[3–5 sentences in the brand voice: what is moving in the client's field this month, answer-first. Written as a letter, not an announcement — the expert lens the reader subscribed for.]
[4–6 sentences in their own voice — one thing they want readers to understand this month. Rotates across the team; always signed.]
"[A member moment, testimonial or thread highlight — anonymised where the vertical requires.]"
[2–3 sentences that let the reader do it today, no purchase required.]
[2–3 short lines of honest news: a new team member, an added service or capability, changed hours, a milestone. Plain reporting, no selling — text links only.]
[One line of honest context — timely where true, never manufactured urgency.]
[Primary action]How this template is built once at onboarding, then assembled monthly. The exemplar above is the design reference; the platform build follows these constraints.
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Layout | Single column, 680px max width (wide-classic; still renders safely in all major clients), table-based email-safe HTML with all styles inlined. Stacks cleanly on mobile; minimum 13px body text. |
| Masthead | A designed header image, produced once when the newsletter name is confirmed and stored in the media library. Supplied @2x (1360×424 for 680×212 display), with a dark-safe variant; alt text = the newsletter name so the issue survives images-off. Month/issue line stays live text below the image — never baked into the artwork. |
| Contents strip | "In this issue" — plain text links, auto-assembled from the slots that are ON this month. Collapses with the slots; never lists an empty feature. |
| Lead read card | Matches the website blog card exactly (image full-width and cropped to fit, category kicker, title, excerpt, date/author/read-time meta) — the newsletter is the site in the inbox, one design system. |
| Editable regions | One editable region per slot (opening note, features 1–6), locked chrome everywhere else — masthead, contents strip, footer ritual and legal block are not editable per issue. |
| Slot collapse | Every feature module can be switched off per issue. A slot with no real content collapses entirely — no filler, no placeholder ever sends. |
| The one-CTA rule | Exactly one button per issue, always Feature 6 (What's on). Features 1–5 use text links only. Enforced in QA, not left to habit. |
| Tokens | Design tokens from the client's set (colours, fonts with web-safe email fallbacks, radius). Merge fields: first name in greeting only; sender identity from the questionnaire record. |
| Images | Masthead + article image with meaningful alt text; layout must look finished with images off (colour-led, per the design system). |
| Compliance | Unsubscribe + preferences merge tags in the legal block; legal entity name and physical address; sender = the verified sending identity (SPF/DKIM/DMARC live before first send). |
| Wiring | Date-triggered monthly to everyone opted-in and not suppressed. Signup form (footer, lightest entry) tags newsletter-only and fires one confirmation email — never Welcome. Sends log to the engagement counters that route the ascension ladder. |
| Dark mode | Masthead image (dark-safe variant), Feature 3 community band and Feature 6 band tested in dark mode; ink backgrounds hold, text stays readable. |
| QA per issue | Links resolve · one CTA only · guardrails pass (vertical style rules, e.g. no absolute claims) · test send to a real inbox before schedule. |
The platform's campaign builder takes this template two ways, and we use both: the HTML goes in whole, then the slots are saved as reusable blocks.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 · Import | The production version of this template (table-based, styles inlined) is pasted into the builder's native HTML code editor — it has syntax highlighting and a live preview, so the import is checked visually on the spot. |
| 2 · Save as template | Saved to the Email Template Library as the client's newsletter master, so every monthly issue starts from the same locked base — never rebuilt from scratch. |
| 3 · Blocks | Each feature slot is saved as a reusable content block in the drag-and-drop builder. Monthly assembly = drop in this month's active slots; an unused slot simply isn't dropped in (slot collapse, natively). |
| 4 · Media | Masthead image and article images live in the platform media library at stable URLs; the template references them, issues swap only the article image. |
| 5 · Merge fields | Placeholder tokens ([First name], sender identity, unsubscribe/preferences) are swapped to the platform's own merge-tag syntax at build time — confirmed against the builder's tag list, not guessed. |
| 6 · Send test | Test send from inside the builder to a real inbox (light + dark mode) before the monthly schedule is switched on. |