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Email Newsletter Templates: How to Create Custom Templates to Match Your Site

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create email newsletter templateStanding out doesn’t have to end with your blog.

Your branding and design can and should extend way beyond that; for instance, through all your social media accounts.

To give you an example, take a look at mine:

And now I finally got to customizing my email newsletter templates as well.

DIY Email Newsletter Templates

This is what my emails to my subscribers’ list (join it if you haven’t already) look like now:

html aweber email templates

Just in case you are curious which post I am talking about in this particular email, check it out here:

Update:

I am sure you’ve noticed some design changes Traffic Generation Café has gone through since this post was published, but the email newsletter templates design principles haven’t changed.

How to create custom Aweber email newsletter templates

Yes, this email newsletter template was created in Aweber, which is my email autoresponder of choice (read my Aweber review to see why).

If you haven’t started your list yet, I can’t stress enough that you should do it NOW.

If you do have a list and are using a different autoresponder, I bet you can still use my directions to create your own custom newsletter template.

In the video below, I’ll explain how to:

  • customize an email newsletter template to match your blog design;
  • add the social media sharing buttons;
  • why you need to add the “Please enable your images” message at the top;
  • and more.

Email Newsletter Templates Marketing Takeaway

As I said in the video, I am not a techie, but creating this email newsletter template wasn’t that difficult even for me.

Note: Ian Belanger of IM Graphic Designs, who did such a great job redesigning Traffic Generation Cafe, offered to design an email newsletter template for you - just in case you are too busy, or feel like you can’t do it, or feel like you won’t find time to do it.

Price? Very reasonable; under $40 for most templates.

Let Ian know you are coming from Traffic Generation Cafe!

Now, to those who haven’t started their list yet, you are not off the hook.

Start Your Own Email Marketing List for Only $1.00

If you haven’t started building your list yet, let me tell you - you are missing out big time.

My list is number one reason I make the money I make with this blog and have such a strong readership.

Aweber is the best email autoresponder I have even used.

And I am not the only one. Many A-list bloggers I know also use it for their businesses.

Aweber offers a $1 trial month for all new customers.

You’ll have access to all features a paid account is entitled to: unlimited lists, email campaigns, automatic follow-ups, broadcasts, and many, many more.

If after 30 days you don’t like them, just let them know and Aweber will give you your $1 back. Guaranteed.

$1 Aweber Offer

 

traffic generation cafe aweber email template

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Comments

  1. Hey Ana, Nice article there! I’m impressed by the way you brought up your own methods for email-newsletters, and I’m pretty sure they would work 🙂
    I am embaressed to say that we don’t yet have a newsletter. While more than 90% of the world’s communication is done through email and that is the single fact that makes email list a major inventory in internet marketing. Ours being a product based firm, there is nothing else we should depend on when we want to promote their new product.
    Its nice that you mentioned about Aweber. I was going to try it soon. Will look forward to read some more from you on the email marketing series 🙂

    • When I got a kick in the rear by Google Penquin and my traffic was cut in half, my email list traffic was what kept my business going, Jyothis.

      Hope you’ll set up your list soon.

  2. Ana, I do enjoy your colorful email newsletter but, until recently, I saw no need for my own. Whenever I fooled around with the templates, they seemed like too much trouble.

    However, today was the last straw. As you know, AWeber encourages us to make a plain text version for our subscribers who choose not to use HTML-based email. My process was to make a nice plain text email and paste it into the HTML box (in design view). That worked fine, for the most part, because I rarely send links.

    This time, it was too much! I tried adding a few links and, depending on the view, the email either had correct links but horrible formatting, or the format was correct but all the links were “jacked up.” At first, I tried going back and forth between views to prevent the angle brackets from getting changed into that ampersand garbage. I ended up making a mess.

    So, I dug up one of your newsletters, followed the link here and ta-da!
    Some of the benefits of watching your video were:

    1. I learned how to add images
    2. I saw some neat tips (AddThis and WiseStamp)
    3. I realized that I should be SAVING the template for future broadcasts.

    Number 3 is one of those “duh” moments that make all the difference between struggling and getting things done. Even though I KNOW what templates are, I keep forgetting that most software encourage you to save customized versions. I was thinking I’d have to redo these steps for every broadcast. Duh, right? LOL

    Thanks for another awesome lesson!

    Cheers,

    Mitch

    • Sometimes we do need that extra push to get things going, Mitch. lol

      Here’s one more reason for you: I’ve been split testing emails with the template vs no template, just white, and the template email click-through rates are higher.

      You are so very welcome, by the way - I do understand the frustration!

  3. I try to customize as many things as i can, just never thought newsletter templates were so important. Till now.
    This is one of those small things that you never realize how much of a difference they can make.

