MailChimp has some built-in HTML email templates with cool automagic powers, but for people who are “photoshop challenged” our templates can be a little hard to understand.
So we asked the guys at TemplateZone to build a version of their HTML email template tool specifically for MailChimp (and to make it free). Since it’s desktop software, it can do a lot of cool stuff that you’d normally have to do yourself (or hire a designer). The software is free (because we love you), and includes 101 HTML email templates for different occasions.
Here’s how it works.
You can download the application here. It’s about 100 Megs (think of it as a word processor, template designer, and graphics app all in one), and it’s Windows only. Mac users, you won’t see a download link there. We’ve got something similar coming for you real soon, plus you can always use Apple Mail’s awesome templates w/MailChimp using our Email Beamer feature (not to be confused with this beamer).
Anyway, once you’ve got the software downloaded, this is roughly how it works.
First, you’ll open it up and pick a template:
There are a bunch of different categories to choose from. I picked this “free shipping” template:
As you can see, the diagonal text in the graphic is editable. Just double click on it and change it to whatever you want.
The rest of the application is pretty self-explanatory. There’s a big text block where you can add all your text. The interface is very similar to any other WYSIWYG-enabled application, so you can insert graphics and stuff (images will be hosted free on MailChimp’s servers).
Another nice touch is that some of the templates have a top navigation bar, which is easily tweakable too:
After your email is designed, you just enter a subject line, and click the “Send to MailChimp” button. You’ll be asked to select the list:
Then the email design will be sent to MailChimp and stored as a draft.
When you log in to MailChimp, you’ll find the email waiting for you on the Campaigns Dashboard.
Click the “preview” button to check the design:
If all is ok, click send. If you want to tweak it more, go back to the desktop app, make changes, and re-submit to MailChimp.
So there you have it. Yet another easy way to send awesome emails with MailChimp!
Many thanks to the guys at TemplateZone for making this available to MailChimp users free of charge.
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