Build a reusable set of email templates

Most membership owners write the same kinds of email over and over: the regular update, the new lesson announcement, the event reminder, the recording follow-up, the survey request. Each time, they open a blank message, try to remember how they did it last time and rebuild it from memory. It takes longer than it should, the emails drift in tone and layout, and small but important details, such as the time zone on an event or the preview text, get forgotten.

A reusable set of email templates solves this. Once the structure of each recurring email is settled, you only need to fill in what is new. The emails get faster to write, easier to hand to someone else and more consistent for members, who learn where to look for the information they need.

What a good template is, and what it is not

An email template, in this sense, is more than a saved design. It is a reusable pattern for one type of message, with four parts:

• Structure: the sections in order, such as opening line, main point, details, button and sign-off.
• Fixed wording: the lines that rarely change, such as the explanation of how to join a live call.
• Placeholders: clearly marked gaps for what changes each time.
• Notes to yourself: who receives it, when it goes out and what to check before sending.

A template is not a form letter. The goal is to remove the repetitive decisions, not the personality. Every email should still contain at least one sentence written fresh for that send.

Start with the emails you send again and again

Look back over your sent emails for the last few months and group them by type. For most membership sites, a first set of templates covers:

1. The regular member update or digest
2. A new content announcement
3. An event invitation
4. An event reminder
5. A recording or follow-up email after an event
6. A survey or feedback request
7. A short personal check-in to a quiet member
8. A correction, for when something goes wrong

Start with the two or three you send most often. You can add others as they come up.

The anatomy of a template

Here is a template for an event reminder, written the way you might save it. Placeholders are in capitals inside brackets, so a missed one is impossible to overlook in a test send.

Template: Event reminder, day before. Sent to registrants only. Check the time zone and the link before scheduling.

Subject: Tomorrow: [EVENT NAME] at [TIME AND TIME ZONE]

Preview text: [ONE THING TO PREPARE, UNDER TEN WORDS]

Hi [FIRST NAME, FALLBACK: there],

[ONE FRESH SENTENCE ABOUT WHY THIS SESSION WILL BE USEFUL]

Before you join, [ONE PREPARATION TASK].

[Join EVENT NAME]

The session is recorded for members who can't make it, and the recording will be in the library within two days.

[YOUR NAME]

Notice the notes at the top, the fallback for a missing first name and the fixed line about the recording, which answers the most common question before anyone asks. Fill in the preview text every time; preview text explains why the line matters.

Worked example: one template, filled in

Imagine a hypothetical homeschooling co-op membership run by Farah, which hosts a monthly live planning session for parents. Using the template above, her filled-in reminder reads:

Subject: Tomorrow: Term Planning Circle at 8pm Eastern

Preview text: Bring your list of subjects for the next six weeks.

Hi Theo,

Several of you have asked how to fit science experiments into a busy week, so we'll spend the first half hour on exactly that.

Before you join, jot down the subjects you're planning to cover over the next six weeks.

[Join the Term Planning Circle]

The session is recorded for members who can't make it, and the recording will be in the library within two days.

Farah

Writing it took Farah a few minutes. The only real thinking went into the fresh sentence and the preparation task, which is where her thinking should go.

Keep your templates in one place

Templates only help if you can find them and trust them. A few habits keep them usable:

• One home. Store them in your email tool's saved templates, or in a single shared document if several people send email for you.
• Clear names. Name each one by type and timing, such as “Event reminder, day before,” so the right one is obvious.
• A review date. Every few months, reread each template for outdated prices, links, names and features.
• Retire what you stop using. Old templates lying around are how outdated information ends up in new emails.

Your templates belong alongside any other written procedures for running the membership; write down how your membership runs covers building that kind of simple operations manual.

Stop templates sounding like templates

Members notice when every email opens the same way. Vary your opening sentence, include one specific detail that could only apply to this send and read the finished email aloud before scheduling it. If a sentence would sound strange said to a member in person, rewrite it. The structure can stay the same for years; the words inside it should always sound current.

Build your first set

1. Group your recent sent emails by type and pick the three most frequent.
2. For each, write down the sections in order and the lines that never change.
3. Mark every changeable part as a loud placeholder in capitals.
4. Add a note at the top with who gets it, when and what to check.
5. Save the templates in one place with clear names.
6. Use each template for your next send and adjust it straight afterward.
7. Put a template review in your calendar every few months.