Email marketing is the most efficient, timely, and attractive way of reaching out to your clientele. Newsletters in particular can give a personalized touch to the recipient, by including information that might be of specific interest to them. Including graphics, videos and special offers are all ways to draw the attention of your reader and keep them there! Here is a basic beginner’s guide of a free newsletter template – most software, free or purchased, will offer these features that will allow you to customize the template to your liking.

First, you carefully create your text to suit the message of your e-mail. Keep your sentences catchy, short and engaging.  The template will have pre-created text boxes located conveniently in different parts of the template.  All you will have to do is drag and drop the appropriate text into each of these text boxes.  One box will likely be for the body of the e-mail, and smaller boxes will be available for the header and footer, for any additional text you need to insert.

The template will give you freedom to play around with a variety of fonts and colors.  Use these options to your advantage – select a look that matches the tone of your newsletter.  Be sure not to crowd your newsletter with too many varieties in design – font or color.  This can be difficult on the reader’s eyes. 

Enhance your message with images.  This is another benefit of the template – like the text boxes; there will be boxes for graphics.  Again it is merely a drag-and-drop function to include images in your newsletter.  Similarly, video clips can also be included to engage the attention of the reader on a specific clip that might summarize the idea of your e-mail.  The only point to keep in mind when using images is to not use any that are too big.  They will take a long time to load, and often, messages with large image files get flagged as spam and don’t even reach the inbox of your client. 

Another feature that you can include in your newsletter is an option to sign-up for special offers or list.  The “share with a friend” feature allows you to pass the e-mail to a friend who might be interested in its content. 

There are also some essential components, by law, that a newsletter must include.  These will also be accounted for in the template.  An unsubscribe link is mandatory – it must be visible and easily accessible.  These are generally placed in the footer of the e-mail.  As per the CAN-SPAM Act, this must be present. 

It’s easy to find these templates with a quick search on the Internet for free templates.  Take some time to locate the template that best suits your style, your company’s image, and then insert the information as you deem appropriate.  Free e-mail templates can make your life easy – with these features you can start communicating professionally and efficiently!