How to Create an Email Template For Outlook With MS Word

Today, companies rarely use Outlook for sending email marketing campaigns. However, Outlook might be a good option in some cases: for example, companies can send corporate news and work instructions via Outlook. 

You might create an email template in the Outlook email editor, but if your email contains elements like images or links, Outlook editor won’t be enough. Luckily, there is a solution: read on to learn how to create an email template using a simple Microsoft Word file. 

Before You Start Working On Your Outlook Email Template

Outlook requires an OFT file for sending emails. OFT stands for Outlook File Template: it’s the only file that displays correctly in Outlook and allows you to send emails without worrying about the content. 

The simplest way to create an email template for Outlook is to compile it in Word: you can create tables similar to HTML ones and add the content manually. The secret is that MS Word and Outlook use the same engine to render the content of an email, so this method is perfect for everyone who doesn’t want to code. 

We’d recommend you create an email layout in Photoshop or Figma before you start working on the template in Word: of course, you can try to design your email in Word right away, but it gets much easier when you’ve got an email layout you can lean on.

How to Create an Email For Outlook: Step-By-Step Guide

Now, we’ll show you how to create and send an Outlook email with Word using our modular template for https://misstomrsbox.com/ as an example.

We’ll take some email elements from this modular template to show you how to create a header, embed an image, add customer reviews, and create a signature and other elements of Outlook emails.

How to Create a Header For an Outlook Email

Our email header consists of two centered logos and a line at the bottom. To design this email header for Outlook, we should create a table with a single column and a single row. After that, move the email header to the table.

If we want to make an Outlook email header look beautiful, we need to pay attention to the table borders. First of all, get rid of all the borders but the bottom one: select the table and find the table settings where you can edit the borders.

After there’s only the bottom border left, click “borders and shading” and select “more colors”. 

We can’t just choose some similar color from the palette for the border of our email header — we need to find the specific color from the layout. The good thing about Word is that you can choose RGB and HSL colors, but sometimes you have the color code only: for example, #FFDAC5. In this case, you can just use a special service to get the RGB code: enter the color and get its characteristics or simply use Google for the same purpose.

At this step, our email header looks like this:

The only thing left is to insert an indent between the logo and the bottom border of the table. Don’t forget to color the bottom border.

How to Add a Banner to an Outlook Email In MS Word

It’s easy to embed an image to an Outlook email: just drag the file to the target space of the Word document. If you want to make the banner clickable, right-click it, select “hyperlink”, and add the link. 

How to Add Customer Reviews to an Outlook Email

Now let’s see how we can add customer reviews to an Outlook email using a simple Word document. In our case, this section consists of three elements: a headline, reviews splitted into two columns, and a CTA button.

The headline is the easiest part: just type plain text, center it, and add the properties from the layout. 

A classic review consists of two cells: the right cell is plain text and the left one contains text and five pictures in a row (a customer’s name and five stars). Just like the header, this table has only the bottom border. 

Thus, you should create a table first. Next, add your text and the picture to the left cell (you might need to change the size of the picture). The two cells are equal by default, so if your email layout is similar to ours, you should make sure that the left cell is smaller than the right one.

Add the reviews to the right cell and delete all the borders but the bottom one (just as you’ve done with the header). Don’t forget to edit the color of the border!

Then, input the text into the right cell, edit it, and do the same thing to the borders as you did to the header. Leave the lower border only and adjust its color. Copy and paste the table with a review to get the same block as you have in your template.

How to Create a CTA Button For an Outlook Email

There are two ways to create a button in an Outlook email template. The first way is to add a simple picture with a hyperlink and it’s pretty much the same way you do it with a usual clickable banner: just drag an image to the document and add a hyperlink. 

Pros of this method: 

• fast and easy;
• the whole button is clickable. 

Cons of this method:

• an image is larger than plain text, so it will download slower;
• if images don’t display in a recipient’s email, one won’t see anything. 

Another way to add a button to your Outlook email is to create a table with one cell, edit the size and color, and type the call-to-action inside the table. First, let’s create a table.

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Now, type the text, edit the color, and adjust the size of the table. 

You might find it difficult to switch the position of the text: use the mouse to move the bottom border and the Enter key to move the top border. The indents can be adjusted by changing the size of the fonts. This way, you can edit the indents and place the caption in the center of the button. 

Select the text, right-click it, select “hyperlink”, and add the link. 

Pros of this method:

• it’s not an image, so the download speed will increase;
• if images don’t display, recipients will still see the button.

Cons of this method:

• it takes more time;
• only the text area is clickable. 

Always Center Your Tables For Outlook 

If you use our method to create Outlook email templates, always align the table to the center.

How to Send an Email Template Via Outlook 

At this point, you’ve got a Word document with the template. Your first step is to create a new email in Outlook; then, you just copy and paste the content of your Word file and preview the email.

Preview is necessary for troubleshooting and fixing bugs: for example, you may find empty spaces or extra borders somewhere they shouldn’t be. However, you can easily fix such bugs in Outlook and it shouldn’t take much time. 

If one of your tables is left-aligned, your Outlook email will display in the following way:

That’s why you shouldn’t forget to center the tables.

The last step is to save the template: just click “Save Template” and select “Outlook Template”. 

How to Add an Email Signature in Outlook 

In some cases, you might need an email signature that will be added to each Outlook email template. You can create it with Word using the same rules we’ve mentioned above: create a table, add a picture, a link, etc. In the end, you’ll get a Word file with an email signature. 

Of course, you can add it manually each time you send an email campaign, but it’s not convenient. Let’s see how to create an automated Outlook email signature. 

Create a new Outlook email and select “Signature”:

Next, click “Email signature” and create a new signature. 

Open your email signature in Word, copy and paste its content:

The last step is to save your template in Outlook and use it in every email you send: just select the necessary signature when you start creating a new email and the signature will appear automatically.

Final Words 

The easiest way to create an email template for Outlook is to use MS Word: it’s fast and doesn’t require any coding skills. If you decide to create your Outlook email with Word, remember the following points:

• it’s always better to create a layout beforehand (in Photoshop or Figma);
• use tables to create an Outlook email. In most cases, you’ll need to delete all the borders but the bottom one;
• consult the layout to use the correct color;
• always center your tables;
• don’t forget to add an email signature.