How to Create an Email Newsletter [2021 Tutorial] – Design, Layout, Send

Bybomber bot

Email newsletters remain one of the most effective channels for engaging audiences and driving business results. Consider these stats:

  • There are over 4 billion daily email users, and this number is expected to climb to 4.6 billion by 2025 (Statista)
  • 78% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months (HubSpot)
  • 31% of B2B marketers say email newsletters are the best way to nurture leads (Content Marketing Institute)

As a developer, you have the skills to create email newsletters that are not only beautifully designed but also technically optimized. In this in-depth tutorial, I‘ll share my knowledge for coding perfect email newsletters that delight subscribers and drive results. We‘ll cover strategy, design, development, testing, and optimization. Let‘s get started!

Plan Your Email Newsletter Strategy

Before jumping into design and code, clarify the purpose and goals for your newsletter.

  • What is the focus of your newsletter? What unique value will you offer subscribers?
  • Who are your target subscribers and what are their needs, interests, and preferences?
  • How will your newsletter align with your overall business and marketing objectives?
  • What email marketing platform will you use? Do you need any other tools?

Answering these strategic questions will guide the rest of your email creation process. For example, if your newsletter targets developers, your content and design should be tailored to their technical interests and skimmable on mobile between coding sessions. If you aim to drive traffic to your blog, make sure to include clear calls-to-action.

Design an Optimized Email Newsletter Layout

The design and layout of your email newsletter have a big impact on user experience and response rates. While there‘s no one-size-fits all template, effective email designs tend to follow some best practices:

  • Use a clear hierarchy with headings, subheadings, and body copy to organize content
  • Put the most important elements like CTAs "above the fold"
  • Feature one main CTA button or link per section
  • Keep copy concise, around 20 lines of text per section
  • Limit yourself to 2-3 colors and fonts to avoid visual clutter
  • Design a responsive layout that adapts to different screen sizes
  • Test your design across email clients and devices
  • Consider accessibility for subscribers with disabilities

When coding your email template, keep the HTML as simple and clean as possible. Tables are still the most reliable way to structure email layouts. Here‘s a basic template to get you started:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
    <title>Newsletter Title</title>
    <style type="text/css">
      /* Add CSS styles here */
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
      <tr>
        <td>
          <!-- Email header -->
        </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>
          <!-- Email body content -->
        </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>
          <!-- Email footer -->
        </td>
      </tr>
    </table>
  </body>
</html>

Some specific elements to include:

  • A 600px max-width wrapper table for email clients with limited support
  • Web safe default fonts like Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, etc. with fallbacks
  • Nested tables for complex layouts like multi-column sections
  • Inline CSS since blocks are not well supported
  • Alt text for images in case they don‘t load
  • Ample cell padding for readability and "click targets" on buttons

I also recommend using a CSS reset to eliminate any unwanted browser or email client styles:

body, table, td, a { 
  -ms-text-size-adjust: 100%; 
  -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; 
}

table, td { 
  mso-table-lspace: 0pt; 
  mso-table-rspace: 0pt;
  border-collapse: collapse;
}

img {
  -ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;
  border: 0;
  height: auto;
  line-height: 100%; 
  outline: none;
  text-decoration: none;
  display: block;
}

table { 
  border-collapse: collapse !important;
}

body { 
  width: 100% !important;
  height: 100% !important; 
  margin: 0 !important; 
  padding: 0 !important; 
  background-color: #F6F6F6 !important;  
  font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
  font-size: 16px;
  line-height: 1.5;
  color: #333333;
}

Develop Compelling Email Newsletter Content

The content of your email newsletter should deliver on the value promised to subscribers and support your business goals. Common newsletter content includes:

  • Educational blog posts or articles
  • Industry news summaries and commentary
  • Case studies or customer stories
  • Exclusive offers or promotions
  • Upcoming events and webinars
  • Surveys, polls, and feedback requests
  • Personal notes from company leaders
  • Recommended resources or tools

No matter the topic, aim to write email newsletter copy that is clear, concise, and focused on benefits to the reader. Avoid jargon and write in a conversational tone like you‘re emailing a friend. Here are some more tips for effective email copywriting:

  • Nail the subject line – keep it under 50 characters, use actionable language, and spark curiosity
  • Put the most important content and call-to-action above the fold
  • Break up long blocks of text with headings, bullets, images, and buttons
  • Personalize the content based on subscriber data when possible
  • Use active voice and write in the second person
  • Add alt text and captions to images
  • Proofread and edit ruthlessly

The average adult attention span is just 8 seconds, so you have precious little time to capture and keep subscribers‘ interest. Make every word count!

