re emailing for different reasons. if you want to create a second signature, click save on the one you’re currently creating and then create new to start another).
open the google doc with the templates and copy the template you want to use. be sure to copy the entire template, even if you don’t want to use certain elements in the signature. this will ensure that the signature formatting remains intact.
Paste the template directly into the signature editor, and then remove the elements you don’t care about.
Replace the name, title, company, and contact information in the template with your own information. (gmail often automatically adds a hyperlink to web domains and phone numbers; if you don’t want them to link or if you don’t want them to appear in the traditional blue hyperlink, remove the hyperlink or change the text color manually.)
To replace images in the template with your own photos or company logo, place your cursor directly to the right or left of the image you’re replacing and click so the blinking cursor stays there when you move your mouse . click the photo icon in the format bar and add an image you’d like to use. (make sure you’ve resized the image to the dimensions specified for the template you’re using. gmail tries to give you the ability to resize photos once they’ve been placed in the editor, but these options are limited, so so the only way to ensure the photo will fit is to size it correctly).
once your image is inserted directly next to the template image in your signature, highlight the template image and delete it. doing it in this order (instead of first deleting and then inserting your photo) will help make sure the photo ends up in the right place.
add hyperlinks to any social media icons, product listings, portfolio links, and scheduling buttons. there is nothing more frustrating than a button that is not connected to anything.
Email Signature Tips
A cleanly formatted email signature is only half the battle. Before you send any email with your new signature, make sure you adhere to the very official email signature rules.
avoid tmi
Many of these email templates include photos, logos, full physical addresses, and other elements. if you don’t feel like your firm needs all of that, that’s 100% completely fine. some examples:
-
Profile photos are most popular with people whose careers are customer-facing, as becoming a “familiar face” is an important part of those jobs. but if you don’t think having a profile picture in your email signature will benefit you, throw it away.
If you work for a completely remote company, you don’t need to enter an address there (especially if it would just be your home address).
don’t put your phone number if you don’t want them to call you, it’s that easy. Or you might consider putting a company headquarters phone number instead; that way, people have options, but not at the expense of their sanity.
We include the maximum amount of information in these templates to make them applicable to a wider range of people, but there is no “standard” amount of information that you should include in your email signature.
remove deprecated disclaimers
Emails have been being sent from cell phones since 2007. At this point, it’s safe to say that no one cares if their email was sent from their iPhone or not.
The same applies to the “sent from mobile, sorry for typos” disclaimers. BlackBerry hasn’t made a phone in over five years, so you can no longer blame your carelessness for its giant thumb on small keyboard syndrome. phones have spell check; if you choose not to use it or take a moment to read your message before sending it, the responsibility for that lies with you, not with your technology.
do not put the closing of your email in your signature
It doesn’t take much longer to type the word “best” or “thank you!” at the end of an email, and including it as part of your signature makes the sentiment feel less authentic.
If you really feel like including your closing in your signature, at least make sure the closing you choose makes sense. closings like “better” or “take care” will apply regardless of the content of your email. but something like “thank you very much” or “talk to you soon!” It will often look strange: not every email of yours will contain something worth thanking someone for, and not every person you email is someone you’ll definitely talk to again in the near future.
don’t clutter the thread
In gmail, there is a setting just below the signature editor in Signature Defaults that allows you to insert your signature before quoted text in replies.
If you value the sanity of your recipients, you should ensure this box is not checked before saving your signature. this setting places your signature over the content of email chains and forwards, so if you correspond with someone in a longer email chain, it will clutter the entire chain and make it incredibly difficult to read.
read the room
Even people who would normally appreciate a “pretty” email signature probably won’t be receptive to it coming from someone they’ve never talked to before or don’t know that well. Even if you’re a creative professional, be sure to think about how recipients will perceive your signature.
A neat, professional signature helps ensure your emails look good to the people who read them, but there are plenty of ways you can use different extensions and automations to enhance your own emailing experience. you can set up automated emails, import data from email content, and even use automation to organize your inbox so you have less email stress and more time to focus on other things.
-