Creating the perfect mobile email signature
4 December 2024
0 min read
A professional mobile email signature is important for anyone who sends emails on the go. It adds a personal touch to your business communication while helping to promote your brand and organization.
Unfortunately, many companies overlook the importance of mobile email signatures, leaving employees with too much freedom to create their own. This inconsistency can cause problems like missed branding opportunities and unprofessional communication.
By standardizing mobile email signatures across your team, you can ensure brand consistency, improve professionalism, and make a strong impression with every email sent.
The state of play for mobile email
Mobile devices have become central to email communication, with a huge portion of users accessing their emails via smartphones and tablets.
Here are some key statistics highlighting this trend:
Number of smartphone users (in billions): As of 2024, the current number of smartphone users is 4.88 billion. This is due to rise to 6.38 billion by 2029.
Mobile email access: 85% of users access their emails through smartphones, with this figure rising to 90% among individuals aged 25 to 34.
Email opens by device: Mobile devices account for about 42% of global email opens.
User engagement: Approximately 58% of mobile phone users check their emails first thing in the morning.
Device usage for email: The iPhone leads as the most used mobile device for opening emails, accounting for 28.4% of mobile email opens.
Missed opportunities with mobile email signatures
All this means is that there are hundreds of businesses out there with thousands of employees that aren’t capitalizing on opportunities to market. Every single email sent out has an email signature, and with each one, an opportunity to say something meaningful.
Unfortunately, many employees still use default mobile email signatures like “Sent from my iPhone,” which have become outdated and unprofessional in the business world. These generic signatures lack key contact details and miss out on valuable marketing opportunities.
Smart companies know the importance of email signature marketing and don’t leave it up to individual employees. Instead, they apply consistent, professional email signatures across the entire organization. By doing this, they ensure every email becomes a polished representation of their brand, driving better engagement and building stronger connections
Optimizing your email signature for mobile devices
Designing the perfect mobile email signature is all about simplicity. A clutter-free email signature ensures your contact information is easy to find, especially when your clients are on the go.
Imagine an important client reading your email while in their car and needing to contact you immediately. They don’t want to sift through unnecessary details like a fax number—they want quick access to your phone number or email.
Perfecting your mobile email signature design
When designing a mobile email signature, you need to consider the width of the screen. It’s best to separate your contact details onto multiple lines. This will ensure all the text fits on the screen and the recipient won’t have to scroll down to see the whole mobile email signature.
Make sure the images you use, such as logos or banners, are the correct size you want them to display. If you use an image that’s originally 500×500 pixels but you’ve formatted it to appear as 100×100 pixels, the mobile email client may alter the format and display the image in its original size.
For the best results, your mobile email signature should be around 450px wide. This size provides enough space for contact information, while preventing display or scaling issues on mobile devices.
Other points to note include:
Keeping your design simple: Simplicity is key when creating a mobile email signature design. Use a clean design with minimal colors, fonts, and graphics to avoid clutter. A sleek, minimalist look ensures your contact information is easy to read and looks great on small screens.
Using the right image format: Adding a logo or image to your email signature? Stick to universally supported formats like PNG or JPEG to ensure quick loading and proper display on all devices.
Designing a mobile-friendly email signature layout: A one-column design is ideal for mobile email signatures. Stack your details vertically to keep the layout organized and easy to read, no matter the screen size or orientation.
Choosing a mobile-friendly font size: Ensure your email signature is readable on all devices by using a font size of at least 12 points for the main text and slightly larger for your name or title. This ensures it's clear, even on smaller smartphones.
Making your email signature accessible: Add ALT text to images so users with screen readers or slower internet connections can access your details. Use high-contrast colors and clear fonts to make your email signature easy to read for everyone, including those with visual impairments.
Avoiding complex code: While HTML and CSS can enhance your design, overly complex code doesn’t always render on mobile devices. Stick to simple formatting to ensure your signature displays correctly across all email platforms.
