Messages: Working with Templates
RocketReach Messages makes it easy to create clean, professional outreach emails directly from your search workflow. This guide highlights the formatting tools, spacing options, and best practices that help your templates look polished and easy to read.
📑 In this article - click to jump to section:
- Formatting Tools Overview
- Tips & Tricks for Effective Templates
- Soft Breaks vs. Hard Breaks (Fixing Unwanted Spacing)
- Templates FAQ
Formatting Tools Overview
Use the toolbar in Messages to format text and structure your outreach:
- Bold → Highlight key statements or CTAs (e.g., “Let’s schedule a call”)
- Italic → Add emphasis without overpowering the message
- Underline → Draw attention sparingly
- Strikethrough → Show revisions or optional text
- Hyperlink → Add URLs cleanly (ideal for Calendly, company pages, product docs)
- Font Size → Keep most text uniform; use size changes only for headers or signature styling
- Bullet Lists → Great for value propositions, features, or steps
- Numbered Lists → Ideal for instructions or sequences
- Quote Block → Useful for customer testimonials or repeating a user’s question
- Code Block → Helpful for technical snippets or formatting content you don’t want auto-styled
- Increase Indent / Decrease Indent → Perfect for structuring email sections, creating sub-bullets, or isolating special notes
These tools help create clear and readable outreach messages that perform well.
🔗 Learn More: Send a Test Email | Messages
Tips & Tricks for Effective Templates
Keep Paragraphs Short
- Short blocks of text increase readability and prevent contacts from skimming past important points.
- Instead of one long paragraph, break it into multiple points with Hard Line Breaks in between each paragraph.
Use Variables to Personalize Emails Automatically
Variables (also called placeholders, tokens, or merge tags) insert contact-specific details into each email:
{{first_name}}{{last_name}}{{company}}
When the email is sent, RocketReach will replace the variable with the appropriate information from the contact. Using Variables creates dynamic personalization and keeps templates scalable without feeling generic.
Avoid Over-Formatting
- Deliverability is strongest when emails look like real, human-written outreach.
- Avoid: overuse of bold/underline, large text blocks, and too many lists.
Clean, Simple Signatures Work Best
- Since images and attachments aren't supported, use formatting to make your text signature visually clear.
- If spacing looks off, use Shift+Enter for a tighter line break.
Soft Breaks vs. Hard Breaks (Fixing Unwanted Spacing)
Spacing inconsistencies, especially in signatures, usually come from the difference between hard breaks and soft breaks.
Hard Break (Enter)
Pressing 'Enter' creates a new paragraph, which adds extra spacing above and below the line. It’s useful for separating sections of your email but can create unwanted “double spacing” in signatures or short line groups.
Soft Break (Shift + Enter)
Pressing Shift + Enter creates a single line break without added spacing. It’s ideal for signatures or short stacked lines and helps prevent the “double-spaced” appearance.
Email Templates FAQ
❓ Can I include images or attachments?
No. To maintain strong deliverability, RocketReach does not support images or file attachments in Messages.
❓ How do I add my signature?
Add your text signature directly in the template. Use Shift+Enter for clean, single-spaced formatting.
❓ Why does my spacing look different when sending?
Some email clients format spacing differently. Using soft breaks (Shift+Enter) keeps spacing consistent.
❓ How can I fix formatting issues in my email?
If you send an email (with or without a template) and the formatting looks off – line spaces are too big, lines are too long, scroll bars, font sizes don't match, etc – it's almost always due to hidden code that was unintentionally copied & pasted into the email.
Follow these steps for a foolproof fix:
Select all of the body message text and copy (Ctrl+V on Windows / Command+V on Mac), then delete everything in the email template (Backspace).
Open a plain text editor (Notepad on Windows or TextEdit on Mac) and paste (Ctrl+P on Windows / Command+P on Mac).
Select all of the text again in the plain text editor and copy one more time.
Switch to the email template and click into the empty body area to place your cursor. Now right click and select 'Paste as plain text' (or if you prefer keyboard shortcuts, Ctrl+Shift+V on Windows / Command+Shift+V on Mac).
❓ What does each toolbar button do?
All formatting tools are located below the text editor. Highlight text and click a button to preview the effect.