  5. This really is a great idea! I have all those accounts and they are just a mish mash of different pictures, themes etc. I haven’t even done anything with my googl+ yet. Unifying them is a fantastic way of creating and marketing your own brand.

  6. I just have commented, but something happened, something allowing javascript :). I appreciate your newsletter, you know that, since I haven’t unsubscribed yet (joking).
    Nice. I’m impressed about your author box.

    PS: If my previous comment exists, please delete this one 🙂

    • Blogs… there’s always one problem or another, isn’t there? lol

      Thanks for taking your time to leave another comment, Rodolfo, and I’ll try not to disappoint you!

  7. Whoa! Awesome video, Ana.

    I’ll do this prior to sending my next email. I should get working on it soon as I drop this comment so that I’ll save it for future email broadcasts.

    Thanks a bunch. Feels good to be educated!

  9. Thank You Ana,
    This was very helpful. I also liked the tips about using Wise Stamp and add this.com, both useful to my own blog posts. I’m also going to check out tweet per view! Happy New Year!

  10. Well, those opt-in forms show up at the top of a search page and they are related to your search.

    So for instance, when you do any search with “Aweber” in it, Aweber usually displays their ads with opt-in forms in them. So it’s logical to assume that if someone is searching for Aweber is interested in what the company has to offer and might sign up for their newsletters.

    My stats as far as opens and click-throughs haven’t changed since I implemented the template; however, my social media shares went up because of AddThis.

  11. I personally am always impressed by a really pretty e-mail sent to ME, so I know that I need to send a really pretty one as well.

    I like seeing the blog header on the top of the e-mail. For instance your header, and the picture in it, has become totally synchronized in my head with your blog. If I didn’t see it in your e-mail I think I would be a bit confused because it represents your blog to me.

    Great ‘how to’ video, and by the way your e-mail template is rockin.

  12. Ana,

    Aweber or Mailchimp?

    I’ve been using Mailchimp for a while now and haven’t really had any problems other than their sign-up forms.

    I do see so many of you “Blog Stars” using aweber.

    Thanks,

    Ryan H.

  14. Getting customized Email newsletter template is one thing which is exciting me to try your suggestions. Planning out to contact Ian Belanger of IM Graphic Design to sort out some of the creative ideas for my email newsletter template. Thanks for your post! Hoping to get the same service as you received!

  15. I started building a list as soon as I started this blog.

    However, I keep cleaning it from people that never open my emails, so the number stays low, but they are very active.

  16. You are so very welcome, Michael!

    By the way, just got back from your blog. If you don’t mind me saying, for list building blog, I couldn’t find many posts on list building. lol

  17. Great tutorial Ana, not that I can use much of it though as I use MailChimp, but then I’m sure I could tweak my MailChimp template to reflect my blog. Something to think about for sure. Thanks.

  18. Thanks so much for this video Ana! I have been wanting to set up a custom template for my mailing list but wasn’t sure how to go about doing it. I also really appreciated the tips for using the AddThis in a newsletter as well as Wisestamp to get a custom signature on there. Also glad to see how easy it is to copy the template from one broadcast to the next (I’ve used that on follow-ups but hadn’t noticed it on broadcasts!). I’m going to work on my template before I send out another mailing 🙂 Thanks again.

  19. Happy new year Ana! Thanks for the video. Having a unique look on your email adds life to your desire to do more in your job. This video is a great guide on how to make your email more attractive. Thanks for having this.

  20. Another awesome contribution of value to the blogging community. Did not know about addthis dot com, did not know about Gmail Wisestamp, did not know about the HTML switch in the newsletter editor (and still have to check if MailChimp has one). I may have to break down and get Aweber, even though I only have 7 subscribers.

  21. Hi Ana, as you know I watched the video already and I will be perfectly happy to share it! Great stuff.
    I have to admit that I haven’t added any graphics to my Aweber mailings yet, but I’m just getting started on the whole concept of email marketing and I’ll be taking things to the next level soon enough.
    I was disappointed to find out that we can’t embed videos directly into the Aweber emails. I’m so used to watching videos directly in gmail when I get notified of new uploads from YouTube channels I subscribe to (like yours) that I guess I’m spoiled by Google. Thanks for the advice and Aweber training tips - much appreciated.

    • Thanks so much, Ileane!

      I am sure Aweber will implement this feature at some point; they are probably just holding back a bit to be able to step up when the need be. lol

  22. Hello Ana,

    I was trying to watch your video tutorial in the email but I come to your blog and when I click the video it does not work.

    Where can I access video, I’d like to learn how to make an email template to match my blog. I use aweber also.

    Thanks for the 411 on what Google is doing with adwords, oh boy, here we go again, LOL!

