The first step in creating an email campaign is to choose a template. As the foundation for a stylish campaign, a template frames your content and sets the aesthetic tone for your marketing communications. We offer a wide array of ready-made templates that are mobile-optimized, responsive, and come with preset styles for text, links, images, and buttons that you can customize. You can also choose to start from scratch with a blank template or code your own campaign with HTML.
Template gallery
Our template gallery has hundreds of beautifully designed templates that you can choose as the starting point for your new campaign draft. These templates are all mobile-optimized and fully customizable; you can use the coordinated preset text, images, and buttons as they appear in the template, or you can change it up to make it your own.
We’ve organized the template gallery by use case to make it easier to find the perfect template. Once you’ve found one that you like, just hover your cursor over its thumbnail and click the Start here button. You will be automatically redirected to the drag and drop editor, where you can customize your new campaign to fit your needs.
Start from scratch
If you’d like to build your own template without using one of the gallery options, just click on the Start from scratch button in the upper right corner of the screen. This will open a pop-up window with two options: Drag & drop or Custom HTML.
Please note: Custom HTML is only an option in subaccounts and standalone accounts. Tiered accounts cannot create custom HTML campaigns or templates in the Brand Manager.
Subaccount users may not see the Start from scratch button if the account Parent has not given that subaccount access to blank templates.
Drag & drop
If you choose the Drag & drop option, it will open a brand new, blank campaign in the drag and drop editor. There will just be a few empty default blocks in the draft, but you can remove them, update them, and drag new blocks in to your heart’s content.
Custom HTML
If you choose the Custom HTML option, also called Code-Your-Own (CYO), it will open a brand new, blank campaign in an HTML editor. There will be some code already present, but it’s mainly just the code needed to create the basic outline of the mailing, as well as the footer. From here, you can use your own HTML code to build the campaign.
Custom HTML campaigns should only be used by those who are proficient in HTML. Custom code is entirely self-supported, so use of this tool is at your own risk.
CYO campaigns cannot be saved as templates. Previously, the legacy* editor allowed Parents and Managers of tiered accounts to use HTML to code custom templates in the Brand Manager, but this tool is no longer available in the new drag and drop editor. Existing CYO templates at the parent level are still available in accounts that have them and can still be edited and copied. However, these templates are labeled as Legacy and new ones cannot be created.
Custom templates
You can save any drag and drop campaign that you create as a template to use in the future. To do this, simply open that campaign in the drag and drop editor, click on the dropdown arrow next to the Save button, and choose Save as template from the list. From then on, you will see this template in the My templates section of the template gallery, found on the left column when choosing a template to create a new campaign. To use one of these templates, simply click on My templates on the left menu and select the campaign thumbnail that you’d like to use.
You can also choose one of your recently sent campaigns as a starting point for your new draft. To do this, select Recent emails from the left menu and click on the thumbnail of the desired campaign.
If you find yourself repeatedly using a previously sent campaign as your starting point, consider saving that campaign as a template. Repeatedly duplicating a campaign can cause code degredation and problems rendering the campaign over time. Starting from a template will prevent code degredation and keep your campaigns looking good.
Preset template style settings
All of the templates found in our template gallery come with preset styles that you can view anytime. This can be helpful when you are recreating or mimicking a previous campaign and need to know what fonts or colors were used.
Drag and drop editor
You’ll find all of the formatting controls for the campaign in the Settings tab.
Legacy editor
In any open legacy campaign, you can click on the View styles link found under the campaign name to see the preset style settings. A pop-up window will appear that shows the color swatches and font styles used for that campaign template.
* In April 2022, our legacy editor was replaced with a new drag and drop editor. Accounts that existed prior to this change still have access to the legacy editor through their previously saved templates and campaigns, however new, from-scratch campaigns can only be created in the new drag and drop editor. Accounts that were created after this change only have access to the new drag and drop editor. Please refer to our new editor FAQ article for more information.