Build an email template with the drag-and-drop builder

The drag-and-drop builder is where most templates get built. This article walks through the core building blocks — layouts, elements, images, buttons, merge fields — and finishes with mobile preview and test-sending, the two checks worth doing before you ever save a template as final.

#Start with a layout

Every template begins with layouts — the structural rows that hold your content. Drag a layout onto the canvas first (single column, two column, and other multi-column options are typically available), then fill it with elements. Starting with layout structure before adding content keeps your template organized and makes later edits (like swapping a one-column section for two columns) much easier than retrofitting structure onto a pile of loose elements.

Screenshot coming soon

Email builder canvas with layout options in the left panel

#Core elements

Drag any of these onto a layout to build out your content:

• Text — headlines, body copy, and any written content. Supports standard rich-text formatting (bold, links, font size, alignment).
• Image — upload a new image or select one already in your asset library. Always set descriptive alt text (see the design tips in the next article) — it matters for accessibility and for what recipients see if images don't load.
• Button — a styled call-to-action link. Set the button's destination URL, and treat its label as one of the most important pieces of copy in the whole email — "Book Your Free Consultation" outperforms "Click Here" in essentially every test that's ever measured it.
• Spacer — adjustable vertical space between blocks. Use it instead of empty paragraph breaks for consistent, predictable spacing across email clients.
• Divider — a horizontal rule to visually separate sections.
• Product — pulls in a product's image, name, and price directly, useful for order confirmations, abandoned cart follow-ups, or promotional emails featuring specific items. You can drag in multiple Product elements to feature more than one item in the same email.
• Code — drop in custom HTML or CSS for anything the standard elements don't cover. This is an advanced option; most templates never need it.

Every element has its own settings panel (usually opened by clicking it) for spacing, alignment, colors, and sizing specific to that element type.

#Working with images and buttons together

A common pattern is an image with a button directly below it — a product shot or a hero graphic followed by a clear next step. Build this by stacking an Image element and a Button element in the same layout row, then use the Spacer element between them to control the gap rather than relying on the elements' own default margins, which can render slightly differently across email clients.

#Merge fields and custom values

Templates become personal, not generic, when they pull real data per recipient instead of static placeholder text:

• Merge fields insert contact-specific data — first name, last name, or any custom field on the contact record (like a purchase date or a plan name). A subject line or greeting using a merge field (Hi {{contact.first_name}}) reads as written to the individual, not blasted to a list.
• Custom values insert account-level data that's the same for every recipient but might change over time — your business phone number, a current promo code, a physical address for your footer. Using a custom value instead of hardcoding the text means updating it once (in Settings) automatically updates every template that references it, instead of hunting down every template individually.

Insert either from the text element's toolbar — look for a merge tag or insert-variable option while editing text.

Tip: Test every merge field with a contact record that has missing data for that field, not just a complete one. A greeting that renders "Hi ," because the first name field was empty looks broken and unprofessional — either make sure the field is reliably populated across your list, or build in a fallback.

#Visibility rules

Some layouts support conditional visibility — showing or hiding an entire section based on a condition, rather than building two nearly-identical templates. This is useful for a template that needs to look slightly different depending on segment (a "returning customer" block that only shows for contacts with a certain tag, for example) without maintaining separate versions.

#Mobile preview

Before saving, switch to the builder's mobile preview to see how the layout collapses on a phone screen — most email opens happen on mobile, and a layout that looks great on desktop can break down badly at phone width (multi-column layouts stacking awkwardly, text too small to read, buttons too close together to tap accurately).

Screenshot coming soon

Email builder mobile preview toggle showing the template at phone width

Fix anything that looks cramped or misaligned in mobile view before moving on — it's much faster to adjust now than after a real send has already gone out looking wrong.

#Test send

Always send a real test email to yourself (and ideally a teammate, on a different email client) before finalizing a template:

1. Use the builder's Send Test option.
2. Open the test in an actual inbox — not just the in-builder preview, which can render slightly differently than a real email client.
3. Check that merge fields resolved correctly, images loaded, buttons link to the right destination, and the layout holds up on both desktop and mobile mail apps.

#Save and share

Once you're satisfied, save the template with a clear, descriptive name — not "Untitled" or a date, but something that tells a teammate what it's for at a glance ("Monthly Newsletter — Standard Layout" beats "Email 3"). If your account supports sharing templates across sub-accounts or team members, decide at save time whether this template should be available beyond just your own use.

#What done looks like

Your template renders correctly in both the desktop and mobile preview, a real test send to your own inbox looks right end to end (including any merge fields), and it's saved with a name specific enough that someone else on your team could find and correctly reuse it without asking what it's for.

#Related articles

• Email templates overview
• Reuse templates in campaigns, workflows, and one-off emails
• Email marketing overview

#Frequently asked questions

#What happens if a merge field references a custom field that doesn't exist on a contact?

It typically renders blank rather than throwing an error — which is exactly why testing with an incomplete contact record matters. A blank result usually looks worse than a generic fallback, so design your copy to tolerate a missing value gracefully where possible.

#Can I use the Code element without any coding experience?

You can, but it's not designed for that — it's meant for pasting in HTML/CSS you already have or that someone else wrote for you. If you don't have code to paste in, the standard elements (Text, Image, Button, Spacer, Divider) cover the vast majority of template needs without touching code at all.

#Does the mobile preview show exactly what every phone's mail app will render?

Close, but not identical in every case — different mail apps (and even different versions of the same app) have small rendering quirks. The in-builder mobile preview is a strong approximation; a real test send to a phone you control is the final check for anything high-stakes.