Finding and Using Email Newsletter Templates
Many companies offer email newsletter templates. Some of the more popular email management companies will provide templates free if you use their services.
The top 3 (in terms of pricing, library of free e-newsletter templates and services offered) are:
- Vertical Response (learn more about Vertical Response)
- iContact (learn more about iContact)
- ConstantContact (learn more about ConstantContact)
Should you use a pre-made template or create your own?
If you want to send html e-newsletters and do not have an in-house designer, you should consider using a template. You can make small changes to most templates to get a look closer to your corporate image.
As an example, most will allow you to change colors to match your company's color scheme. Some template producers even have pre-designed templates for specific industries.
Whether you use a template or design your own html e-newsletter (see below), make sure you use the graphics wisely. You should not place important content in graphics. Most recipients use email systems, which will block the graphics and require the user to click on the e-newsletter to download the graphics.
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Many recipients will read the email newsletter before they click on the graphics. If all of your important information is in the graphics, your readers will not see it. If they don't click to download your graphics, they will never ready your message.
Additional Information on E-Newsletter Templates
For additional information on email newsletter templates, visit the following resources:
Market Wise Inc. Internet Marketing Best Practices
Should you use html or text format?
An HTML newsletter looks just like a Web site page. This email newsletter format uses graphics, different fonts, and html codes to give a very polished look.
Email newsletters in html format, do have a few challenges, such as:
- Most email clients (the recipient's email system) will filter out graphics in the preview pane
- A greater risk of viruses and email worms, which means some e-mail systems block them
- Compatibility issues across different e-mail platforms, resulting in a different look from one system to the next
- No standard for mobile devices and people are increasingly viewing their email on these devices. The industry may develop a standard soon.
Despite a few drawbacks, the best practice is to send in html. The key tip is to use the graphics strategically.
When you use html e-mail, here are some tips to mitigate these challenges:
- Use graphics strategically and remember graphics are usually not visible unless recipients download them.
- Use your logo (a graphic) and place company's name text near the logo.
- Use a system that sends the email in a system that detects the email client and delivers the correct format
- Vary your format based campaign's objectives. A recent case study in MarketingSherpa reports on the success of a sports team using text e-mail for general communications and html e-mail for promoting ticket sales close to game time
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