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Mailchimp Templates

Mailchimp templates are pre-built frameworks used to quickly create consistently-styled campaigns. Templates can be used repeatedly and indefinitely.
A graphic withe the Mailchimp logo and the words, "Mailchimp Templates".

Templates. Jigs. Patterns. We never want to take the time to build them.  But they’re soooo worth the effort. 

Email templates are important for saving time and maintaining brand consistency.  Say you’re a 30-person organization and 5 different people send campaigns.  With everyone using the same templates, your mailings will be as consistent as possible.  Or you’ve hired a designer for company branding and you want to maintain uniformity across platforms.  A Mailchimp expert can create matching templates so you never have to think about how your marketing looks; you can concentrate on content.

Templates provide

  • Shorter campaign build time
  • Stylistic consistency
  • Custom branding colors
  • Consistency in buttons, typefaces, and font sizes
  • Uniform design elements such as image borders
  • Up-to-date style suggestions when you want to tweak or keep up with trends

Mailchimp offers

  • Pre-made templates that you can customize
  • The option to build templates from scratch
  • Free accounts so you can try out their platform and see a sampling of their templates
  • Premium designs available with a paid subscription
  • The option to add your own code for truly unique designs

Template vs. Campaign

The difference between a campaign and a template is the difference between “What am I going to say today?”, and “How is it going to look?”.  A campaign is a single mailing.  A template is the framework you use to make that mailing look the same as all your other mailings; the template gives you design consistency. 

Campaign = What am I saying today? Template = How's it going to look?

How to use Mailchimp templates, step-by-step

Mailchimp templates work by providing a stencil that you select then fill in with the copy you’re sending today.

From your MC Dashboard, choose Email Templates.
Screenshot of selecting "Email Templates" from Mailchimp Dashboard
Select the template you would like to use by clicking on it.
Screenshot of selecting an email template from Mailchimp Templates menu
Name your template.
Screenshot of naming a Mailchimp email template
Mailchimp will populate the new template with your logo and you can adjust the design using Mailchimp’s standard tools. When you’re happy with your new template, click “Save Template and Exit”.
Screenshot of a Mailchimp email template
You’ll now see your new template in the Saved folder. To use the template, click the carrot menu on the right and select “Create campaign”.
A screenshot of part of the Mailchimp template journey.

Template FAQ

Yes!  As I publish this article, Mailchimp has over 100 templates even in the free version, many of which are for newsletters.

Yes!  Mailchimp automatically configures your content to appear nicely on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices. 

In the classic builder, yes.  Mailchimp has an excellent tutorial here
As of this article’s publication date, it appears that you can’t share a template from the new builder.  Hmmm…something for Mailchimp to get on, huh?

Mailchimp’s campaign width is predetermined – you can’t change it.  The length of a campaign is determined by the amount of content.

Good to know

  • You can build a Mailchimp template from an existing campaign. 
  • You can build a template from a recent campaign or draft.
  • You can edit existing templates.

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Did you know I'm Mailchimp Certified?

I’ve completed Mailchimp’s Fundamentals training, so you can feel confident about my skills with contact hygiene, templates, customer journeys, and other Mailchimp mysteries.  In coming blog posts I’ll elaborate on various aspects of the marketing platform such as tags, segments, and groups.  I’ll go into depth about customer journeys and why it’s important to design forms such as sign-up and update user preferences.  I’ll talk you through templates and how they can save you time and help reinforce your company branding every time you send a campaign.

Mailchimp Certification

Did you know I'm Mailchimp Certified?

I’ve completed Mailchimp’s Fundamentals training, so you can feel confident about my skills with contact hygiene, templates, customer journeys, and other Mailchimp mysteries.  In coming blog posts I’ll elaborate on various aspects of the marketing platform such as tags, segments, and groups.  I’ll go into depth about customer journeys and why it’s important to design forms such as sign-up and update user preferences.  I’ll talk you through templates and how they can save you time and help reinforce your company branding every time you send a campaign.

Mailchimp Certification