Build a newsletter template with AI from your website

What AI does and does not do

ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini can help you with two things when you make a template. They can describe your visual identity: which colours and fonts you use, what headings and buttons look like and the tone of your texts. And they can suggest a layout for the newsletter that fits what you want to say and who you send to.

But AI cannot judge what suits your readers. It does not notice if a colour gets too faint on mobile, if you have the wrong version of the logo or if the text does not sound like you. Nor does it always read the website as carefully as you might think. More on that in step 1. That is why we do the same thing every time: AI does the groundwork, and you or a colleague check the result before you send.

Expect about an hour the first time, including building the template in Paloma. The next template takes a quarter of an hour.

Two ways of working

How you go about it depends on what kind of AI you have.

With an AI chat. You write to ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and get answers in the chat. The chat produces the brand profile, the layout, the texts and the images, and then you build the template yourself in Paloma by dragging and dropping blocks. The chat usually does not read the colours in the website's code, so you upload a screenshot. This is the way the steps below describe, and it works for everyone.

With an AI assistant in the browser. Some AI tools can work directly in your browser. The assistant opens your website and reads the colours and fonts in the code, so you get the exact codes. It can also build the template in Paloma for you. You describe what you want, look at the result and ask for changes. It is faster, but you need to review just as carefully. That is how we built the examples in this guide. How to do it step by step is in the section With an AI assistant.

What you need

• The address of your website and a screenshot of the home page.
• Your logo as a PNG file, preferably with a transparent background.
• A Paloma account. The free account is plenty for building the template.
• An AI tool. The prompts here work in ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini.

If you have brand guidelines you can upload them too. Then the AI does not have to guess, and the colour codes are right from the start.

Step 1: let AI get your brand profile from the website

Start by asking the AI to describe your brand profile. Paste this prompt and replace the address:

Look at the website https://www.yourwebsite.com and describe its visual identity for a newsletter. Give me: main colour, one or two accent colours and a background colour as hex codes; fonts for headings and body text, with a common email-safe alternative if the font does not work in email; what buttons look like (colour, shape, text); and three words that describe the tone of the texts. Answer briefly, as a list.

What happened when we tested it on our own website. We use paloma.se in steps 1 and 2. ChatGPT read the texts on paloma.se and described the tone well. But in ordinary chat mode it said honestly that it could not see the colour codes and fonts, because it reads the content but not the website's stylesheets. So we uploaded a screenshot of the home page and asked for the list based on the image. Then the answer came straight away. This is what it said, in ChatGPT's own words (translated from Swedish):

Paloma's visual identity for newsletters

1. Main colour: Bright blue #159FE3, logo and buttons.
2. Accent colours: Dark navy #102D48, headings and dark areas. Light pink #F3A1B6, decorative elements and backgrounds.
3. Background colour: White #FFFFFF, clean, airy areas.
4. Fonts: Modern sans serif, similar to Arial or Inter. Recommended for email: Arial Bold for headings and Arial for body text.
5. Buttons: Bright blue background #159FE3, white text, fully rounded corners (pill shape). Short, clear text, for example "Create a free account".
6. Tone: Reassuring, simple, personal.

The colour codes are estimated from the screenshot, not taken from the website's CSS.

Note the last line: ChatGPT itself says the colour codes are estimates. They are close, but not exactly right. In our stylesheet the main colour is #1C9AE6, not #159FE3. An AI assistant that can work in your browser can read the stylesheet and get the exact codes. If you use an ordinary AI chat, expect to give it a screenshot. If you have brand guidelines, compare the colour codes with them: an estimated colour can be a few shades off. The AI also works from how the website looks right now. So if a campaign colour is still on your home page, it may end up in the list.

Take a closer look at the fonts. Many web fonts do not show in email programs, and are then automatically replaced by a standard font. Ask the AI to suggest a similar font that works everywhere. In our example Inter became Arial, so that the template looks the same for every recipient.

Step 2: decide the structure together with AI

The next prompt is about what the template should contain. Say what you send and to whom:

We are [a club / a company / a municipality] and send a newsletter [once a month] to [members / customers / residents]. Suggest a structure for a reusable template with at most six blocks: what each block is for, roughly how much text it holds and where the button should go. Keep it simple and mobile friendly.

