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Create an email template

Design the email you will send: a subject line, preview text and the body, built from blocks or your own HTML. At the end, the template is saved in My Library, approved, and ready to pick in a campaign or an automation.

Before you start

  • You can see Email in the left rail with Email Templates in its panel. If not, ask your admin for access.
  • Have your logo and images online. Image blocks take an image URL.

Steps

Start a new email

  1. Open Email in the left rail, then select Email Templates.
  2. Click Create template. The Create an email dialog opens.
  3. In Internal email name, type a name only your team sees, for example Newsletter - May. It holds up to 80 characters.
  4. Under How do you want to design it?, choose a starting point:
    • From scratch — a blank canvas.
    • Basic layout — a heading, a message and a button, ready to edit.
    • Fully designed template — pick a ready-made design.
    • Saved templates — start from one of your own templates.
    • Recently sent — reuse an email from a campaign you already sent.
    • Code your own — paste or upload your own HTML.
  5. The email builder opens.

You can also browse ready-made designs first. Click Gallery, filter by Email purpose, Style or Industry, click Preview to look, and click Use to open a copy in the editor.

Design the email

  1. Under STYLES, type a Subject line. This is what people see in their inbox.
  2. Type the Preview text. It shows next to the subject line in most inboxes.
  3. From BLOCKS, drag blocks onto the email: Heading, Paragraph, Button, Image, Logo, Divider, Spacer, Video, Social or Code.
  4. Click a block to edit its text, link, colours and spacing.
  5. Click Preview to check the email on desktop and mobile.

To draft the text for you, click Write with AI and fill in What is this email about?. If the email already has content, click Add draft. The draft replaces the subject and preview text and is added as a new block at the end.

Merge tags are replaced with each recipient's details when the email is sent:

Merge tag Filled with
{{firstName}} First name
{{lastName}} Last name
{{fullName}} Full name
{{email}} Email address
{{phone}} Phone
{{attributes.x}} A custom field, where x is the field name, for example {{attributes.company}}

Type a tag into the subject or any text block, for example Hi {{firstName}},.

Add an unsubscribe link

Link some footer text, such as Unsubscribe, to {{unsubscribeUrl}}. Ohanvi replaces it with a personal unsubscribe link. Without it, inbox providers are more likely to mark your email as spam. Templates opened in the HTML editor show this under Check Spam Score.

Save the template

  1. Click Save and exit. The template appears in My Library.
  2. To keep a copy under a new name, click the arrow next to Save and exit, then click Save as a template.

Send the template for review

A campaign can send your own template only after it is approved. Ready-made designs in Gallery are already approved.

  1. On Email Templates, click ⋮ (More actions) on your template, then click Send for review.
  2. In Send for Review, click Send for Review. Review Status shows Pending review.
  3. The reviewer clicks ⋮ → Review (approve / reject), adds Remarks (optional), and clicks Approve or Reject.

Note

Editing an approved template sets it back to Draft. Send it for review again after each change.

Video walkthrough

[VIDEO]

Troubleshooting

Issue Cause Fix
The email "…" has not been approved yet (it is draft). Open it in Email Templates, send it for review and get it approved, then approve this campaign. The campaign uses one of your templates that is not approved. Send the template for review and get it approved, then send the campaign again.
Add template content before sending it for review. The template has no body. Add at least 1 block, save, then send for review.
This account requires a different user to review a template than the one who created it. Your workspace requires a second person to approve. Ask a teammate with review access to approve it.
Leave without saving? when closing the builder You have unsaved changes. Click Keep editing, then click Save and exit.
A merge tag shows as blank in the sent email The contact has no value for that field. Fill the field on the contact, or write text that reads well without it.