(These directions are for Outlook 2007 or higher. Most other versions work very much the same way, but some of the steps may vary slightly. If you experience problems, leave a comment or contact us directly)
STEP 1: Upload Image To Web Server
The very first thing to do, is create an icon that is the size you want in your email. Remember these should be really small, because people viewing your email may use a browser, phone, weird mail client, etc. The two pictures below should be adequate, but in the end, it is your choice. Just be sure to create the desired size before uploading.
| 20px x 20px, 659 bytes |
 |
| 40px x 40px, 2.33 KB |
 |
Once you have a picture created, you must upload it to a public web server that anyone can access. This is because people will be downloading the file when they view your email, so if it is restricted behind a firewall or some time, your graphic will not show. The suggested place is in a subdirectory on your main web host (http://mydomain.com/resources/). Don't place anything else in this folder that you would not want public access, because someone may follow the picture back to its home and search around in that location.
STEP 2: Insert The Image In Your Signature
Once you have the image uploaded, you are now turning to Outlook. Once in Outlook, click through to your signature edit dialog box. This is found through the menu item Tools, then Options... Next click on the tab Mail Format, and then close to the bottom of the box is a button for Signatures... I will not cover all of the details of creating a signature, because I would assume you already have one if you are asking about inserting something into your signature.
Find the place in your signature that you want to add the social media icon you uploaded. Click the Picture icon close to he Edit Signature Box, and this will bring up another dialog box. This is a normal box for finding a picture on your computer, but you want to embed. Click in the File name: text field and type the location of your file. If you used the example from above, you would type, http://mydomain.com/resources/iconimage.jpg and press Insert. Note: the file format doesn't matter, as long as it is a standard format such as .jpg, .gif, or .png.
STEP 3: Create Link To your Social Media Site
The final step is to create the link. Once you have inserted your image, click the image and press the Insert Hyperlink button next to the Picture button. Enter the address to your social media site (i.e. Facebook fan page, Linkedin public profile, Twitter profile, etc.) in the Address: text field. Click Ok, then click Ok in the Edit Signature Dialog box, and finally click Ok on the Tools Dialog Box. That is it!
STEP 4: Test
Most people forget to test things like this, but you really should test to ensure you typed everything correctly, inserted the picture in the right place, etc. To do this, send yourself an email. Send to Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, or any other free account to test on their systems. Send one to you Outlook account to be sure it works in Outlook. If you send to these two areas, you are covering most of your bases, although I will warn you: there will be some people who can't see your icon. People have weird security settings and configurations, so not EVERYONE will be able to see it, but if your Yahoo and Outlook emails can see, probably 95% of your recipients will be able to see it!
Tell us about your experience with this! Do social media icons in your email signature drive more traffic?
