How To Create A Custom Gmail Signature Using Canva

Having a custom email signature can really elevate your client experience and take your branding to the next level. Which is why we wanted to take you through exactly how you can create a professionally designed, on-brand custom Gmail signature that drives conversion by clicking through to your most used channels. Below we will walk you through step by step instructions on how to design a custom Gmail signature using Canva. However, we also know that Gmail doesn’t make this process easy. So we decided to make you a video that walks you through each and every step.

First, why is it important to have a custom email signature?

Creating a custom email signature is more than just another branded element, it’s a relationship builder. There are so many reasons why you should create a custom email signature, but here are just a few:

• Professional: you are guaranteed to come off as a professional, buttoned up business which will ultimately help you secure more leads. 
• Personable: by simply adding a photo of yourself, you are putting a face to your email and building a connection at a deeper level with both current and potential clients.
• Brand recognition: you have the opportunity to use your brand colors, logos and fonts reinforcing your brand with potential leads.
• Digital business card: we love using our digital business card to connect with people at in person events. The digital world even more important for networking.
• Conversion: by linking your signature you have the opportunity to engage with your leads across social media, email and your website. 

Are you ready to design your email signature and drive conversion? If so, let’s dive in!

How to design your custom Gmail signature using Canva

Let’s walk through the various steps to design your email signature using Canva. Before we dive in, start by sourcing inspiration from Etsy or even Pinterest. You could simply buy a template for a few bucks or gather some ideas on how you’d like your signature to look. Once you have a few ideas, follow the steps below to customize and create your own:

Main Signature:

1. Start by creating a custom design sized at 800 x 400 pixels.
2. Start designing! Gather shapes, patterns, elements and apply your brand colors, fonts and images.
3. We highly recommend using your pretty little face to make your email signature more personal.
4. Do not include your social icons in this design, these will need to be imputed separately at the bottom of your email signature if you want them to be clickable.
5. Things to include could be your name, title, phone number, email address, business name and more. Our biggest advice here would be to keep it simple.
6. When you are finished with your design, download as a png and be sure to not check the transparent box.

 

Social Icons:

1. Start by creating a custom design sized at 50 x 50 pixels.
2. Determine how you want your icons to look. We suggest putting your icons in a shape that would encourage your audience to click on them. Think rounded squares or circles.
3. We suggest sizing your shape 30 x 30 pixels within the frame. Regardless of what you size your icons at, make sure each icon is sized the same.
4. Drop in your social media logos. A few to consider are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, website, email signup and more. We recommend only sharing platforms you actively engage with. 
5. Play around with the colors again leveraging your own brand to bring in a deeper brand recognition
6. When you are finished with your design, download as a png and, unlike the above, be sure to select transparent on this one. Why? Because when someone is viewing your email in dark mode, these icons will show up as the shape you created without a white box around it. In other words, it creates a beautiful, custom signature regardless of how your user is viewing it.

 

How to upload your custom Gmail signature

Once you’ve saved your templates to your desktop, you are officially ready to upload your signature into Gmail. Here is how you go about that:

1. Go to your settings wheel in the upper right corner of Gmail.
2. Scroll down to the signature section and select “create new” signature.
3. To start, drop in your main custom signature png. This is the one with your pretty face, name and title. 
4. Next, hit enter and start to drop in each individual social icon adding a space between each. We would recommend listing these in order of importance.

 

How to hyperlink your signature in Gmail

Next, let’s make your signature clickable and drive conversion!

1. Highlight each individual icon – here is where those added spaces help – and select the link icon at the bottom.
2. Drop in the appropriate link that corresponds with each visual
3. Voila! You are done!

 

And that’s it! You have officially created a custom email signature for Gmail!

Be sure to watch the video walkthrough for more details and exact instructions on how to do this. We always recommend testing this out prior to emailing your customers and clients. Simply email yourself and test it on both mobile and desktop. As well as testing in both light and dark mode. Afterwards, be sure to send us an email so we can see your gorgeous signatures! 

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