How To Create MailChimp Email Templates (2024)

Introduction

How To Create MailChimp Email Templates, Email marketing remains an extremely effective channel for consistently engaging customers and driving conversions. However, simply copying and pasting text into campaign emails tends to deliver poor results. Investing time into crafting professional, branded email templates on MailChimp can dramatically improve open, click, and conversion rates.

This step-by-step guide will show you how to easily create stylish, customized MailChimp email templates from scratch that captivate subscribers and get results.

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Benefits of Using Templates

Here’s why starting with templates is better than editing plain text emails:

• Pre-designed layouts and structures accelerate the creation
• Professionally designed and tested for higher engagement
• Customizable modules and elements enable personalization
• Drag-and-drop builder simplifies editing for novices
• Mobile-optimized responsiveness out of the box
• Can reuse and modify templates improving workflows

Step 1: Select the Template Type

First, within the MailChimp dashboard, go to Templates and click “Create Template”. This reveals all available template types to choose from. Select the use case matching your specific needs:

• Email Newsletters - For regularly scheduled updates sent to all contacts
• Product Emails - Promote and sell products or services
• Automated Emails - Event-triggered emails like abandoned cart, first purchase, etc,
• Post-Click Emails - Steer website visitors post email click
• RSS-to-Email - Auto-send blog post summaries

Step 2: Pick a Template

Next, you’ll see dozens of professionally designed templates for that type filtered by category, layout and industry. Browse vertically scrolling and select one aligning closest to your brand look and feel. Hover over templates to preview and click “Select” when ready.

Step 3: Personalize the Structure

Now within the template editor, you can customize both structural elements as well as visual styling. First focus on content structure changes:

• Add, rename or delete modules and sections as needed
• Set up dynamic fields to pull in variable contact or product data
• Create new rows and columns for layout flexibility
• Adjust spacing, alignments and padding for clean layout

Step 4: Style the Template Branding

Next, use the left pane to modify visual styling like:

• Colors, font styles, and text sizes
• Buttons, dividers, and icons
• Images, illustrations, and background
• Upload brand logos, images, and graphics to maintain visual consistency. Review on mobile to finetune responsiveness.

Step 5: Save and Reuse

Once done customizing, give the template a name summarizing its purpose. Save it to easily locate it later for reuse in applicable email campaign creation flows. Consider making multiple versions like monthly newsletter vs special promotion templates.

Also, export the HTML files externally as a backup. Later, generate new templates by duplicating and modifying existing ones. Over time, build a library of branded templates for faster campaign creation.

Next Steps with Templates

With professionally designed MailChimp email templates set up for your brand, putting together stylish, high-converting email campaigns becomes much easier. Next steps include:

• Creating relevant content blocks for different segments
• Testing and optimizing templates for engagement
• Setting up automated email workflows triggered by user actions
• Personalizing campaign content using merge tags and more!

Conclusion

Investing time upfront into crafting customized MailChimp email templates gives a powerful foundation for visually consistent, effective email marketing. Just remember to always respect subscriber preferences and avoid overspending. Build a trusting relationship with your audience by sending valuable, engaging content using templates proven to deliver higher conversions.