How to Create a Modern Newsletter Email Template

If you’ve never created a newsletter email template, or are starting to wonder if your current newsletter needs an overhaul, this post is for you.

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Whether you’re an old pro, or completely new to writing newsletters, the idea of creating a new, modern newsletter email template can be daunting. 

By River Cartie, Constant Contact

After all, long gone are the days when a newsletter looked much like a newspaper; with section after section of detailed information. But that doesn’t mean we have any less to share with our readers. 

Today’s newsletter email should be designed and written, with the intention of having its readers go outside of the newsletter for more information.

In other words, save the detailed content for your website or landing page, and keep your newsletter short, to the point, and super-easy to navigate.

How exactly do we do that?

Well, this is the one time that I will tell you to start with the design, instead of the content.

How to design an email newsletter template

While most of the time, you’ll want to start your emails by thinking about the content, newsletters are a bit different.

When we’re talking about newsletters, we need to think about our readers first — as in; make a newsletter template that’s easy for your readers to scan through.  

People don’t read an entire newsletter in one sitting anymore. I personally don’t know anyone who has the time. Do you?

Most of us scan through a newsletter, see if there’s anything we want to read at that moment, and then either read further or move on to something else. So, make sure your template will be easy to scan and navigate, and contains clear calls to action that will allow readers to get more information elsewhere.

Tip: Each article in your email should have its own landing page, webpage, or webpage section, with its own direct link. Don’t put all the newsletter articles on one webpage — anywhere. Individual links for each article makes your newsletter information easy to scan, easy to navigate, and easy to digest.

How to create an email newsletter template that works

There are a plethora of email newsletter templates out there, and with email providers like Constant Contact, you can create a branded email newsletter using a branded template builder, create one from scratch using a blank template, or even import custom code.

But there are a few important things to keep in mind when choosing the layout of your newsletter template:

• How many subjects/topics do you have to share with your readers at any given time? – One or two, five or six, ten or more? (We recommend that you have a maximum of three or four articles per newsletter. If you have more information to share than that, put it on a webpage and share the link, or consider sending your newsletter out more frequently).
• Do you have one subject that is the most important thing for your readers to know about? – Or, do all of your topics have about the same weight when it comes to importance?
• What tone do you want to set? – Formal, casual, professional, personal?

Examples of modern email newsletter templates