How to Get Started with Modular Email Templates
Why smart marketing teams are switching to modular email design — and how you can too.
If you’re still building emails the hard way, you’re not alone.
Most teams we speak to fall into one of three camps:
-
You use free templates from tools like Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor or Klaviyo… but they’re limiting, hard to customise, and never quite feel on-brand.
-
You work at a large company where every email starts with a Figma file from a designer, then gets built (and re-built) by a developer. It’s slow, expensive, and fragile.
-
You do have a master template, but editing it means jumping into the code every time you need to make a change. Risky. Time-consuming. Error-prone.
If any of this sounds familiar, a modular approach to email design can help.
What is Modular Email Design?
Modular email design is exactly what it sounds like: breaking your emails into reusable content blocks (called modules). Things like:
- Headers
- Footers
- Hero images
- Product sections
- CTAs
- Content blocks
Instead of starting from scratch — or copying an old email and wrestling it into shape — you build new emails by stacking pre-approved, brand-safe modules.
Why Use a Modular Email System?
Faster Email Production
Build emails in minutes, not days. Drag, drop, update content. Done.
Consistency Across Every Send
Modules are built once to your brand guidelines — so every email stays on-brand by default.
No More Broken Code
Your modules are tested and ready to go. No more “why is this spacing broken only in Outlook on Windows XP?”.
Empower Non-Developers
Marketing teams can build campaigns themselves, without waiting on dev resources.
How to Get Started with Modular Email Templates
Here’s a simple, practical way to get going — even if you’re starting from a basic template or messy email archive.
1. Audit Your Existing Emails
Look through recent campaigns. What content patterns keep repeating?
Make a list of reusable components:
- Headers
- Footers
- Product cards
- Buttons
- Text blocks
- Image + Text layouts
2. Define Your Brand Styles
Decide (or document) the rules:
- Fonts
- Colours
- Button styles
- Padding / spacing
- Image sizes
- Link styles
3. Create a Master Template
Think of this as your base layout — it holds together your modules but stays flexible for different campaign types.
4. Break It Into Modules
Split your master template into standalone, reusable blocks.
Each one should:
- Work on its own
- Be responsive
- Follow your brand styles
5. Test Everything
Test each module in all the email clients your audience uses — Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, etc. Tools like Litmus or Email on Acid are great for this.
6. Build a System for Your Team
Once your modules are ready, store them somewhere easy to access and use.
→ If you’re doing this manually, that might be a folder of HTML snippets.
→ If you want to make life easier (especially for non-technical users), that’s exactly where a tool like Modular Mail comes in.
Modular Mail: Built for Teams Like Yours
Modular Mail gives you a clean, easy-to-use interface for building emails from your own branded modules — without touching code.
Perfect if:
- You already use a master template but want to make it easier to use
- Your marketing team wants to build emails faster, without breaking stuff
- You want to spend less time fixing email bugs, and more time getting campaigns out the door