The Best Email Newsletter HTML Templates: 10 Options (+ Our Top Pick)

You probably already know that email newsletters are one of the best ways for you to connect with your audience. But did you know there’s more than just content that you can offer them?

A distinct template is one of those things. A template helps you define your theme and personality while giving you the space to experiment with your brand voice. Continuing to use it over and over ensures your audience recognizes and trusts your brand and conveys professionalism.

A great email template can also boost your campaign's success. It should be responsive, which means it will adjust to different screen sizes and devices to provide an optimal viewing experience for your subscribers.

Why does it matter? Because over 61.9% of emails are opened on mobile devices. Similarly, these templates are optimized for deliverability (yep, your emails won’t get blocked or marked as spam) and they also help you build a consistent look and feel for your newsletters.

In this blog, we will be discussing 10 of the best HTML email newsletter templates and our top picks. We will also cover the key components to look for when choosing an HTML email newsletter template and provide tips for customizing your template to meet the unique needs of your business. Whether you're just starting with email newsletters or looking to upgrade your current template, this guide will provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision.

Key Components of HTML Email Newsletter Templates

While you’re on your quest to search for, or build, the template that works the best for you, here are a few components to keep in mind:

Accessibility

An HTML email newsletter template should be designed with accessibility in mind. This is a crucial aspect as it ensures that all users, regardless of their abilities, can access and use the content effectively. You can improve the readability by experimenting with font sizes for headings, subheadings, and the body of your content.

You can also test your content before publishing by checking its readability score on platforms like Grammarly or Hemingway. They suggest grammatical changes along with highlighting if your body is too wordy or difficult to read. A readability score of 60 or above is good to begin with, as it suggests that your content can be understood by most people. The higher the score, the better the readability.

Alt texts for images, headings, text size and styles, and color contrast are a few features that ensure your design is accessible to all. The Local Optimist Digest aces this by using different colors, font sizes, and contrasts.

Branding

An email newsletter template should be consistent with the overall branding of the company. It involves using specific design elements, such as colors, fonts, logos, and images to create a visual identity that is associated with your brand and reinforces your messaging. It builds your brand image and makes it recognizable to your subscribers.

There are many ways you can build your brand and help people recognize you:

Tell a Story

If you’d like your readers to laugh a little when they open your newsletter, maybe you could start by sharing memes. You can also share anecdotes from your own life, to set a context, before you begin with the main content.

Educate or Entertain

People always want value out of the content they consume. Once you’ve set the tone of your brand, stick to it–and make sure your content is helping them in some way.

Give Updates

Sharing behind the scenes of your company, and your team’s stories, or updating the audience on what you’re up to makes them feel like a part of your brand–and that builds an amazing emotional connection.

One of the best examples of this would be the way Milk Road maintains its branding across all social media platforms with a consistent color scheme and its trademark logo.

Compatibility

The template should be compatible with major email clients and devices, including desktop and mobile devices. Most people check their emails on their phones, while some prefer reading them on their laptops. You put your heart and soul into writing your content, so you want it to be delivered successfully. While choosing the perfect email template, make sure you consider its multiple-device usability.

Along with the aspects mentioned above, you should consider the availability of customization for the header, body, footer, CTA, formatting, and structure. The best template will offer you maximum freedom to customize your newsletter the way you like.

Email Newsletter HTML Templates (Best Options)

There are many options for email newsletter HTML templates. The main purpose of using templates is to make the process easier for you. Here are some of the top options to consider.

beehiiv:

beehiiv is a powerful email template editor that allows you to create custom HTML templates without any coding. It includes a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, a library of pre-made templates and blocks, and a powerful CSS and HTML editor. The new editor also makes it easy for you to save and customize your templates.

Campaign Monitor

Campaign Monitor includes a library of pre-made HTML email templates. These templates are designed with accessibility, deliverability, and branding in mind, and they can be customized to suit your needs.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp offers a variety of pre-made HTML email templates. These templates are designed to be easy to customize and can be edited using a drag-and-drop interface.

Litmus Builder

You can create custom templates from scratch or by using pre-made blocks and templates on Litmus Builder. It includes a library of over 40 pre-made templates, and it supports all major email clients, including Outlook.

Zurb Foundation for Emails

Zurb Foundation for Emails is a framework for building responsive HTML email templates. It includes a set of pre-made templates and blocks, as well as a powerful CSS framework that makes it easy to create custom templates.

BEE

BEE is an email editor that allows you to create custom HTML templates without any coding. It includes a drag-and-drop interface, a library of pre-made templates and blocks, and a powerful CSS and HTML editor.

Stripo

Stripo includes a drag-and-drop interface and a library of pre-made templates and blocks. Stripo is an email editor that offers a library of pre-made HTML email templates, as well as the ability to create custom templates from scratch.

Email on Acid

Email on Acid is an email testing and development platform that includes a library of pre-made HTML email templates. These templates are designed to be compatible with all major email clients, including Outlook, and they can be customized to suit your needs.

Antwort

Antwort has a set of HTML email templates that are designed to be easy to customize and compatible with all major email clients. It includes a set of pre-made templates and blocks and supports responsive design, making it easy to create emails that look great on any device.

