Turn every email into a tiny campaign with an animated email signature banner
Design a professional email signature banner in minutes. Add your logo, message and call to action, then export a static image or animated GIF and drop it into Gmail, Outlook or Apple Mail.
- ✓ Unlimited banners
- ✓ Static or animated
- ✓ 600 × 150 ready
Email signature banner examples
Twelve campaign ideas you can build in Bannerly - from seasonal sales to hiring, events and customer reviews. Each one is a 600 × 150 layout with a single message and one clear call to action.
What an email signature banner is - and why it works
What is an email signature banner?
A promotional image that sits beneath your normal email signature. It turns routine conversations - quotes, replies, support threads - into a quiet, repeatable marketing channel.
Why businesses use them
Your team already sends hundreds of emails a week. A banner puts a current offer, event or announcement in front of people who are already talking to you.
Where they appear
Directly under your name, role and contact details, so it reads as part of your signature rather than an advert bolted onto the message.
What size should an email signature banner be?
600 pixels wide is the practical ceiling for most email layouts. Height is where you have a choice - here is how the three common options compare at true relative scale.
600 × 150Recommended
The reliable default. Enough room for a headline, supporting line and CTA without overwhelming the email.
600 × 100
A slim strip for short, punchy messages - best when your signature is already tall.
600 × 200
More vertical space for imagery or product shots. Check it on mobile before rolling it out.
Email clients scale images differently across desktop, webmail and mobile, so always send yourself a test before rolling a banner out across the team.
Three steps from blank canvas to live signature
Design
Open the editor, add your logo, headline, supporting line and call to action. Pick a colour, gradient or video background.
Preview
Check how the banner sits under a real signature and confirm the first frame reads well on its own.
Export & install
Export a static image or animated GIF, then insert it into Gmail, Outlook or Apple Mail and link it to your campaign.
Static banner or animated GIF?
Both work. Animation earns attention, but only if the first frame still makes sense for the recipients whose email client never plays it.
| Consideration | Static | Animated GIF |
|---|---|---|
| Attention | Steady and understated | Movement draws the eye |
| Client support | Renders everywhere | Some clients show frame one only |
| File size | Smallest | Larger - keep loops short |
| Best for | Formal or regulated industries | Offers, launches and events |
How to add a banner to your email signature
The exported file is an ordinary image, so installing it is the same as adding any picture to your signature.
Adding your banner in Gmail
- 1Export your banner from Bannerly and upload the GIF somewhere it can be linked from, or keep it ready to insert from your device.
- 2In Gmail, open Settings, then See all settings, and stay on the General tab.
- 3Scroll to the Signature section and select the signature you want to edit.
- 4Place your cursor beneath your contact details and use the insert image control to add the banner.
- 5Select the inserted banner, use the link control, and point it at the page your campaign should open.
- 6Save changes at the bottom of the settings page.
Gmail may resize very wide images in the signature editor, so check the rendered width in a test email.
Using Gmail? Our full walkthrough for adding a banner to a Gmail signature covers the settings path, making the image clickable, Gmail sizing guidance and why a banner sometimes does not show.
On Outlook? Our guide to creating an email signature in Outlook covers new Outlook, classic Outlook and Outlook on the web, then adding a clickable banner. To design the banner itself, start on our Outlook email signature banner page.
Eight rules for a banner that earns clicks
- ✓Keep to one message per banner - a second offer halves the impact of the first.
- ✓Use a single, specific call to action such as Book a demo or Shop the sale.
- ✓Make the text readable at small sizes; body copy under about 12px disappears on mobile.
- ✓Stay on brand with your logo, colours and fonts so the banner reads as part of your signature.
- ✓Design the first frame to stand alone - some clients never play the animation.
- ✓Link the banner to a page that matches the promise, not just your homepage.
- ✓Refresh it whenever the campaign changes so it never points at something expired.
- ✓Send yourself a test in the clients your recipients actually use before rolling it out.
Everything you need to build the banner
Drag-and-drop editor
Position your logo, text and CTA exactly where you want them on the canvas.
Animated text effects
Typewriter, wave, letter pop, slide and more - applied per element.
Video and gradient backgrounds
Choose from a curated library or upload your own footage and images.
Brand colours
Pull colours straight from your logo or pick from categorised gradient presets.
GIF export
Export a looping animated GIF sized for email, rendered in your browser.
No account to start
Open the editor and design immediately - accounts are only needed to save work.
Free vs Pro
| Feature | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Banner creation | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Full editor and effects | Included | Included |
| Animated GIF export | Included | Included |
| Export adverts | Short advert before final export | Advert-free |
| Saved projects | Not saved - exports are final | Save 5 projects |
| Re-edit later | Not available | While your subscription is active |
| Account | Not required | Included |
Email signature banner questions, answered
An email signature banner is a promotional image placed beneath your normal email signature. Businesses use them to promote offers, products, events, content and announcements through everyday email conversations.
Guides for email banners
Sizes, GIF installation, animation choices and seasonal campaign ideas - explained with real examples.
Animated Email Signatures: The Complete Guide
What an animated email signature actually is, how to design one that still reads when motion is blocked, and how to get it into your mail client.
Read the guide6 min read
Email Signature Banner Size & Dimensions Guide
Practical starting dimensions for signature banners, how they behave on mobile, and how to export so nothing looks blurry.
Read the guide4 min read
How to Add an Animated GIF to Your Email Signature
Platform-by-platform instructions for inserting a GIF banner, linking it, testing it and fixing it when it shows as a still image.
Read the guide3 min readHow to Add a Banner to Your Gmail Signature
The Gmail-specific walkthrough: where the signature setting lives, how to insert and link the banner, what size Gmail expects and what to do when it will not show.
Read the guide9 min readHow to Create an Email Signature in Outlook and Add a Banner
The Outlook pillar: signature setup in every current version of Outlook, then inserting a logo, adding a promotional banner and making it clickable.
Read the guide13 min read
Animated vs Static Email Banners: Which Should You Use?
The same design, shown static and animated, plus an honest comparison of where each one wins.
Read the guide4 min read
Black Friday Email Banner Ideas & Examples
Eight angles for a Black Friday banner, each shown as a real design you can open in the editor.
Read the guide3 min read
How to Create an Email Banner for Free
What you can genuinely make for free, what to look for in a free banner tool, and where Bannerly's free plan stops.
Read the guide3 min readTurn every email into a tiny campaign
Build your email signature banner free, export it as a static image or animated GIF, and have it live in your signature today.