Real Estate Email Signatures That Work

Ever read an email from someone in the real estate business and seen a signature like this at the bottom?

This particular signature may be an exaggeration, but my point is that including lots of information isn’t always better. As a real estate agent, your email signature is a reflection of you and your business. Make it professional, keep it readable and maximize its impact.

What to include

An effective real estate email signature is a concise and consistent way to communicate who you are and where to find you. Keep it short and sweet, using some or all of these elements:

• Name
• Job title
• Company name
• Office phone number
• Mobile phone number
• Email address
• A link to your website
• Optional: Include a call to action and change it on a regular basis to keep it fresh.

Important: Your broker might require you to include specific elements in your real estate email signature, such as your real estate license number, your brokerage’s physical address or a disclaimer. Always consult with your broker to make sure your email signature is in full compliance with local, state and brokerage policies and regulations.

Here’s the last email signature I used as a real estate broker:

Jay Thompson
Designated Broker, Thompson's Realty
480-235-4447

Search for Phoenix homes here!

That’s it. Short and simple, without a bunch of distracting links, images and icons.

Pro tip

A lot of email is read on a mobile device. Aesthetically, I prefer periods to dashes in phone numbers (480.235.4447), but many phones don’t know what to do with the periods. Use dashes to make sure your phone number displays as a hyperlink in your email signature. People can then quickly find and tap it, making it easy for them to call you.

What not to include

Avoid these elements when creating your real estate email signature:

• Social media icons. Few people actually click on them. Plus, the more linked images you include in an email, the more likely it is to be identified as spam, meaning your recipient may never see your message.
• Images in general. Many email programs block images by default, so when your message gets through, the images don’t render correctly and users see only empty boxes that take up a lot of space. It’s best to simply exclude photos and images from your email signature.
• JavaScript. Although JavaScript enables dynamic features such as displaying the time of day, pop-up pages in customized windows and form submit buttons, most email programs block JavaScript as an anti-virus measure. Omit any JavaScript from your HTML code.
• Animated GIFs. Avoid these entirely. No one needs the distraction of moving images in an email signature or message.
• Autoplay videos. A link to a personal, introduction-type video isn’t a bad idea. But embedding a video in your email signature is not the way to go, especially if the video is set to autoplay when recipients open your message. Many people check their email at work, and having your video blaring right when the boss walks by is not the best way to start off a relationship.

Pro tip

If you feel the need to advertise all of the places your email recipients can find you on social media, consider making a “social profile” page on your website or use a service like about.me, then link directly to that page from your signature.

Not all images are bad

If you really, really have to have an image in your real estate email signature, a small logo probably won’t trip the spam filters. Go ahead and include it. Just remember, it’s the body of your email that you want people to pay attention to. Stick to a minimalist design for your email signature and keep the focus on your messaging.

Pro tip

Consider having an email company create the signature for your real estate business. They know which elements to include — and how to format them — for the highest readability and impact, and they know how to avoid the traps that do-it-yourself signatures can fall into.