How to start with a new email template

Jasper Van Biesen

25-02-2025 •

12 minutes reading time

Good email templates are like your favorite outfit: you can always rely on them. They save you time, ensure clear communication, and make your brand shine. With Flexmail, you can quickly create professional templates ready for action. Why such templates are a must-have and how Flexmail can help? Read on in this blog!

In a world where digital communication is becoming increasingly important, email marketing is a powerful way to reach your target audience.

What is email marketing and how does it work?

Unfortunately, not all emails are created with the same attention and care. Yet, it is incredibly important to use professional email templates that you can build on in the long term for your company's or project's email marketing.

Email templates are essential for giving your emails and newsletters a professional appearance. They are also a crucial part of your campaign branding and the development of your brand. Readers should immediately recognise that the latest email in their inbox is specifically from your company.

Create your own email templates with Flexmail's builder

Use Flexmail to design your own email templates and send them out into the world. Behind the scenes, we've worked hard on a handy and innovative template builder.

With Flexmail's Drag & Drop email builder, you can easily create your emails without any technical knowledge, customise your design elements, and optimise your emails for mobile devices.

Before you start building, we want to share with you what makes powerful and effective email templates. The right headers, various content blocks, a beautiful layout... Email templates consist of different components that determine both the look and feel and the professionalism of your emails.

There's a lot to consider, and unfortunately, many pitfalls to avoid. Luckily, this blog is not a pitfall, but a springboard! Follow our tips and send your best emails to your subscribers.

All email design tips and tricks that make your readers click

The building blocks of powerful email templates

Effective email templates consist of smart building blocks that you can reuse and adapt time and time again. Think of flexible blocks, a recognisable layout, and perfect display on any screen!

Let’s explore the key building blocks step by step. Let's go!

1. Modular header designs

A well-designed header sets the tone for your email and ensures recognisability. You can also quickly adapt to different topics and actions without always starting from scratch.

Flexible logo placement: Choose to place your logo on the left, centered, or responsive, depending on the goal and style of your email.
Optional navigation bar: Handy when you have a lot to share, or when you want to guide readers easily to the most popular sections of your website.

💡Tip
Use a header with a changeable background image for seasonal campaigns, or work with unique headers for specific departments or sub-brands: instantly recognisable to show what your email is about.

2. Versatile content blocks

The content of your email stands or falls with the quality of your content blocks. By playing with different formats, you can effectively convey your message:

Layout options: Use one-column designs for simplicity and focus, and two-column layouts for content-rich emails.
Image-text combinations: Place images to the left, right, above, or below the text, depending on the emphasis you want to create. Also, ensure a good balance between the two, as spam filters tend to favor that.
Customisable article teasers: Use different image sizes, play with text lengths, and highlight hero articles or intros.
Product modules: Choose from single views, carousels, or grids to showcase your products attractively and beautifully.
Special blocks: Add 'specials' such as testimonials, quotes, or even agenda items to add extra value to your content.

💡Tip
Design each content block so that it works well both independently and in combination with other blocks. This gives you maximum flexibility.

3. Flexible call-to-action (CTA) elements

The Call-To-Action is the beating heart of your email. Make sure your CTA stands out and does what it needs to do: generate clicks. Check out our 11 tips for strong CTAs!

Button styles: Use bold colors and shapes for primary actions, and subtler styles for secondary options.
Alternatives: Add text links as a more subtle option alongside eye-catching buttons.
Placement: Experiment with strategic locations such as inline in the text, floating over the content, or fixed at the bottom of the email.

Professional footer

The footer is often a forgotten element, but it’s important to close your email smoothly and practically with a well-designed footer.

Social media buttons: Give subscribers the option to follow you with links to your channels.
Contact information: Clearly add your address, phone number, or other contact options.
Legal information: Ensure that your unsubscribe link and other legal texts are clearly visible.
Extra content space: Consider including additional promotional items to spark some interaction.

The layout of powerful email templates

A consistent visual style is essential for giving your emails and newsletters a professional appearance. Be mindful of color, typography, and images, and create emails that not only look great but also convey the right message. Here’s how to go about it:

1. Choose the right color palette

A well-thought-out and cohesive color palette helps reinforce your brand identity. Avoid a cluttered, too-busy look and opt for a recognisable visual style.

