Adding social media links to your email signature file is a fantastic way to remind your contacts to connect with you on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or any other social network of your choice. While you could simply add the URLs to your signature file, using social media icons is much more visual and instantly recognizable.
Here are a few ways to do it:
- Use an interactive email signature service. Several services are available including free and paid services. For example, BrandMyEmail is a free online tool that will create a signature file compatible with Gmail that contains social media icons for Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, and a few other social networks. WiseStamp is a little more versatile, but it doesn’t currently support Mac email clients. Other commercial services offer robust services that appeal to companies concerned with continuity, branding and disclaimers.
- Create an HTML signature file. If you are comfortable with HTML, create a signature file using your favorite HTML editor. You’ll need to source appropriate social media icons and link them to your social media
pages. While you can find plenty of free social media icons online, they often require attribution which could clutter your signature file. Others are free only for personal use. Consider purchasing a set of icons from a reputable source to avoid problems.
- Use your email client’s WYSIWYG editor to create an email signature file. Depending on your email client, you may be able to create an attractive email signature complete with social media icons without having to know how to use HTML. For example, if you use Airmail on your Mac, go to Preferences > General (and select the appropriate email account) > Signature. Next, enter your name and contact details and then drag and drop your social media icons into the WYSIWYG signature editor. Again, consider purchasing a set of icons rather than using freebies with strings attached. Once you’re happy with the general layout, click the first icon of the set followed by the link button. Enter the URL of the designated social media site. Repeat for each social media icon and save your work. This ensures that each icon links to the appropriate social media site.
Adding social media icons to your email signature takes a bit of work and may cost you a few dollars depending on the choices you make. However, your email signature will look more attractive and become a marketing tool in its own right. Using social media icons in your email messages is one of those tasks that continues to work in the background long after you’ve done the hard work
