Chip’s B2B Tip #150 - B2B Sig Files
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Chip’s B2B Tip #150 - Your B2B Sig Files
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Everyone says you simply HAVE TO USE a sig file.
I agree ... and disagree ...
Why?
Well, it depends ...
On what?
With whom you are corresponding ...
Let's dispel one myth and set the record straight - NOTHING works ALL the time. If it did, there would be no need for B2B marketing strategies and B2B marketing programs.
(In case 'sig file' is a new term to you, a sig file is a short statement you typically include at the bottom of your emails, articles, blog posts, etc., that tells the reader what you want her to know or what you want her to do - or both ... and 'shorter is better.')
Let's look at some examples ...
Example 1
You send your Mom or Dad an email. After you've sent them your sig file dozens of times, is it really necessary to continue? Personally - I find it offensive.
Example 2:
You're corresponding with a new client, answering a first email. Yes - a sig file makes sense, but your sig file needs to make sense to your correspondent - not you.
Example 3:
Ask yourself ... does someone really want to see your sig file dozens of times? Does that appear to your correspondent that you're more about business than relationships?
To me it does.
Example 4:
I use different sig files for different purposes. I keep a text-only set in WordPad, and a set all formatted nice and pretty in MS Word. I have sig files of nothing but urls, and others with my USP attached. I use each one at the appropriate time, and NEVER use any sig file with people I already know.
Again - I find that insulting and impersonal.
So - you decide.
If you use your sig files in the ways they were intended to be used - and to your highest advantage - bravo to you.
If, however, you have the same sig file set up to load into every email you ever send ... ask the people you're sending emails to how they feel about it.
Some will say they never read it. Others won't care. And perhaps others will be offended because it seems less than personal.
Hmmm ... sounds like 3 good reasons NOT TO USE a sig file.
Chip
Chip’s B2B Tip #150 - Your B2B Sig Files
.
Everyone says you simply HAVE TO USE a sig file.
I agree ... and disagree ...
Why?
Well, it depends ...
On what?
With whom you are corresponding ...
Let's dispel one myth and set the record straight - NOTHING works ALL the time. If it did, there would be no need for B2B marketing strategies and B2B marketing programs.
(In case 'sig file' is a new term to you, a sig file is a short statement you typically include at the bottom of your emails, articles, blog posts, etc., that tells the reader what you want her to know or what you want her to do - or both ... and 'shorter is better.')
Let's look at some examples ...
Example 1
You send your Mom or Dad an email. After you've sent them your sig file dozens of times, is it really necessary to continue? Personally - I find it offensive.
Example 2:
You're corresponding with a new client, answering a first email. Yes - a sig file makes sense, but your sig file needs to make sense to your correspondent - not you.
Example 3:
Ask yourself ... does someone really want to see your sig file dozens of times? Does that appear to your correspondent that you're more about business than relationships?
To me it does.
Example 4:
I use different sig files for different purposes. I keep a text-only set in WordPad, and a set all formatted nice and pretty in MS Word. I have sig files of nothing but urls, and others with my USP attached. I use each one at the appropriate time, and NEVER use any sig file with people I already know.
Again - I find that insulting and impersonal.
So - you decide.
If you use your sig files in the ways they were intended to be used - and to your highest advantage - bravo to you.
If, however, you have the same sig file set up to load into every email you ever send ... ask the people you're sending emails to how they feel about it.
Some will say they never read it. Others won't care. And perhaps others will be offended because it seems less than personal.
Hmmm ... sounds like 3 good reasons NOT TO USE a sig file.
Chip
posted by Chip Tarver at 8/17/2005 08:31:00 AM
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