How to Make Pretty Emails in Gmail: Tips to Drive Engagement

2.3.2023
Read time: 13 min
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How to Make Pretty Emails in Gmail: Tips to Drive Engagement
Try Publicate For Free Today
02.03.2022
Read time: 13 min

When was the last time you went a day without sending or reading an email? Chances are, you probably can’t remember. And, that’s because email is a highly effective tool for communication in both business and personal settings. So, if you’re wondering how to make pretty emails in Gmail, we’ll share the answer!

Whether you wish to learn how to make emails professional or get ideas for where to find email layout examples, we’ll cover all the ins and outs of using Gmail for your email sending endeavors.

Guide Index
Gmail on phone
Pcture from Unsplash

What are Gmail Email Templates?

Gmail email templates are pre-written and pre-formatted emails that are best used when you find yourself sending the same information over and over. Once you create an email template, you can save it so it will be available for use or editing on the spot whenever you need to send that kind of email again.

Gmail allows you to store up to 50 templates at a time. While this is useful for canned responses (predetermined responses to common questions), it may not be enough for fancy newsletters and beautiful email templates.

Luckily, you can use an email template builder tool like Publicate and simply export your creations to Gmail for sending should you wish to know how to create beautiful emails in Gmail (more details on this soon).

How to Create Branded Gmail Emails with Customized Layouts?

For professional use cases, you may wish to create email templates in Gmail that are branded and styled. To accomplish this desire, you can:

  1. Click on “Compose”
  2. At the bottom, select “Layouts”
  3. For first-time users, you’ll want to select “Customize Styling”
  4. Enter the details to build your design, including:
  1. Logos
  2. Fonts
  3. Images
  4. Colors
  5. Footer details
  6. Links
  1. Click “Save & Continue”
  2. Choose a layout
  3. Click “Insert”
  4. Edit and customize sections

While Gmail offers these capabilities, they are relatively limited and not always proven to render as you intend across devices and email providers. To skip the guesswork, you can use Publicate’s pre-existing library of templates that can be branded professionally with the click of a few buttons.

Once you brand your email templates in Publicate, you can save your styles so that every template that you select thereafter will be pre-configured with your brand’s design elements, logo, style, and colors.

How to Make Pretty Emails in Gmail?

Rather than having to go through the various steps in Gmail and run the risk that your final creation won’t render as you designed it to, there’s a simpler way to get your email goals accomplished.

Here’s our best solution for how to make pretty emails in Gmail:

1. Sign up to an email template builder

Create an account with an email template builder such as Publicate. Once you sign up, you gain access to hundreds of templates that are organized by use case and purpose, a royalty-free stock image content library, email analytics and more.

Publicate is a fast, no-code email builder that’s packed with easy-to-use features. You can create internal company newsletters for your communication needs or marketing emails that can be sent to your customers in no time.

2. Choose an email template

Once you sign up and log in, you’ll be prompted to either start designing from a template or create your own layout using drag-and-drop content blocks.

If you select to start from a template, you’ll get to choose from an array of neatly organized and pre-built email newsletter templates. You’ll find templates for every purpose, including: seasonal, sport, events, internal communications, nonprofit, real estate, recruitment, HR newsletters, and training newsletters, to name a few.

Should you wish to create your own newsletter from scratch, that’s just as easy to do. You’ll be able to format the newsletter however you want and click on icons to add multimedia, links, and whatever other element you envision including.

3. Design Your Email

The great part about the templates is that they include all of email newsletter design best practices. They are set to the right width and dimensions so that they’ll show up across devices as you’d hope.

The templates are laid out to help guide your content, so you can spend more time on the content itself rather than having to figure out how to design an email newsletter.

All you have to do is use the visual editor to add your headlines and body copy. Plus, you get to choose images to add from your own sources or Publicate’s very own content library. Without Publicate, the email design process can be incredibly time-consuming, frustrating, and stressful.

With Publicate, you no longer have to worry about knowing any coding like HTML because everything is already set up for you. You get to save time and be more efficient, so now, your emails aren’t a time-suck. Instead, they only serve to benefit you and your communication capabilities!