  23. Ana, you must have been reading my mind again. So many of the emails I get from marketers are flat copy/past text. I am absolutely drawn to the more professional ones and thought I was going to have to invest some $$$ to get one more thing done.

    Thanks for showing me how easy it is with some tools to do the hard bits.

    Susan

    • You are so welcome, Susan!

      So many email “experts” say that plain email always win, but I disagree.

      Also, Ian Belanger who just redesigned my blog, offered to do a custom email template for my readers for under $40 - great price, if you don’t want to do it yourself!

      http://imgraphicdesigns.com/

  24. I did this for my blog broadcasts a while ago and now you’ve just reminded me to update it due to the fact I changed MSB’s color scheme since then.

    Good tutorial…your voice came out very crisp and clear and I still can’t figure out the accent 🙂

    • I am Russian through and through, Caleb.

      It’s amazing how many things we need to keep up with, isn’t it? The second we create something new, something else needs to be updated…

  25. Ana, So do you know why comment luv is not picking up my twitter feed? I use aWeber too, Don’t they start charging more when you get over 500 subs? Do you know how much? Love the “tweet to see video” key. I have to confess I had to cheat and go straight to you tube. But I will get the tweet out anyway, LOL.

    • LOL, Joseph; I forgive your this time….

      Aweber starts charging more when you get over 2,500 subscribers.

      CommentLuv had a glitch that is all fixed now. I still see a CL link from you though.

  26. Hey Ana,

    Great video! I wanted to add something for your readers. Make sure you check your email template with all email inbox’s. I say this because I created an email template for a client and the template didn’t show up correctly in her yahoo inbox. Many other inbox’s like Thunderbird and Outlook will strip out some HTML tags, so they should always have a text version of their emails as well

    Also, I want to let your readers know that if they would rather have a template made for them. That is something we do at IM Graphic Designs and the price is very reasonable, under $40 for most templates.

    Thanks for sharing Ana and have a great day!

    • Great idea, Ian.

      How do you check what your email looks like in different email clients though?

      Some of my subscribers told me that my code is leaking; I need to see if I can figure out to fix it…

      Also, added your great offer to the post!

      • Hey Ana,

        Some autoresponders have an “email inbox preview”, for ex. (GetResponse and MailChimp). I’m not sure if Aweber does or not, because I don’t use Aweber.

        If your AR doesn’t, then you can open an email account with each email provider and then send a test email to each of your addresses. That is what I would do.

        As far as your email templates go, I can take a look at the code if you like.

        Also, thanks for adding my offer to the post, much appreciated!

        Thanks Ana!

        • I’ll take a look to see if Aweber has that feature, Ian.

          And thanks for the offer to help, but I actually did figure this one out on my own - hooray for me! lol

    • Ian, great idea to create accounts to check the templates.
      One other thing I suggest is for AWeber user to eyeball their lists to see how many are using Yahoo, Hotmail, etc. Focus on the issues in priority order 🙂

      I do have a template-newbie question: I noticed that Ana saved the modified template as a Broadcast message. Presumably, that sits there forever in the pending queue?

      That seem awkward and I still can’t figure out how to start a new broadcast using that saved template. Indeed, I went old-school: I maintain all of my AWeber text on my hard drive. So, it seems natural to switch to classic HTML, copy the whole she-bang and save it as a text file. (Bonus for me, I can instantly customize the colors!)

      Anyway, by clicking on Create New Broadcast, I can then switch to classic HTML and paste the save template into the box.

      How do you two do things?

      Cheers,

      Mitch

      P.S. I hope your eye is better!

      • Hey Mitch,

        I agree that you should prioritize on the email provider that the highest number of your subscribers uses.

        To your question, yes, you always want to save your template as a broadcast message and keep it in the pending queue.

        The best and easiest way I have found to create a new message from your saved broadcast is to select the “copy” button. Then you can just change the subject line and insert the text you want in your email, then send it or select a time to send it.

        Of course you can do it the way that you suggested also, but it is much less work when you copy it.

        Hope that helps Mitch.

        PS. My eye is completely healed. Thanks for asking.

      • I know you asked Ian, Mitch, but it’s my blog, so I am butting in. lol

        Yes, the template will sit in your pending broadcasts forever and ever.

        Whenever you are ready to create a new broadcast, just take a look at your list of pending broadcasts - they each have a “Copy” button to the right.

        Just press that and your template will be copied into your new message.

  27. Ana:

    Glad Bob pushed you to make this video as well!!! I’ll tell ya, being on your list, you have one of the most impressive templates. Some of the emails I get on a daily basis are just awful. Formatting that is, but as usual…..you stand heads above the crowds my friend.

    Lisa