Testing your email signature on mobile devices: Email clients and devices can display signatures differently. Before finalizing, test your mobile email signature across various devices and email platforms, like Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail, to ensure consistent formatting and functionality.
Including relevant contact information for your email signature
The best mobile email signatures keep contact details to a minimum, making it easy for recipients to get in contact.
We recommend using the following:
1. Employee’s full name and job title
You must include this information in your mobile email signature. This is helpful for recipients who are just getting to know you and makes it easier for clients to share your email with others.
2. Phone number
If you work only in an office or a fixed location, including just a landline number makes sense. But since your mobile number is often the fastest way for important contacts to reach you, it can be helpful to include that too.
Don't forget to add your area code to your phone number in your email signature. This is especially important when emailing people in other countries. For example, +44 indicates a UK-based phone number.
3. Email address
Adding your email address to your email signature can make it a clickable link on most mobile devices. If the link isn’t clickable, here’s how to fix it:
Highlight the email address.
Copy it, then highlight it again.
Create a hyperlink by adding “mailto:” before the email address.
Click OK to save the hyperlink.
Including your email address, whether it’s hyperlinked or not, is also useful because some email apps automatically pull contact information when they see a name, phone number, and email address together. Other email clients let recipients copy this information and add it to their contact list with one click.
What to avoid in mobile email signatures
While there are guidelines for creating a winning mobile email signature, some elements should be avoided entirely. Try to avoid the following:
1. Don't tell people what device you’re sending from
A mobile email signature should represent your company, not the device it was sent from. That’s why it’s important to make sure all employees use the same signature on their mobile devices as they do on their desktops.
2. Don't add “Excuse any typos” in your signature
When sending an email from your mobile, you’re often on the go or in a rush, which means you might not proofread as carefully.
But pointing out potential mistakes in your message can make people question the accuracy of the entire email. It’s better not to draw attention to any errors you might have made. Instead, make sure you carefully proofread your email before hitting “Send.”
3. Avoid using images or logos that don’t scale well
As mentioned earlier, it’s important to use images and logos that are the right size for mobile devices. However, even if an image looks perfect on your smartphone, it might appear pixelated or distorted when viewed on a larger screen.
To avoid this issue, use vector images or high-resolution graphics in your email signature design. These types of images can be scaled up or down without losing quality.
4. Creating signatures in Microsoft Word
Creating your email signature in Microsoft Word and copying it into your mobile email client might seem easy, but it often causes formatting problems and inconsistent displays on different devices.
To avoid this, design your signature directly in your email client or use a professional email signature solution for a consistent and polished look.
Creating an Outlook mobile email signature
Setting up a custom email signature in Outlook mobile works differently than on desktop, and it depends on whether you're using Android or iOS.
For example, Android doesn’t let you add images to your signature, but iOS does. iOS also supports HTML signatures, offering more customization options. To create a professional signature in Outlook Mobile, it’s important to understand these differences.
To add a signature on Outlook mobile, follow these simple steps:
Launch the Outlook app and go to the Outlook icon.
Tap on the Gear icon in the bottom-left corner.
Choose your account and tap on Signature.
Enter your desired email signature in the text box provided.
If you’re using an iOS device, you can tap on the Signature Image button to add images or logos to your signature.
Once finished, click Save.
Creating a Gmail mobile email signature
The same problems exist with Gmail mobile email signatures. To set up a Gmail mobile email signature, just follow these steps:
Open the Gmail app on your device
Tap the menu icon or three horizontal lines in the top left corner
Select Settings.
Select your account
Scroll down to Mobile signature (Android) or Signature settings under the General section (iOS).
Create or edit your signature
Save changes by tapping OK.
Centrally control your mobile email signatures
With Exclaimer's email signature software, all emails sent from mobile devices get fully formatted HTML signature templates, ensuring a professional and consistent look every time.
This ensures that every email, no matter the device—smartphone, tablet, or desktop—has a unified and polished appearance. It's an easy way to maintain a professional image across all your communications.
Learn more about Exclaimer or get yourself a free trial to see the power of email signature software for yourself.