MJML

MJML is a framework for building responsive HTML email templates. It includes a set of pre-made templates and blocks, as well as a powerful CSS framework that makes it easy to create custom templates. With MJML, you can create emails that look great on any device, and it supports all major email clients, including Outlook.

Email Newsletter Templates HTML - Our Top Pick

“Don’t rewrite something twice” is a quote that developers live by. Repetition is boring and energy-draining; automation will save you time and help you focus on better things. Once you have set the tone of your brand, you need not repeat yourself over and over and over…

Your newsletter template should be optimized for your use so that you don’t have to figure everything out all over again each time you write and design your newsletter.

For that, the beehiiv editor is what you need.

The new beehiiv no-code editor includes new features for all things content. For example, you can quote your favorite philosopher using block quotes, or directly share a code snippet using the Codeblock. There are many new features for you to explore that let you define your brand identity in your own unique way.

At beehiiv, we are crafting the best editor possible for the content that creators want to share with their audience. This means more of everything great (i.e. Flexibility, deliverability, optimization, customization, etc), and less of all things that make content creation and sharing a headache. We’ll figure it all out for you, so you can focus on your art.

How do I create a newsletter template in HTML?

Well, you don’t need to. HTML templates offer limited freedom, and coding isn’t a need because there’s so much you can do even when you do not know how to code. Creating a newsletter template is one of those things.

But if you still wish to, here’s how you can do it:

1. Create a new HTML file using a text editor, such as Notepad or Sublime Text.

2. Add the HTML structure for your newsletter. Start with a header that includes the doctype declaration, a head section with any meta information, and a body section.

3. Add the content for your newsletter, including text, images, and any other elements you want to include. You can use HTML tags, such as <p> for paragraphs, </p><h1> to </h1><h6> for headings, <ul> for bullet lists, and for tabular data.<table></table></ul></h6>

4. Style your newsletter using CSS. You can add CSS styles directly to the HTML file using the

5. Test your newsletter template in multiple email clients and web browsers to ensure that it displays correctly.

How do I create an HTML email template in Outlook?

To create an HTML email template in Outlook, you can follow these steps:

1. Create a new email message in Outlook and compose the content that you want to include in your template.

2. Format the text, add images, and customize the design elements to match your desired look and feel.

3. Save the email as a template by going to "File" > "Save As" and selecting "Outlook Template (*.oft)" from the "Save as type" drop-down menu. Give the template a name and save it to a location of your choice.

4. To use the template, create a new email message, go to "File" > "New" > "Choose Form," and select "User Templates in File System." Locate your template, select it, and click "Open."

5. The template will open as a new email message, ready for you to customize as needed. You can fill in the recipient, subject, and any other fields, and then send the email.

How do I format an Outlook email to look like a newsletter?

To format an Outlook email to look like a newsletter, you can follow these steps:

1. Create a new email message in Outlook and add the content you want to include in your newsletter.

2. Use the formatting options in the ribbon to style your text, such as font size, color, and bold or italic.

3. To add images to your newsletter, use the "Insert" > "Picture" option. You can also use the "Insert" > "Table" option to create a table to arrange your content into columns and rows.

4. To create sections or sections with different background colors, you can use table cells or the "Page Color" option in the "Page Layout" tab to set a background color for the entire email.

5. To create a header or footer with your logo or other design elements, you can use the "Insert" > "Header" or "Footer" options, respectively.

6. To add a border around your content, you can use the "Borders" option in the "Home" tab.

7. Once you are satisfied with the design of your newsletter, save it as a template by going to "File" > "Save As" and selecting "Outlook Template (*.oft)" from the "Save as type" drop-down menu.

8. To use the template, create a new email message, go to "File" > "New" > "Choose Form," and select "User Templates in File System," Locate your template, select it, and click "Open."

The template will open as a new email message, ready for you to customize as needed. You can fill in the recipient, subject, and any other fields, and then send the email.

Does Outlook have HTML templates?

Yes, Outlook does support HTML templates. You can create custom HTML templates in Outlook and use them to send emails that have a consistent look and feel. To create an HTML template in Outlook, you can either create one from scratch using HTML and CSS, or you can use a pre-made HTML email template that you can find online. Once you have created your template, you can save it as a file with a .html extension and then import it into Outlook.

To use your HTML template in Outlook, simply create a new email and then use the "Insert File" option to insert your template into the body of the email. You can then customize the content of the email as needed and send it to your recipients. This allows you to send emails that have a consistent and professional look, without having to manually format each email individually.

Newsletter HTML Email Templates (Closing Thoughts)

In conclusion, email newsletter templates are a crucial component of any email marketing campaign. Whether you're looking to improve the design and accessibility of your emails, or to reinforce your brand identity, having a well-designed template can make all the difference. With the right tools and resources, creating a high-quality email newsletter template is within reach, even for those with limited design experience.

I’d suggest you opt for a no-code template builder because you can design, write, and create pretty much anything today without knowing how to code. Not only does it take time to build one with code, it also doesn’t provide much customization and optimization as the final outcome.

When choosing an email newsletter template, it's important to consider your specific needs and goals. If you're looking to create accessible emails that reach a wide audience, consider templates that are designed with accessibility in mind. If you're looking to reinforce your brand, choose a template that includes key elements of your brand identity, such as colors, fonts, logos, and images.

And if you’re looking for an all-rounder, sign up for beehiiv today. We’d love to help you grow.