Choose and Integrate Email Marketing Tools

The right email marketing platform and tools will make it much easier to design, code, send, and track your newsletters. Look for an email service provider (ESP) with:

  • Drag-and-drop or HTML builders for coding emails
  • Responsive templates and design tools
  • Contact management and list segmentation
  • Easy-to-integrate forms and landing pages
  • Automation for welcome emails, drip campaigns, etc.
  • A/B testing for subject lines, content, CTAs, etc.
  • In-depth analytics and reporting
  • Inbox preview across email clients and devices

Popular ESPs for developers include:

  • MailChimp
  • Campaign Monitor
  • Constant Contact
  • HubSpot
  • ActiveCampaign

To provide a seamless experience for subscribers, integrate your email platform with the rest of your marketing stack and website. For example:

  • Add email signup forms on key pages of your website
  • Automatically sync new contacts from your CRM or ecommerce platform
  • Dynamically pull in personalized content or product info
  • Trigger transactional emails based on user actions on your site or app

Many ESPs provide plugins or APIs to connect your systems. If you need more flexibility and control, you can code your own integration using webhooks or server-side APIs.

Test and Troubleshoot Email Newsletters

Before hitting send, thoroughly test your email newsletter to catch any issues with rendering, functionality, or deliverability. Some key things to test:

  • Subject line and preview text
  • Layout rendering across email clients and devices
  • Dynamic content and personalization
  • Image loading and alt text
  • Link functionality
  • Spelling, grammar, and formatting

There are several tools and processes you can use for testing emails:

  • Send test emails to your own accounts and devices
  • Use a tool like Litmus to preview emails across 90+ clients and devices
  • Run your email through a spam testing tool
  • Check your email against accessibility guidelines
  • Verify all links, images, and tracking work correctly
  • Get feedback from stakeholders and users

Don‘t forget to also test the entire user flow from signup to unsubscribe. Make sure the process is smooth and the user experience aligns with your brand.

Common email development issues to watch out for:

  • Email client quirks and inconsistencies
  • Lack of support for HTML5, CSS3, and responsive design
  • Image blocking and slow loading times
  • Spam filter triggers like certain words or code
  • Broken dynamic content and personalization
  • Poor accessibility for screen readers and other assistive devices

Debugging and fixing email issues can be tricky, but there are many resources to help:

  • Email client CSS support guides
  • Responsive email frameworks like MJML or Foundation for Emails
  • Accessibility checkers and guidelines
  • Community forums and tutorials

Analyze and Optimize Email Newsletter Performance

Sending your email newsletter is just the beginning – the real insights come from tracking and analyzing your results. Key email metrics to measure include:

  • Delivery rate – % of emails that reached inboxes
  • Open rate – % who opened the email
  • Click-through rate – % who clicked a link
  • Conversion rate – % who completed a desired action
  • Unsubscribe rate – % who opted out after receiving
  • Bounce rate – % of emails that couldn‘t be delivered
  • Spam complaint rate – % marked as spam
  • List growth rate – # of new subscribers minus unsubscribes and bounces

According to Campaign Monitor, the average email benchmarks for all industries are:

  • 18% open rate
  • 2.6% click-through rate
  • 0.2% unsubscribe rate
  • 0.7% complaint rate

Compare your newsletter metrics to industry benchmarks and your own past send data to gauge performance and spot areas for improvement.

Some ways to optimize your email newsletters:

  • A/B test subject lines, content, CTAs, imagery, etc. to see what gets the best response
  • Segment your list based on subscriber data and send targeted emails to each group
  • Personalize email content and offers based on subscriber behavior and preferences
  • Experiment with send day and time to catch subscribers when they‘re most engaged
  • Re-engage inactive subscribers with a winback campaign
  • Retire unengaged subscribers to keep your list healthy
  • Survey subscribers to learn what content and frequency they prefer

Stay Up-to-Date with Email Newsletter Best Practices

Email technology and trends continue to evolve, so it‘s important to stay up to date as an email developer. Some emerging email trends and technologies to keep an eye on:

  • Interactive email elements like accordions, carousels, and quizzes
  • Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) for Email for more dynamic and fast emails
  • Dark Mode support for designing emails that adapt to light and dark UI preferences
  • Artificial intelligence for personalizing email content at scale
  • Voice interface compatibility for screen readers and voice assistants

To continue learning and improving your email development skills, tap into resources like:

  • Industry blogs and newsletters (Litmus, EmailMonks, Campaign Monitor, etc.)
  • Online communities (StackOverflow, Reddit, Slack groups, etc.)
  • Conferences (Litmus Live, EiQ, Unspam, etc.)
  • Courses and tutorials (LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, etc.)

Wrap-up

Developing email newsletters is both an art and science. It takes a combination of thoughtful strategy, compelling design and copy, clean code, meticulous testing, and continuous optimization. But email‘s impressive ROI makes it well worth the effort.

As a developer, you‘re well equipped to build best-in-class email newsletters. So go forth and craft emails that educate, engage, and convert. Stay curious and test everything. Your subscribers (and bottom line) will thank you.