Email Marketing Templates: Branded Email Signatures and Banners

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Email Marketing Templates

Email marketing can be defined many different ways, depending on your business and industry. Generally speaking, it is the act of sending an email to a group of people (instead of one-to-one). “Group of people” can be a specific audience such as current customers or a list of subscribers. For some businesses, their lists and email marketing strategy consists of thousands of subscribers. Because this is a type of email being seen by many people, email marketing templates have become necessary to ensure these emails look good across every platform and device. In other words, a responsive email template is necessary if you want to optimize your email for these different platforms and devices. An email being too big or too small, depending on the device one uses, is not ideal. That’s when responsive email templates step in to save the day!

These emails are different than your usual text-based emails sent out of Gmail or Outlook. They often include many images, call-to-action buttons, headers, footers, and many other design elements used to draw attention. Because of the complexity these elements present, HTML code is required for these types of emails. Even a simple HTML email template will include multiple lines of code for responsiveness and formatting. In order to create HTML email template elements for your strategy, you’ll need to use a free tool or pay for software. If you or your team is constrained to a strict marketing budget, free email marketing templates are available online. However, be aware that these free tools often have limitations when compared to more sophisticated email marketing platforms. That being said, if you just need a few simple features to create your basic email marketing template, free is the way to go!

Email Template

Aside from email marketing templates, business professionals and teams also use a different type of email template. These templates are for more one-to-one or one-to-few emails being sent by employees. They’re usually sent out of Gmail or Outlook and are often text-based (as opposed to traditional email marketing templates being HTML-based). The best email templates for Gmail and Outlook include the following:

  • Clear subject line
  • Greeting
  • Body
  • Conclusion or sign-off message
  • Email signature
  • Call-to-action banner (located beneath the email signature)

If the last bullet point above stood out to you, Sigstr is here to answer your questions and explain more! By including a call-to-action in each of these emails, which is basically a banner ad located underneath the email signature, teams now have a new way to execute their email marketing strategy. It’s hard to craft an Outlook HTML email template that includes many elements. So why not use a banner powered by HTML code that can dynamically update based on the sender or recipient? The same idea applies for those Google users who are searching for Gmail responsive email template options. Rather than spending time searching for and messing with free email templates for Gmail, it’s much easier to add a banner located at the bottom.

Need a product promotion email template? Include a call-to-action banner that promotes a new product release, feature, free trial, or demo! Can’t find a coupon email template? Instead use a banner that announces a sale or discount. Marketing teams today are finding this approach to be much less overwhelming for the reader (and much more effective). If you’re searching for welcome email template HTML code, try including a banner that welcomes new employees to the team. The list goes on and on past these three examples, all to show that email banners present a much easier option to market within each Gmail or Outlook email.

If you’re simply just looking for general email template examples that can guide you on how to structure a basic email, there are many resources available online! Gmail or Outlook email templates, free of charge, help show what an effective email may look like (and how it’s structured). However, an actual Outlook HTML email template builder is a different story. It’s important to know how they’re different and the purpose each one serves. The Angular email template builder, for example, isn’t necessarily a responsive email template bootstrap option, but works perfectly for marketing teams who are really serious about email. Know what works best for your business at that moment in time, then use it as a guide to explore free options or software that costs money.

Email Example

The best way to build HTML emails or learn how to write professional emails is to examine any email example you can find. The more the better! Whether it be a sales promotion email sample, marketing email template sample, or just a regular business email template example, there are many B2B email marketing examples out there you can use to better your own email strategy. If you’re looking for a sophisticated responsive email template, Github developers can build one for you. If you’re looking for more inspiration before spending time or resources on a tool or technology, a simple email marketing examples PDF makes more sense.

Evaluating email marketing template examples allows you to determine what you want to include or not include in your own template. Find the best examples to model your emails off of, but also look at bad email marketing examples to know what to avoid. You should also think about which types of email examples you want to collect. For example, if you want to craft an email marketing strategy around your upcoming event, check out event email marketing examples. In this group you’ll find that all of the best examples include:

  • A clear subject line mentioning the event
  • An opening line that shows why this is relevant to the recipient or how it can provide value
  • Two or three lines of text describing the event in basic detail (when, where, who will be there, etc.)
  • A compelling call-to-action or reason to act now
  • An email signature with the sender’s name, contact information, and company information
  • A banner located underneath the email signature that promotes the event and leads the recipient to the registration page (if they click on it)

The bullet points above can also apply to a sample email to promote business. In these types of emails, instead of promoting an event, the sender can promote the business or brand.

What’s the best source for an email marketing sample letter or HTML email template example? We recommend checking out Mailchimp or HubSpot. Both are software platforms that allow teams to build and send emails to many people at once. But they also share many sample email template HTML examples, even if you aren’t a paying customer. And if you’re interested in HTML banner templates and design ideas for Gmail or Outlook email, Sigstr is here to help!

Email Marketing Strategy

Before deciding on a template, design, and which technology to use, it’s good to start with a strategy. What do you want to achieve with your email marketing strategy? Simply more clicks or traffic to your website? Or does it go beyond that, like booked meetings and won revenue? At this point, you might just be wondering how to do email marketing or how to plan a strategy. That’s okay, too! Your plan or strategy all starts with an objective. Here are a few important questions to ask yourself during the strategy stage:

  • What do I want to achieve with my email marketing strategy? Is there a specific number or KPI ( or multiple KPIs) I want to use to measure my success?
  • How will my email marketing strategy align with overall marketing strategy? Does it share common goals with a bigger strategy?
  • How will I execute this email marketing strategy? Who will be the team lead and what is our budget if we want to pay for software?

Your strategy could also be based on your audience. Whether you’re a B2B or B2C company, it’s important to consider who will be receiving and reading these emails. Think about specific personas or personality types when figuring out how to write B2B emails. What do they care about most? How can your product, service, or company align to their goals or pain points? Do they prefer to read longer and more informative emails? Or, do they want you to get straight to the point?

People, resources, technology, budget, and the audience will all influence your email marketing strategy and determine what’s best for your team. Take your time to evaluate all of these factors, and any other variables you think are worth considering. Respect your audience’s time and don’t abuse the power of email marketing. Keep it personalized and fun, even in today’s world where automation and mass marketing messages are so common.

Free HTML Email Template

In addition to paying for a platform or software to help fuel your email marketing strategy, free tools and resources are also available. A free HTML email template, for example, can serve as a starting point for your email design. Mailchimp’s free email template builder is a good example of this! Their free email editor, along with many other available free tools, allow users to get started on email marketing with a set number of basic features. There is also a growing collection of free responsive email templates. 2018 had more than the previous year’s free responsive email templates. 2017 had more than 2016, and so on. As you can see by this growing trend, each year has brought more and more free options for all of us to use! Not only is there an increase in free email templates, but also with free downloads. Free downloads are available for whatever type of email you need: html, responsive, or even both with free responsive email template HTML code. From responsive email template HTML code free download options to HTML email templates free download resources or bootstrap email template free download guides, email services offer quite the list to choose from.

If you are a fan of another software for HTML emails, there are other template tools available. This includes free email marketing templates for Outlook and the free email template builder for Gmail. Each also offer basic email template examples, free of charge! Not only do they offer marketing and basic email templates, but they offer specific templates as well, such as business email templates. Free download options are available for several email templates, helping you in all situations! The options are limitless when it comes to making a stellar email for your audience. And if you ever need any additional help employee email and using it as a new marketing channel, Sigstr is here to help!