Companies make extensive use of email as part of their marketing efforts. But they’re not realizing the medium’s full potential, according to Indianapolis-based Sigstr Inc.

The startup is pioneering a unique approach to email marketing that helped it attract $5 million in funding from Hyde Park Venture Partners, Battery Ventures and several other notable investors today. Sigstr’s value proposition centers on its namesake cloud service, which enables companies to advertise through a largely overlooked channel: their employees’ email signatures.

At a high level, the startup is looking to let brands tap into the everyday interactions between their staff and customers. A software company, for example, might use Sigstr to include a banner ad for an upcoming customer conference below account managers’ signatures. Those employees could then passively promote the event through the routine business messages they send to customers, which potentially have a much higher chance of being opened than a marketing email.

Sigstr allows companies to further refine their promotions using various specialized features. One of the most recent additions is an account-based marketing capability that makes it possible to customize signatures for individual recipients. To promote a new service or product, a company could target each lead with a tailored offer that takes their buying preferences into account. 

Organizations can monitor the effectiveness of their campaigns through an analytics console that tracks key metrics such as total views and how many people clicked a signature. SalesLoft, a sales automation provider, claims that one internal Sigstr campaign saw one out of every 8 clicks lead to an event registration. 

Other notable adopters include Angie’s List Inc., Accel-backed marketing analytics startup Inova Inc. and pharmaceutical giant Roche AG. Sigstr has over 300 customers in total, an installed base it hopes to expand using today’s funding by hiring more personnel.

Sigstr has raised $7 million to date.

Image: Sigstr