How to build a custom email template in EXM 3.3

We’ve talked about "Sitecore Experience Manager (EXM) 3.3 and its new reporting functionality," so now let’s dive a bit deeper into other features. Today’s post—building a custom email template—is sure to warm the hearts of most email marketers out there. The success of any email campaign can hinge on the UI or the look and feel of a template … before content is even added! Templates that don’t require a developer or administrator to get started, like Sitecore’s EXM templates, make campaigns more manageable for even the most junior marketer to complete. Here are the five getting started steps we’ll cover:

1. Creating a branch template
2. Creating a template
3. Creating the layout
4. Binding the layout and the message template
5. Making your template available in EXM

Let’s get started.