As a test we asked ChatGPT to suggest a layout for a monthly email from Paloma to our customers. It is ChatGPT's suggestion, not how our own emails look, but it shows what you can get back. It suggested five blocks, and for each block it wrote how many words it holds and where the button should go:

Suggested template for a monthly email from Paloma

1. Logo and short introduction. Say welcome and highlight the month's main theme. 20 to 35 words, no button.
2. Highlight of the month. A new feature, an improvement or a concrete way to get more out of Paloma. Preferably with an image. 60 to 90 words, blue button directly below the text.
3. A tip you can use right away. A simple tip about newsletters, SMS, events or automation. Show an example if you can. 50 to 75 words, text link or blue button below the tip.
4. In brief. Two short news items, for example a guide, an upcoming training session or a smaller product improvement. 20 to 35 words per item, one text link per item.
5. Sign-off and contact. A personal greeting from Paloma, contact details and unsubscribe link. 15 to 30 words, no button.

A good layout can look like this: logo and a short introduction at the top, a main story with image and button, one or two shorter blocks and a sign-off with contact details and unsubscribe link. Remove what you do not need. A template with fewer blocks is easier to fill every time. That makes it more likely the newsletter actually gets sent.

Save the answer. The number of words per block is worth its weight in gold next time you write, and it is what you give the AI when you ask for help with the texts.

Step 3: build the template in Paloma

Now you have a brand profile and a layout. Then you build the template in Paloma, without writing any code.

1. Choose a starting point. Choose a layout template if you want to decide the look yourself, or a design template that already resembles the layout the AI suggested. There is more on the difference in our guide to newsletter templates.
2. Add the brand profile. Use the hex codes from step 1, choose the fonts and upload the logo. Change the colours of backgrounds, buttons and headings. You do this when you build the template, not before every send.
3. Build the structure. Drag in the blocks you chose in step 2 and remove the ones you do not need. Write short help texts in the blocks, for example "Main story, 60 to 90 words". Then you know what to fill in next time.
4. Add the fixed parts. Contact details, links to your website and social media, and the footer. Paloma adds the unsubscribe link and the link to view the email in a browser automatically.
5. Save as a template. Now you have a template to start from every time you send.

Do not ask the AI to write a finished HTML template. Paloma's editor builds emails from blocks that you drag and drop, and it does not accept a whole HTML page. You lose nothing: the blocks are what let you swap an image or move a paragraph without touching any code. Let the AI help you with the brand profile, the layout, the texts and the images, and do the building itself in Paloma.

If you want help with the texts in the blocks, ask the AI to write them based on the tone from step 1 and the word counts from step 2. In the guide on writing newsletters with AI we show how.

Step 4: test it and let someone look

Send a quick test to yourself. Quick test (Snabbtest) is in Paloma when you work on the email, and it only sends to the addresses you enter, never to a list. Open it on your phone and on your computer. Always check these things, even if the AI has done a good job:

• The colours. Does the text stand out against the background? Does the button look like a button? When we built the make-up shop's email below, a thin line between two sections disappeared when the email was rendered, and in the hotel's email a price box baked into the image sat right above the real price box. You only spot that kind of thing when you look.
• The logo. Right version, right size, not blurry. If you add the logo at full width it can fill the whole email. Shrink it until it is about the same size as on your website.
• The links. Do they go where they should? Is the unsubscribe link still there?
• The tone. Does it sound like you? The AI works from the texts on your website, but they may not sound like you do when you write to your readers.
• The sender. Right name and right address, so that recipients recognize you.

Ask a colleague to take a look before the template is used for real. A colleague spots things you have missed.

With an AI assistant in the browser

You do the steps above yourself, with an AI chat to help. If you have an AI assistant that can work in your browser, it does the same steps for you. You do not build anything yourself; you describe what you want and review. This is how:

1. Log in to Paloma yourself. The assistant works in your browser, where you are already logged in. Never give it your password.
2. Give the assistant the task. Say which website the brand profile should come from, what you send and to whom, and what it must not do. Feel free to start from the prompt below the list.
3. Ask for the brand profile and layout first. Let the assistant show the colour codes, the fonts and the blocks before it builds. Correct what is wrong. It is easier to change a list than a finished template.
4. Follow along while it builds. The assistant works in a tab in your browser, and you can see what it does. Speak up straight away if something goes in the wrong direction.
5. Review with a quick test. Ask the assistant to send you a quick test. Open it on your phone and on your computer and go through the same points as in step 4. Ask for changes and a new quick test until everything is right.
6. Save as a template. When you are happy, save the email as a template, or ask the assistant to do it.

Open www.yourwebsite.com and read the colours, fonts and logo in the website's code. We are [a club / a company / a municipality] and send a newsletter [once a month] to [members / customers / residents]. Suggest a layout with at most six blocks and show me the brand profile and the layout before you build. Then build a new email in Paloma from an empty layout template, with email-safe fonts. Do not send anything to any list, and do not change or delete anything else in the account. Send me a quick test when the email is ready.

