Types of Email Templates

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When you design an email in Mailchimp, you’ll likely begin with one of our templates. Choose from a variety of options designed with different business goals and styles in mind, create a template from scratch, or code your own template.

In this article, you'll learn about the different templates types so you can decide which one best fits your needs.

Note

Depending on your plan, you may not have access to all of our template options. To find out what features are included in each plan, check out our pricing page.

For the new builder

Templates for our new email builder use drag and drop content blocks with inline editing, so you can make changes directly in the design. No matter which template you start with, you can add or remove different content blocks and customize the styles as needed. For step-by-step instructions, check out Create an Email Template.

Access all templates on the Email templates page. Browse all pre-designed templates in the Mailchimp templates tab. To refine your options, use the search field or select one of our suggested categories. Filter your options by template type, style, and industry. Hover over a template and click the magnifying glass icon to preview the template.

Here are some ways to find a pre-designed template to fit your needs.

  • Select a category Select a category that matches your marketing goal. Choose from options including Welcome, Newsletter, Sell products, and Grow SMS List.
  • Filter by type Select Fully designed to find a template with pre-designed colors, fonts, and layouts. Select Basic layout to find monochrome templates with placeholders for a logo, header, paragraph, image, and button.
  • Filter by style Select styles that match your brand or marketing goal. Choose from options including minimalist, bold, playful, and professional.
  • Filter by industry Select an industry to find templates that match your business. Choose from options including arts & entertainment, e-commerce & retail, and education & nonprofit.
  • Search Use the Search Mailchimp templates field to search for keywords that match your marketing or design goals.

Branded templates

Branded templates allow you to preview and select Mailchimp templates with your branding automatically applied. When the Apply Brand Kit toggle is on in the Mailchimp templates page, all templates instantly display a preview with your brand's colors, fonts, logos, and button styles. If you have multiple brand themes in your Brand Kit, use the Theme dropdown in to switch between them. When you select a branded template, you'll be taken into the New Email Builder with your brand already applied.

This feature is available for accounts with an Essentials plan or higher, and requires a Brand Kit to be set up.

For the legacy builder

Legacy templates use our classic drag-and-drop email builder. Many are designed with a specific use case in mind, and all use our legacy content blocks.

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Note

By default, you’ll design your email in the new builder unless you’ve used the legacy builder previously. If you’d prefer to use the legacy builder, check out Switch Your Default Email Builder.

To view all legacy template options, navigate to the Email templates page and click Create a legacy template. Click a tab to choose a template category. Choose from Layouts, Themes, or Code your own. You can also find them on the Templates step of the legacy builder. For step-by-step instructions, check out Create an Email Template.

Here are the different types of legacy email builder templates.

  • Layouts Layout templates are ready for your own colors, fonts, and designs. Featured templates include content blocks with placeholder content you can customize. Basic templates don’t include placeholder content. They have a fixed column layout and can be full width or have a background color.
  • Themes Themed templates are pre-designed with colors, fonts, and layouts. They’re built around specific themes like newsletters, e-commerce, holidays, sports, and events. This is also where you’ll find Integrations templates for your SurveyMonkey or Eventbrite emails.

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 with sections that are editable, repeatable, or hideable.

To add a custom-coded template in the new or legacy builder, navigate to the Email templates page and click Code your own to access your options.

To add a custom-coded template in the new or legacy builder follow these steps.

  1. Click the Campaigns navigation menu.
  2. Click Email templates.
  3. Click Code your own, then click Continue.
  4. Paste your code into the Edit code field, then click Save.
  5. To insert an image, click Edit Design from the bottom task bar to load the Design menu.

a. You can also edit your email template Page, Preheader, Header, Body, Footer, Mobile Styles and Referral Badge from the Design Menu. 6. Use the Preview and Test menu to view your template or send a test email.

a. Click the Edit Design | Edit Code buttons to make changes.

b. Click Content Studio to view designs. 7. Click Save and Exit, then name your design, then click Save. 8. Follow the prompt to view your template. Select your preferred template to Create email.

a. Use More options menu to Edit template, Send to Mandrill, Replicate template, Share template, Export template or Rename template. 9. Complete the Email Checklist, then Preview your template and click Send.

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

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