An email newsletter is a simple and convenient way for brands to keep in touch with customers, clients or followers. Chances are, you’ve received a branded email or two from businesses you’ve interacted with online. That’s email marketing at work. Brands use this powerful tool to keep their subscribers up to date with the latest news, useful tips, and new content that aligns with their customers’ interests.

This guide will show you how to create an email newsletter from scratch using Adobe Express – so you can stay connected and offer value to your clients directly to their inbox.

What is an email newsletter?

An email newsletter is a type of email marketing that businesses use to regularly send content to their subscriber lists. In the UK, recipients of email newsletters have to voluntarily opt in to receive email newsletters – usually via a form, website, or sign-up offer – according to GDPR. Email subscribers can be categorised into specific audience groups such as:

• loyal customers
• potential leads
• blog readers.

This segmenting can help brands understand the best and most relevant content to share with them.

Common content for email newsletters includes blog links, announcements, tutorials, behind-the-scenes content, product features, and discounts. They are usually sent out weekly, fortnightly, or monthly – depending on your business goals.

Editable email newsletter ideas and examples.

What are the benefits of having an email newsletter?

Newsletters have a wide range of benefits that most brands can take advantage of. They help build relationships, drive conversions, and keep your audience engaged over time.

Key benefits of an email newsletter include:

• Driving traffic by linking directly to your website, blog, or online shop to increase views and visits.
• Building customer loyalty by sharing valuable updates tailored to your audience’s interests. This can help to keep your brand relevant.
• Tracking and measuring performance by using reporting tools on email opens, clicks, unsubscribes, and conversion rates. These metrics can help you improve your overall email marketing strategy.
• Showcasing new launches, seasonal offers, or behind-the-scenes sneak peeks on products and services.

How to create an email newsletter in 7 steps with Adobe Express.

Whether you’re just starting out or refreshing your strategy, here’s how to make an engaging email newsletter that works for your brand.

1. Build out your email marketing strategy.

Your email marketing strategy should centre on your audience. Think about their age, location, behaviour, and interests, and use this information to define your newsletter’s purpose. Are you focused on brand awareness, sales, lead nurturing, or something else?

Another important factor for your email marketing strategy is the frequency of your newsletters. Weekly or monthly are the most popular options. But you might also prefer to send out ad-hoc updates around events or promotions.

Once you’ve formed your email strategy, you need to know how to measure success. KPIs like open rate, click-through rate, conversions, and unsubscribe rate are common ways to track the performance of an email campaign, and you can tweak your future newsletters based on these results.

2. Make the most of editable newsletter templates.

Save time by using professionally designed email newsletter templates from Adobe Express. With easy-to-use templates, you can quickly customise fonts, colours, and layouts to match your brand’s style.

Just be mindful not to switch up your templates too often. When your customers start to recognise your brand emails, consistency is key. A sudden change in design may cause confusion and potentially impact brand loyalty.

3. Apply your branding to the newsletter design.

Your branding should be consistent across all your marketing materials, and that includes your email newsletters. Set up a brand kit in Adobe Express to apply your own logo, colour palette, and fonts consistently across all your email templates. This will help reinforce recognition and build trust with each send. reinforce recognition and build trust with each send.

4. Customise the template with other design elements.

Keep your email layouts clean and mobile-optimised, as nearly 59% of Millennials check email via their smartphone – increasing to 67% for Gen Z. But that doesn’t mean there’s no room to customise your newsletter templates. You can add icons, product images, GIFs, or text effects to make it visually appealing.

Consider short video clips or testimonials for even more engagement. However, ensure your email is still easy to scan and uses readable fonts, consistent headers, and clear CTAs that encourage readers to click through to your website.

5. Come up with some initial newsletter ideas.

To kickstart your email newsletters, decide on a set of themes that will be engaging for your audience. You can draw inspiration from earlier high-performing emails, or from content on your social channels that drove solid engagement. You should also align your email content with your business goals, whether that’s to drive website visits, announce events, share tips, etc.

Popular ideas for email newsletters include staff picks and behind-the-scenes content that gives readers a glimpse into life at your company, expert or industry insights, user-generated content that shows your customers using your products, and seasonal offers to drive sales.

6. Save and share your newsletter template.

Once you’ve created your newsletter template, don’t forget to save it and share your designs with colleagues or collaborators to edit or get feedback. In most cases, your email marketing won’t be a solo project – so it’s important to collaborate with stakeholders to create the perfect newsletter for your brand before it’s sent to customers. Plus, by saving and sharing your template, it’s easier to repurpose it for future newsletters to save time.

7. Send your email newsletter.

Happy with your email marketing template? Download your final design from Adobe Express and send it to your desired platform.

Before hitting send, test your email by first sending it to yourself and a few team members. This ensures everything looks right and all the links work as they should. Once you’re confident it’s ready to go, focus on crafting an engaging subject line that grabs attention, and choose the best time to send your email newsletter for maximum impact.

Free email newsletter ideas for your small business from Adobe Express.

Generate more email marketing templates with AI tools on Adobe Express.

New to email design? No problem. With the AI Template Generator, you can instantly create professional, on-brand layouts. Simply enter a few details about your brand, like your audience, style, and purpose.

It’s perfect for small businesses short on time and manpower, or anyone starting a newsletter from scratch. In seconds, you’ll get fresh visuals, font pairings, colour combinations, and layout ideas. And if you want to make them even more personalised to your brand, you can add your unique touches to the generated design.

Try Adobe Express for free now

Good to know.

What is the best time to send an email newsletter?

The best time to send a marketing email depends on many factors, for example – your industry, your target audience, and what you want to achieve with the email. You can test out different times to see what might work best for your business and customers.

Are email newsletters effective?

Yes – email marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to drive engagement, build trust, and convert sales leads into customers. ROI (return on investment) from email marketing doubled year-on-year in 2024 for 52% of marketers polled by Statista.

How do you format an email like a newsletter?

Use a branded header, clear body text, a standout CTA, and a footer with your contact info or unsubscribe link. For inspiration, check out our email newsletter templates.

Is Adobe Express free?

Yes, our free plan offers many core features, including thousands of templates, photo editing and effects, animation, and 5 GB of storage. See our pricing page for details and to compare plans.