HTML Email Newsletter: Ultimate Guide for Engagement
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Don’t you prefer opening email newsletters with engaging designs and scannable layouts? So do most people. That’s why sending an HTML email newsletter is a smart marketing decision that can improve your ROI.
In this guide, we explain why you don’t need to be a coding or design whizz to create engaging HTML newsletters.
In fact, you don’t need to know a single line of code. With an email template builder by your side, you can create beautiful, best-practice newsletters with ease.
An HTML email newsletter is a regular newsletter sent to a list of subscribers.
The “HTML” aspect means it uses HTML code to add a number of design elements to your newsletter to engage readers and drive action (from making a purchase to signing up for a webinar).
These design elements could include images, videos, an interesting layout, call-to-action (CTA) buttons, styled headings, tables and more.
Most of the newsletters you receive from brands today are built with HTML.
Plain text emails are exactly what they sound like: An email created with just plain text. Imagine you opened the email composer window in Gmail and typed out an email without formatting or styling. This is a plain-text email.
HTML emails, on the other hand, are formatted using HTML (hypertext markup language) and inline CSS.
HTML emails show up as emails with styling and multimedi
If you want to start a company newsletter, you’ll probably go for an HTML email newsletter. In the modern marketing world, that’s what consumers want to see.
Here are some of the benefits of newsletters styled with HTML.
Design emails however you like. HTML email newsletters are the equivalent of sending glossy magazine pages to an inbox, while plain text emails are like written letters.
You can follow the best tips for newsletter engagement and capture the essence of your visual brand at the same time.
HTML emails portray a professional image, which is important to build trust in your brand name.
On top of that, you can bring your company branding onto the page. Use your brand’s colors, fonts and logos to reinforce your identity. This is key to building a memorable, lasting brand.
HTML emails give you more flexibility over layout.
That means you can make your newsletters easier to scan and absorb information, which helps improve engagement. Guide the eyes where you want them to go, instead of letting readers get bogged down in text-heavy emails.
Certain elements, such as eye-catching CTAs and relevant images, tend to increase conversions and the overall success of your newsletter.
When you use email builders like Publicate to design emails, you’re not only getting access to pre-made, highly engaging, customizable HTML templates, but you’ll also be able to track the success of each newsletter, no matter where you send it. You’ll even get full analytics if you send your newsletter through Gmail or Outlook.
Publicate comes loaded with powerful analytics, such as open rates and click rates. You can use Publicate to design emails and export them to your chosen email-sending platform, and you’ll get the data you need to know what content performs best.
As a result, you can make your newsletter better every time, and ensure people look forward to receiving them.
Embed dynamic content like styled social links and even surveys into your email newsletters. This wouldn’t be possible with plain text emails.
You can also share recent blog posts with eye-catching thumbnails and styled titles and descriptions to keep subscribers up to date with your content.
Bring in an email design tool, like Publicate, to help with this aspect. Its dynamic web scraping tool means you simply need to copy and paste the URL of the blog you want to include. The tool then automatically populates your email with the relevant headings, images, descriptions and CTAs.
Flex your creative muscles. There’s almost no limit to what you can achieve when you create an HTML email newsletter.
Experiment with formatted content (think bullets, blocks and columns) as well as rich media and eye-popping CTAs.
And when you use an email builder, you can do all of this without having to be a designer or coder.
One study by Bluecore found that personalized emails lead to a 139% increase in click-through rate (CTR).
Unless you write a separate message to every person on your subscriber list, you need HTML emails to add personalized content.
For the best results, use an email builder like Publicate in conjunction with an email marketing platform. Publicate integrates with Mailchimp, HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Gmail, Outlook and over 50 other email clients.
So, you can design beautiful emails in Publicate and let your other platform take care of segmenting and automation. The integration couldn’t be smoother; export your designs to your chosen ESP in just a couple of clicks.
Everyone knows that writing plain text emails is fast and simple, but thanks to HTML email builders, like Publicate, it’s now just as easy to create HTML emails.
The drag-and-drop editor is accessible to even the least design-savvy marketers. Access hundreds of HTML templates that have been optimized for emails (designed with Litmus-tested code for robustness and reliability).
Plus, customize, save and reuse components and templates to save hours and ensure every newsletter is on-brand and can be designed in minutes.
Great email builders enable team collaboration too. Invite anyone on your team to access saved templates and components, with the peace of mind they’re following all best practices and sticking to your brand guidelines and approved layouts.
You can use templates for HTML email newsletters, which gives marketers a strategic advantage over plain text emails.
As well as bringing speed to the process, templates ensure your newsletters are consistent in their format.
When readers know what to expect, this helps your brand feel familiar and more welcome in their inbox. Follow a consistent format but surprise and delight with your content, to keep things interesting.
Marketing and Internal Comms teams can win back hours they used to spend coding and designing emails from scratch.
Email templates found in email builders, like Publicate, should be a welcome addition to your technology stack. Here’s how they make marketing easier:
Templates are customizable: Forget rigid designs and the need to code your way to customization. All templates can easily be edited using a drag-and-drop builder and reusable components. You don’t need to know a single line of code or have previous design experience.
The best newsletters follow a consistent sending schedule and sometimes, keeping up with the frequency is challenging.
Unless, of course, you use email design software such as Publicate.
Email design software has a small learning curve, which means anyone can create HTML email newsletters. Simply choose from a variety of templates that have already been optimized for email, and use the editor to add your content, branding, multimedia and calls to action.
One incredible time-saver is in-line image editing. Crop and align images directly in the editor, instead of having to download, edit and re-upload images (and hope they’re now aligned!)
Publicate also offers dynamic web scraping. Simply add the URL of the webpage you want to include in your email, and the tool will automatically populate the relevant images, links and descriptions.
One of the biggest benefits of using design software to create an HTML email newsletter is the ability to track performance.
It’s usually impossible to know how well plain text emails and emails sent through Gmail and Outlook are performing. In other words, businesses struggle to put value on their newsletters. When you use an email builder like Publicate, you get access to all-important analytics, with metrics like open rates and click-through rates (CTR).
These performance analytics are available whether you send emails via Outlook, Gmail or any other platform.
Here are the main steps to create HTML email newsletters using an email builder, such as Publicate:
With your design ready, you can send your email newsletter. Here’s how to make sure your newsletter arrives in the right inboxes:
Add an extra professional touch to your HTML email newsletter by following these best practices:
This might sound complicated, but email builders like Publicate come with email template examples that all follow best practices, ensure the code is responsive and minimized, and that image sizes are automatically optimized for loading times. In other words, you can design emails freely, knowing they’ll always be responsive, look professional, and be quick to load.
An HTML email newsletter is the best option for boosting engagement and creating a newsletter people look forward to reading.
With an email builder like Publicate, HTML email newsletters are no longer the domain of coding pros. And you can start designing straight away.
Check out the features that positively impact both the design process and the success of your newsletter and start your free 14-day trial today.
