Sending emails is an important task for just about any business. Whether you’re communicating with customers and clients or employees and business partners, you’re likely to spend at least part of your day sending emails. However, emailing can quickly become an overwhelming and time-consuming endeavor.
Using email templates can be one way to cut back on the amount of time you spend emailing. As a way to become more efficient, a template allows you to spend less time crafting emails — particularly ones you need to send repeatedly.
What exactly are email templates, and how can you use them effectively? Let’s take a look.
What Are Email Templates?
A template acts like a skeleton for your email, allowing you to keep the same basic foundation while filling in specific details based on who you’re sending the email to. Email templates are particularly helpful for individuals who seem to have similar conversations with each client, customer or business partner.
To use an email template, you simply need to copy and paste the text into a new email. You can then change any information you need or add new details that relate to that specific conversation. This allows you to save time because you don’t need to retype the same information over and over.
Email templates can also be more detailed. If you send out weekly or monthly newsletters to a subscriber list, a template can help you send consistent emails every time. They can also ensure images, videos, graphics and other items appear correctly for your recipients.
Email templates are useful for many reasons. Regardless of the industry your business is in, you can use templates to make you more efficient. Here are four ways email templates can make your day-to-day activities more efficient.
Email Templates Save You Time
As we already mentioned, one of the biggest benefits of email templates is that they can save you time. Because you don’t need to spend time typing out the same information over and over, templates can cut off a few minutes with each email you send. If you’re sending dozens of emails each day, this could potentially be hours of time you’ve just freed up each week.
Email templates are additionally beneficial if you’re sending intricate emails. If they include images, HTML or other special formatting, an email template can save you hours each day. When you don’t need to start an email from scratch each day, you can focus on other tasks and get even more done.
Email Templates Ensure You Don’t Forget Important Information
Email templates can also be beneficial if you have a lot of information you need to cover that you don’t want to forget about. Because an email template will have places where you can fill in additional information, you’ll know just what you need to include before sending a message off to a client or business partner.
Email templates are particularly helpful if you’re a business owner sending important information, such as meeting confirmations or contract details. Because forgetting information in either of these kinds of emails could cause confusion for both you and your client, you want to be sure you include everything the first time around. An email template allows you to fill in the specific details and ensure you’re covering all your bases.
Email Templates Create Brand Consistency
A strong brand can improve your image with your customers and clients. When your branding is consistent, customers and clients will become familiar with your company and grow to recognize what you offer. The stronger your brand image is, the more customers and clients will be willing to pay to work with you.
Brand consistency should go into everything you do, including your emails. When you use templates, you can ensure each of your emails keeps the same branding. This means that when a customer, client or business partner receives an email from you, they will immediately know where it came from. This can strengthen your overall brand.
Email Templates Allow for Consistent Formatting
When an email comes in that is not properly formatted, it can be difficult for your recipient to read. If you’re starting emails from scratch each time, then you will need to send numerous test emails to ensure the formatting comes out correctly. This is especially true if you’re sending HTML messages or detailed newsletters.
However, if you create an email template, you don’t have to worry about the formatting. Because you’ve already tested the email, you know it will go through to the recipient the way you intended. This can save you time needing to restructure the email to get the formatting down.
There are a number of benefits to creating an email template. Whether you create an email template for emails you send frequently throughout the week, or you use a template for your company newsletter, having templates ready to go can save you time and make you seem more professional.
Feel free to get creative with the way you use email templates. Because each professional or company will have different needs, you’ll want to create templates that work for you. Use trial and error to create the best email templates that help save you time, maintain consistency and help you improve your image.
Author
Lexie Lu is a designer and writer. She loves researching trends in the web and graphic design industry. She writes weekly on Design Roast and can be followed on Twitter @lexieludesigner