How to Create Email Marketing Templates

Have you ever wanted to know how to create email marketing templates? I know, I know it’s a common question. Here’s the thing; people might not realize that creating an email marketing template probably depends on what they are trying to accomplish.

What Is An Email Template? – Understanding The Basics

An email is a combination of a subject line, a quirky email copy, an actionable call-to-action (CTA) and a CAN-SPAM compatible footer. Anything you add above these bare minimum email elements are like the seasonings you add to flavor your email template.

Stick to the bones and you have a plain text email.
Include attractive images and colorful text and you have a HTML mail template.
Include some CSS animations and you have an interactive email.

Isn’t it fascinating?

Let’s get started with plain text email and understand its significance in recent times.

What Is A Plain Text Email?

Before the integration of HTML coding in the early 1990s, emails were plain text emails available only in Unicode formatting (i.e. Unicode font and left aligned text only). Even after HTML was widely adopted, plain text emails still held their own importance and till date, ESPs send a plain text version along with their HTML counterpart. Also, many email marketers make it a point to create a plain text version, as emails risk getting into spam folders.

The advantages of using plain text emails are:

To supersede the spam filters of certain email clients like Outlook and Gmail, as they require the plain text versions of HTML emails.
Some email clients do not support HTML versions, which means that your HTML letters risk getting into spam folders.
There are people who prefer plain text emails to HTML.

While data says that plain text emails get better open rates than HTML email template, a plain text emails lacks the luster of HTML emails and it thus heavily relies on a strong email copy to improve the click rates.

Now, let’s take a look at what an HTML mail has to offer and how to make an email template.

WHAT IS AN HTML EMAIL AND WHAT ARE THE VARIATIONS

HTML mail is a feature-rich version of plain text email. Irrespective of using <div> or <table>, HTML emails have a structure, which can be manipulated to create an attractive email like this by tentree:

Image Source

Or an out-of-box email template design like this one by Table TR TD:

Here’s why you should create HTML email templates:

Most brands like to create a seamless experience across their website, emails and even landing page and an HTML email helps in achieving it.
Different hyperlinks can be linked to different buttons in an aesthetic way.
A picture, as you know, speaks more than words can describe, and image support in HTML helps in conversing better.
You can track the performance of your campaign if you send an HTML email.
When the best practices are followed, even HTML emails can avoid spam filters.

So, the next thing that comes to mind is whether you should use a ready-made template or a custom professional email template.

CUSTOM-MADE TEMPLATE VS READY-MADE TEMPLATE – HOW TO MAKE THE CHOICE?

ESPs provide a library of email templates for you to use in your email campaigns. This is greatly helpful for email marketers who are starting out. Moreover, ready-made templates are a great opportunity for sending last-moment email campaigns. These email templates are mostly free or available for a small fee – a great way for reducing overall email template production cost. As we already mentioned that the monthly search volume for email templates is on the higher side; our guide can help you to create email templates with options like first-order free or customized templates available with Email Uplers.

However, with ready-made templates, you tend to compromise on the brand identity, scope of customization, and exclusivity. Email blast templates are no longer an option as most people prefer tailormade emails.

On the other hand, custom-made email templates are unique & customized to your requirement. You create a brand identity that sets your email apart from the rest (once opened, obviously). Creating a custom template involves a lot more people right from design to code and testing the custom email template. So, you need to weigh the overall turnaround time and cost when planning a custom email template. Yet good things come to those who wait.

Moreover, if you are wondering how to make an email template that is interactive, you need to create a custom email template.

Here’s an in-depth comparison between a ready-made and custom email template, check it out >>

Great. Now that we know the basics of an email template and its types, let’s get down the real action and delve deeper into how to create email template.

Mailchimp provides different template options to help you find the right look for your email marketing. Add your logo and select the colors and fonts that fit your brand, so you can create a reusable design for your future email campaigns.

In this article, you’ll learn how to create an email template.

Before you start

Here are some things to know before you create a template.

Depending on your plan, you may not have access to all of the template options. To find out what features are included in each plan, check out our pricing page.
If you’re unsure about which template to use, read more about our different template options.
To ensure your classic template displays as expected, take a look at our image requirements for content blocks.
When you edit a custom-coded template, your changes may affect existing campaigns that use the template. Changes to a drag-and-drop template will not appear in existing campaigns.

For the new builder

To create a template for the new email builder, follow these steps.

Click the Campaigns icon.
Click Email templates.
Click Create Template.
Hover over the template you want to start with and click Select.
In the Create New Template pop-up, enter a name and click Save.
Add or edit content blocks and styles to design your template as needed. To learn more, read Design an Email With the New Builder.
Click Preview to see how your template will look on desktop and mobile.
When you’re ready, click Save Template and Exit.

Your new template will be available for you to use on the Templates page of your account or in the new email builder.

For the classic builder

To create a template for the classic email builder, follow these steps.

Click the Campaigns icon.
Click Email templates.
Click Create Template.
Click a tab to choose a template category.

The Layouts tab contains Featured and Basic templates. Featured templates provide recommendations for the type of content to include in a campaign, while Basic templates provide blank layouts. The Themes tab contains predesigned layouts. The Code your own tab allows you to import or paste in HTML to create your template layout. To learn more about these options, check out Types of Email Templates.
Click the template you want to work with.
Drag and drop content blocks into your template layout to add and format text, images, files, and other content as needed.
When you’re done, click Save and Exit.
In the Save Template pop-up modal, type a name for your template.
Click Save.

Your new template will be available for you to use on the Templates page or under Saved templates in the classic email builder.

Code your own

If you want more control over your email design than our templates offer, consider creating your own custom template. Designers can use Mailchimp’s template language to create a dynamic template they can import as HTML. This is helpful for web designers who want to upload a template for a client, and create sections that are editable, repeatable, or hideable.

To view or add a custom-coded template, navigate to the Templates page and click Create Template. On the Code your own tab, you’ll see options to Paste in code, Import HTML, or Import zip. You can also access custom-coded templates in the classic builder.

For more help with custom-coded templates, check out Getting Started with Mailchimp’s Template Language and Import a Custom HTML Template.

Conclusion

When you think of email marketing, one of the first things that comes to mind is email marketing templates. The template is the backbone of any email campaign.It defines how your subscribers will receive your message. If it’s not done right then you might as well not even send the campaign out at all.