Email marketing signature are "precious real estate"

The signature section of an email is a hugely important part of any message, a digital marketing expert has claimed.

Amber Mac, an author, television host and advertising strategist, wrote in a blog post for Fast Company that companies should aim to further their brand or add personality to a targeted email marketing campaign.

She admitted that she too has been guilty of not using the opportunity to the full, saying: "This precious real estate at the bottom of every message is often filled with either too much or too little information (or worse, dead space). Sifting through my own inbox, there are few stand-outs among thousands of contacts."

In her opinion, altering an email signature is a cheap and easy way to improve a message. A firm can tell a person the best way of getting in touch, share their social profiles or simply add a touch of originality to the page.

It is important not to go overboard with information however, according to Dionne Searcey and Michael Rothfield in The Wall Street Journal. They cited the example of a Nomura email to the Federal Reserve this month that featured disclaimers, disclosures and certifications running to more than 2,500 words.

They described how some people combat the serious nature of this type of email signature - put together by lawyers keen to protect content - by adding a little humour. One example was a marketing executive who signs off each email apologising for any misspellings, citing his fat fingers as the reason for errors.