Write an effective cold email signature in 5 steps

At first glance, your cold email signature may seem like an afterthought. But if you do it right, it helps you drive prospects’ engagement and get replies.

By strategically placing information such as your name, job title, and contact information in every email, you establish trust and credibility - and prospects can familiarize you. This is key to making more sales.

So, how do you write email signatures that represent you and push the prospect down the sales funnel?

We analyzed the data of millions of cold email campaigns to find the answers.

Here are the 5 tips you need for a successful cold email signature - based on real data. ⬇️

Five Tips to Create a Compelling Email Signature

Here’s everything you need to know about writing a cold email signature that catches attention.

1. Keep your signature concise

Based on an analysis of millions of lemlist cold email campaigns, the most successful cold email signatures are short and sweet: between 4-6 words.

Writing a concise email signature helps you:

-> get the most important information across

-> not distract from your pitch and CTA

-> stay on top of your prospects’ minds

2. Add your image (optional)

For a personal touch, you can choose to include a professional photo of yourself in your cold email signature.

Including a headshot or a professional photo in your email signature helps you:

-> establish a human connection that fosters trust and relatability

-> create a more memorable and personable experience

-> add authenticity and establish a relationship with your leads

Note: Too many images in a cold email can lead to formatting and deliverability issues. Also, many email providers already allow you to add a profile picture to your contact information - so this step may not be appropriate for everyone.

3. Include helpful links

Want to build credibility and build followers for yourself or your brand? Add links for prospects to follow.

By adding links to relevant articles, eBooks, or other valuable resources to your email signature, you can:

-> enrich prospects’ understanding and decision-making process

-> position yourself as a thought leader

-> guide your prospects toward deeper engagement

In fact, in our data analysis of millions of cold email signatures, we found that adding links increases the success rates (replies and clicks) of your cold outreach:

4. Showcase relevant awards

If you’ve been recognized as a top company or earned prestigious badges from reputable sites like G2, include them in your cold email signature.

Showing off relevant awards helps you:

-> boost confidence in your prospects

-> demonstrate you’ve been acknowledged and endorsed by industry experts

-> establish your position as a trusted and reliable partner

Note: avoid adding too many images or symbols in your signature, as this can lead to formatting issues.

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5. Give an actionable next step

If you want prospects to follow up with you, give them a clear indication of how to do it.

Include a link to a virtual calendar where prospects can easily schedule a call or a demo to:

-> move the conversation forward and streamline the sales process

-> eliminate unnecessary back-and-forth

-> demonstrate your commitment to meeting the needs of your prospects

The 4 most successful cold email signatures

For some extra inspiration, here are the four sales email signatures that had the highest click-through rates of all the cold email campaigns in our study.

These are real signatures that lemlist users have sent to get more replies and conversions.

For privacy, we have anonymized their names and contact information.

Notice that each signature:

-> is concise

-> includes links

-> provides contact information to follow up on

-> avoids complicated formatting or too many images

How to create your best signature in under 2 mins

You can easily select and personalize signature elements and make your emails stand out thanks to HubSpot’s suite of tools.

Here’s how:

Step 1: Use a tool like HubSpot’s free email signature generator. This resource allows you to add your name, title, department, contact information and more in just minutes. 

‍Step 2: Leverage additional custom materials with tools like the free logo maker to uplevel your signature even more and make it more custom. 

‍Step 3: Download the file and upload it to your email provider of choice, whether it’s Gmail or Outlook. 

‍Step 4: Start sending out your emails with your newly enhanced signature! 

Cold Email Signature Generator

Start to generator your own cold email signature with our free tool:

Key takeaways

Following these five best email signature practices can help you:

-> catch your prospects’ attention

-> establish credibility and trust

-> get more replies and book more meetings

Consider it a concise yet comprehensive snapshot of your brand that helps you stand out in prospects’ inboxes, book meetings, and grow your business!

And if you’d like to try a cold outreach tool that will allow you to:

-> A/B test your signatures to pinpoint the best results

-> save your best signature as a reusable {{signature}} variable to save time

-> personalize at scale to drive more conversions

Then sign up for a free lemlist account. (Don’t worry - no surprise bills or card info required!)