Types of Email Templates

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, or code your own template from scratch.

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

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.

To access them, navigate to the Templates page and click Create Template. For step-by-step instructions, check out Create an Email Template.

Mailchimp’s new builder provides a lot of template options. Use filters to help narrow your choices, use a saved template, or code your own. Here are just some of the Mailchimp templates available for the new builder.

• Minimal
  This is our default monochrome template. It includes placeholders for a logo, header, paragraph, image, and button. The template variations Bold and Natural have similar layouts with different colors and fonts selected.
• Simple Text
  This is a good place to start if you don’t need to add images. It includes placeholders for a logo, header, paragraph, and button.
• Gallery
  If images are the highlight of your email, you may want to choose this template. It Includes placeholders for two images and a button.
• SMS
  This template invites recipients to use the call-to-action button to sign up for text messages.

For the classic builder

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

Your default builder can be switched at any time. After you create a template or email, you'll access it in the version of the builder you used, even if you switch your default builder.

To access them, navigate to the Templates page and click Create Template. Then, click the corresponding tabs. You can also find them on the Templates step of the classic builder. For step-by-step instructions, check out Create an Email Template.

Here are the different types of classic email builder templates.

Layouts

The layouts tab includes featured and basic templates.

• Featured
  Featured templates include content blocks with placeholder content you can customize to sell products, make an announcement, tell a story, follow up on previous emails, or educate your contacts.
• Basic
  Add your own content to a regular or full-width basic template with a fixed column layout. Regular templates default to a single color background with a border. Full-width templates include Boxed Text blocks with background color options.

Themes

We teamed up with some of the most talented designers on the web to bring you beautiful templates built around specific themes like newsletters, e-commerce, holidays, sports, and events. Just pick one of our predesigned themes, plug in your content, and you've got a beautiful email.

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, and create sections that are editable, repeatable, or hideable.

To add a custom-coded template in the new or classic builder, navigate to the Templates page and click Create Template. Select the Code your own tab to access your options.

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