4. Export Your Email to Gmail

Once your email looks good to go, you can use Publicate’s integrated tool to export it to Gmail for quick sending. Here’s how it works by installing the add-in.

Go to the Publicate Gmail App in Google’s marketplace. Install the add-in to your Gmail account (be sure to select the Gmail account which you wish to use for your email sending).

Once it’s installed, you can go to Gmail to “Compose” a new email, and you’ll see the Publicate icon in the bottom right of your toolbar. Once you click on it, you can log in to your Publicate account, and that will connect your account. You’ll be able to browse through your Publicate creation to input them directly into your Gmail message body to send.

Alternatively, if you’re already in Publicate and finishing up your email, you’ll find the option to “Publish” in the top right. There, you’ll be able to click on “ Export to Gmail” so your email will load in your connected Gmail account.

What are Creative Ideas for Using Gmail Email Templates?

Ready to get started creating professionally designed and engaging emails to send in Gmail?

Take a look at these templates for inspiration:

Popular articles

Popular Articles

To boost traffic to your website or share relevant industry news, this article line-up is a great way to inform your audience. The template is set-up so all you have to do is add images, headlines, and the link to the sources.

Additionally, it’s possible to use Publicate’s curated content function to round-up blog posts and resources without the need for extra manual effort.

Company Events

Company Events

When you’re hosting company events, involvement is the key to success! In order to get people to show up, you have to properly advertise and communicate the upcoming events. Email newsletters are a great and cost-effective way to do so.

When you send an event email out with Publicate, you can also see who has opened the email so you can make sure your message is being received by all those who need to see it.

What are Best Practices for Creating Email Templates in Gmail?

No matter what template you choose to work with, there are some best practices to follow and keep in mind during your creation process. Take a look at how to make pretty emails in gmail:

Mix Visuals with Copy:

An overly copy-heavy email will be a deterrent rather than a warm invite in. Be sure to blend copy with pictures, GIFs, and multimedia so as to not overwhelm your audience.

Additionally, make use of headlines to catch your reader’s eye and lead them to the part of the email that’s most important for them to read.

Focus on Content Hierarchy:

Put the highest quality and most relevant content at the top of your email. This way, if someone is to skim your email or read it quickly, they’ll at least be sure to catch the key ideas.

How to Create Email Templates in Gmail?

If you wish to make your own email into a template to save in Gmail, you can do so. Follow these steps:

  1. Compose a new email
  2. Type your email template and message
  3. Click on the three dots in the bottom right of the window
  4. Hover over “Template” and click “Save draft as template”
  5. Choose the option to “Save as new template”
  6. Name your template and hit “Save”

This is best intended for simple plain text emails and canned responses. However, you’ll only be able to save 50 of these emails within Gmail. Additionally, when you want to add design and multimedia elements, Gmail isn’t set up with the formatting automatically.

How to Send Email Templates in Gmail?

In the event you’re creating your email templates directly in Gmail and want to send them using the email service, you’ll do so similarly to how you write plain text emails.

You’ll find your template by clicking on the three dot menu in your compose message window. Then, hover over Templates and pick the template you created and saved (by following the steps in the section above). The template will populate in your message window for you to edit and send it.

How to Manage Existing Email Templates?

Although templates are meant to be ready to input and send, there are always cases where you’ll have to make edits and manage existing templates. Should you wish to delete an existing template, navigate to the three dot menu in your Gmail compose window. Hover over your templates and select “Delete template” on the one that has to go.

Instead, if you make edits to a template and want to save the updated version, follow the same steps you did when creating it in the first place. Go to the three dot menu, hover over “Templates” and “Save draft as template.” Then, find the template you want to change and click “Overwrite template.”

Final Words

There are different ways for how to make pretty emails in Gmail. When working directly in Gmail itself, you’ll run into some hurdles and may end up spending extra time trying to resolve them.

Instead, you can leverage Publicate’s purposefully built email builder to create, edit, design, and customize any email template of your choice without struggle. Publicate allows you to send emails in your email provider of choice, such as Gmail).

To design and send your professionally-designed emails in no time, get started for free with Publicate today!