The last sentences of the prompt are important. The assistant can do anything you can do in the account, so say clearly what it may and may not do. It is always you who sends to your recipients, after you have seen the quick test yourself.

Images and logos with AI

What lifts a newsletter most is a good image at the top. If you have your own photos, use them. If you do not, AI can make them, and that is how all the images in the examples below came about. The photos, the club crest, the municipal coat of arms and the small company logos were made with ChatGPT's image tool. Nothing comes from a stock photo library. We show it openly, because it is one of the things AI does best right now, and anyone who knows how it works can do the same.

A photo. Describe the subject, the light and the format, and say that the image should contain no text. This is how we asked for the image for the club's email:

Create a photorealistic image in 3:2 landscape format: a medal ceremony after a youth football tournament in Sweden, a team of ten to twelve-year-olds in green match shirts cheering with medals around their necks on a grass pitch, parents applauding in the background, warm May light, no text.

And this is how we asked for the motorcycle image:

Create a photorealistic product image in 16:10 landscape format: a black naked motorcycle without a brand name, photographed at an angle from the front in a dark workshop with warm side light, glossy concrete, no people, no text.

A logo. If you have no logo, AI can make a simple mark that holds the email together. The club crest, the coat of arms and the small company logos in the examples were made that way. Describe the shape, the colours and the style, and ask for a plain background:

Draw a classic club crest for a Swedish football club called Stenhagens IF, founded in 1932: a shield in dark green and white with a football, oak leaves and the year, in the style of Swedish sports clubs, flat and clear, on a white background.

Always check that the mark does not resemble a real club's or a real company's. We searched for every made-up name before we used it, and changed one that turned out to exist.

Three things to keep in mind. Write "no text" in prompts for photos, because text in AI images easily goes wrong; put the heading in the email instead, where it can be changed. The exception in the examples is Kallström Ski, where the heading sits in the image: there we asked for exactly that text and checked every letter. Ask for "without a brand name" on products, so that no real brand turns up. And show the images to a colleague before you send: a hand with six fingers or a sign with made-up letters is not always noticed the first time.

Save the prompts that work. Next time you only change the subject, and the email keeps the same style.

Eight examples, built the same way

We built eight emails in an ordinary Paloma account to show how it works for different senders. The brand profile, the layout and the images were produced with prompts like the ones above. The building itself differs from when you do it yourself: we had an AI assistant build the emails in Paloma with code, instead of dragging and dropping blocks. More on that further down. The senders are made up, so that we can show how a brand profile becomes an email without showing any customer's sends. Six are recurring newsletters, two are campaign emails with a single message. Look at how different they are in colour, both inside the email and around it. It is the brand profile that decides, not the tool.

All eight were built over two evenings, including the images, the prompts and the checks. It was not the AI that took time, but going through the result and correcting what went wrong. Read more in step 4.

Common mistakes

• Trusting the colour codes without looking. An AI working from a screenshot estimates the colours. Compare with your brand guidelines or your website before you build.
• Too many blocks. Six blocks to fill every month soon become two. Build the template for what you actually have the energy to write.
• Web fonts in email. The font from your website is rarely available in the recipient's email program. Choose the email-safe alternative from the start, and you avoid surprises.
• The logo at the wrong size. A logo that fills the whole width looks like a banner. Compare with how big it is on your website.
• Skipping the quick test. The template can look good in the editor. But it is on mobile and in Outlook that you see whether it holds up.

How we do it ourselves

This is not just theory. AI and Paloma already work well together, without us having to build any AI of our own into the tool. When a new customer wants a template in their own brand, we now let an AI assistant make the first version. It reads the customer's website, picks up colours, images and shapes, builds the template in the customer's account and sends a quick test. The first time it took an afternoon. Now it takes a few minutes. Then one of us checks the result before the customer gets the template. We do that every time.

The eight examples in this guide were built exactly that way. The AI assistant did not drag in blocks the way you do. It wrote code in the browser that put the blocks straight into Paloma's ordinary editor: text, image, button and columns, the same kinds of blocks you have. The images and logos were made in ChatGPT with prompts like the ones above. We looked at every email in Paloma's preview, asked for changes and looked again. If you would rather have us make the template for you, that is fine too, of course. Get in touch via the contact page, and we will tell you how it works.

Frequently asked questions about templates with AI

Related guides

• Writing newsletters with AI: guide, prompts and pitfalls
• How to build an event page with AI in Paloma Event
• Newsletter templates
• A guide to better newsletters
• Create newsletters with Paloma