Primary, secondary, and accent colors: Define a main color for brand recognition, a secondary color for balance, and accent colors for subtle details or Calls-to-Action.
Dark and light themes: Consider variations for seasonal campaigns or special promotions, such as a dark theme for Black Friday or a light theme for summer sales. 😎

2. Define your typography hierarchy

A strong typography hierarchy makes your emails not only attractive but also readable and organised. Think carefully about this, as readers prefer clear, easy-to-scan emails.

Heading styles: Design clear H1, H2, and H3 styles that stand out visually and support the structure of your email.
Body text options: Ensure sufficient line spacing and paragraph spacing to make reading easier. White space is key!
Accent text: Use eye-catching styles for important details, such as prices, dates, or promotional text.
Responsive typography: Consider a typography system that scales from mobile to desktop, so the text remains easy to read on any device.

This way, you can easily and quickly create a mobile-friendly email design

3. Use visuals and media correctly

Images and other media such as videos are often the first thing that grabs attention in an email. Make sure they fit within your visual style!

Sizes and ratios: Define standard sizes for banners, product images, and smaller visuals to maintain consistency across your emails.
Placeholders and fallbacks: Provide alternatives for when images don't load, such as color blocks or text alternatives, to ensure your email still looks neat.

The different purposes of powerful email templates

Make sure to tailor your template to your content, depending on the type of email you're sending. Not every email serves the same purpose, so it’s wise to design templates that perfectly match the goal of your email. Here, we highlight four commonly used template variants and their unique features.

1. Newsletter template

With newsletters, you present various types of content in a clear and organised way. A good newsletter template keeps attention and ensures that each recipient can quickly find what they are looking for.

Vary the layout: Use different structures, such as a mix of text and images, to present articles in a striking and dynamic way.
Visual hierarchy: Make important items stand out by using larger headlines, eye-catching images, or placing them in prominent spots.
Clear segmentation: Create distinctions between different items, such as news, offers, and upcoming events, to guide readers quickly through the content.

2. Promotional email template

Promotional emails are all about conversion and focus! A promo email template needs to be powerful and to the point to achieve the maximum result.

One main offer: Place the primary offer prominently, paired with a very clear and strong Call-To-Action.
Add a sense of urgency: Include deadlines, stock statuses, or terms and conditions to encourage readers to act quickly.
Clear visuals: Ensure the promotion is visually appealing and immediately clear, for example with large product images or prominent buttons.

3. Transactional email template

With transactional emails, such as order confirmations and shipping updates, you can share both valuable information and additional revenue opportunities. Don’t forget that customers place a great deal of importance on these emails.

Important details: Place crucial information, such as order numbers or shipping statuses, clearly and prominently at the top.
Cross-sell and up-sell: Use the space to recommend related products or services, without detracting from the primary message.
Clean layout: Keep the design simple and functional so the recipient immediately understands what’s important.

Use our design tips for transactional emails

4. Onboarding email template

It all starts with a good first impression. A well-designed onboarding email template for welcome emails serves as a solid foundation for building a strong customer relationship.

Step by step: Spread the information across several emails, from a warm greeting to helpful tips and exclusive offers.
Onboarding elements: Use elements like video thumbnails, step-by-step guides, or links to support pages to assist your new customer in taking their first steps.
Consistent branding: Ensure that every email in the series has the same look and feel for a cohesive experience.

How to write a good welcome email

Extra technical details for powerful email templates

To create the most powerful email templates, you need to ensure that your templates are technically well-crafted. Since these aspects can sometimes be tricky to handle, we’ve provided some additional tips for you.

1. Breakpoints and mobile view

Set breakpoints for different screen sizes to ensure your template looks great everywhere.
Make columns stack on mobile devices and place the most important content in the most prominent positions.

2. Image optimisation

Keep image sizes small for fast loading times and add alt text for clarity in case visuals don’t load.

3. Testing and compatibility

Test your template on different devices and email clients to avoid any surprises.

4. Content order and prioritisation

Place the most important content at the top and use visual hierarchy to guide your readers' attention to the right content.

Ready to save time and effort?

Conclusion: an email template is more than just a pretty design; it’s the foundation of your communication. By focusing on professionalism and effectiveness, you can create email templates that you can use over and over again without losing their impact.

Start with one solid base template and build on it. A template builder makes this process super easy. It allows you to quickly make adjustments, add new elements, and ensure your templates work perfectly across different devices. Bam, just what you need!

Ready to save time and effort? With our template builder, you have everything you need to create emails that always perform.

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