How to design email templates

An email template is a saved design you can start any email from, such as your newsletter layout or a welcome note. Build it once, then apply it in a campaign, a sequence email, or an automation email instead of starting from a blank page.

Note

You need the permission to create and edit email templates. The Owner, Admin, Manager, and Agent roles have it by default; only Owner, Admin, and Manager can delete templates. Each plan limits the number of templates; see How to check plans, usage, and billing.

Create a template

1. Click Email templates in the sidebar.
2. Click Create template.
3. Enter a Template name and, if you like, a Description.
4. To show a preview image in lists, click Upload thumbnail and choose an image from your media library.
5. Click Create.

The template opens in the editor, starting in the visual editor.

Build the design

The menu above the email switches between two editors:

Editor	Best for
Visual editor	Designed emails with columns, images, buttons, and colors. Drag blocks onto the email and set their style
Rich text editor	Plain, letter-style emails. Your text goes into the default email layout, with its footer

In the visual editor:

1. On the Content tab, drag a block such as Heading, Paragraph, Image, or Button onto the email.
2. Click a block on the email to change its text and style in the left panel.
3. To add a row with a column layout, open the Blocks tab and drag a layout onto the email.
4. On the Body tab, set the Background color, Content width, and Font family for the whole email.
5. Click Save.

Block	What it adds
Columns	A row split into columns, each holding its own blocks
Heading, Paragraph	Text
Image	An image from your media library or a URL, with Alternate text
Button	A link styled as a button
Divider	A horizontal line
Social	Icons that link to your social profiles
Menu	A row of text links
HTML	Your own HTML code

Caution

Switching from the visual editor to the rich text editor keeps your text, headings, and button links, but removes the layout, images, and colors. You can switch back and get the design back only before you leave the page.

Add merge tags

Merge tags fill in each contact’s own details when the email is sent.

1. Click where the value should go.
2. Click Merge tags and choose one, such as First name.

The tag appears as {{first_name}}. Contact fields, your business name and address, and your custom fields (as {{custom.your_field}}) are all in the menu.

To show a fallback when a contact has no value, add it after a bar: {{first_name|there}} shows “there” for contacts without a first name.

Set the footer

Every email ends with the workspace footer, which holds your business address and the unsubscribe link. You set it once in Global email settings.

In the visual editor, the Footer tab controls it for this design:

Option	What it does
Show footer	Turn it off to leave the footer out of this design
Source: Global	Uses the workspace footer from Settings. It is added when the email is sent
Source: Custom	Uses the footer you write here instead

Caution

A custom footer, or a design with Show footer off, must still give people a way to unsubscribe. Add {{unsubscribe_url}} as a link in your own footer.

Preview and send a test

1. Click Preview to see the email at Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile widths.
2. Click Send test at the top of the page.
3. Enter an email address and click Send test.

The test goes out through your default email provider, with “[TEST]” before the template name as the subject. It is not sent to a contact, so contact merge tags such as {{first_name}} come out empty, or show their fallback.

Use a template

In the content step of a campaign, a sequence email, or an automation email:

1. Click Templates above the email.
2. Choose a template on the Custom tab, or a ready-made design on the Built-in tab.
3. Click Use.

The design is copied into the email. Later changes to the template do not change emails that already use it, and editing the email does not change the template.

Manage templates

On Email templates, each row has these actions:

Action	What it does
Star	Marks the template as a favorite. Filter by Favorite to find favorites quickly
Preview	Shows the design without opening the editor
Edit template	Opens the editor
Duplicate (under More actions)	Makes a copy named with “(Copy)” at the end
Delete (under More actions)	Deletes the template. Emails that used it keep their copy

Where to go next

• How to use the media library
• How to send your first campaign
• How to set global email settings