The Best Email Signature Trends

After all, outside the confines of the corporate world, creating an email signature can be the ultimate extension of your personality. Of course, you can include all the basics. But there are plenty of nice extras you can add like icons and images, links to your social media accounts, even a quote that you love. Basically, the traditional rules that come along with work email signatures go out the window when it comes to personal email! So how can you create the best email signature for you? Check out this quick guide:

Start with the basics.

• • Your name. Your signature must have your full name—or some other identifying factor like a nickname everybody recognizes. Could you provide contact information without your name? Sure. But that would be weird. Adding your name also makes it easier for a recipient to add you to their contacts.
  • Your phone number. Make it easy for people to get ahold of you by including your current phone number in your signature. In the age of cell phones, it’s normal for people to keep the same phone number for several years, but they can also change their number at the drop of a hat. Keeping your number updated in your email signature ensures that everyone can stay in touch.

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• Your email address. Including your email address at the bottom of an email might feel redundant. The recipient can simply scroll to the top to see your email address, right? Not always. Many mobile email apps require users to tap the name of the sender to show their address. Including your email address in your signature makes your contact information easily accessible. Linking your email address allows friends and family to easily create a new email feed without replying to the original message.

Now, the fun stuff.

• A pic that captures your personality. Got a great photo from that epic hike? How about that one of you taken at the top of the Eiffel Tower? Or maybe just one you happen to love? Add it to your signature and update it frequently. Family and friends enjoy seeing you and what you’re up to.
• Social media icons. Everybody has their preferred contact method. Some truly prefer email, while others would rather receive text messages on their phone or social media apps like Facebook Messenger. Including social media icons makes it easy for friends and family to reach out in whichever way they’re most comfortable. Keep in mind, though, everything you have social media will be seen by family (yes, grandma, too) and friends. So keep it on the up-and-up.
• Link to your blog. A blog is a great way to share your life with family and friends that you might not be in touch with daily. Aside from posting the link to your blog to social media, including the link in your email signature gives friends and family a readily available location where they can find the link.
• A quote. Including a quote in your email signature is a fun way to infuse your personality into an email. However, don’t make the quote the focal point of your signature; rather, it should be an afterthought.
• A logo. Embedding a logo in a signature can be tricky, especially without a means of removing its background. Learn how to make a transparent logo.

The best email signature quote examples. The tone of the quote you include is up to you. Some people like motivational and thoughtful, others witty and funny. We’ve gathered a few we’ve seen as examples. They can be from people, your favorite movies, games—it’s up to you. But, in the end, the quote should be completely “you”.

• “So you’re telling me there’s a chance.” Dumb and Dumber, 1994
• “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” Oscar Wilde.
• “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” Mark Twain.
• “The harder you work, the luckier you get.” Gary Player.
• “Information is not knowledge.” Albert Einstein.
• “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on.” Robert Frost.
• “People never grow up, they just learn how to act in public.” Bryan White.

The best email signatures all have a few elements in common. You don’t have to make an elaborate and over-the-top signature for it to be effective—but it’s nice to know you can if you want!

So, go ahead, showcase your personality while making it easier for everyone to stay in touch. Want to check some other email organizing tips? Learn more about how to create calendar events or send emails as texts, or when to use encryption, how to manage spam, forward your email address, and more.