Looks like email marketing teams are busy, no… swamped, actually. 62% of them take two weeks to get their emails from idea to inbox. It is not just time; the email volume is equally high. At any given time, 23% of teams have to balance up to 5 Email Templates in production.
In the grand scheme of email marketing tasks your team has to tackle, DIY email templates can organically look like an appealing solution. It’s quick and requires zero coding.
But then there is also a need to set your brand apart from the rest of the crowd. Something unique like custom email templates.
Speaking of templates brings us to the big question: DIY email templates or custom email templates? One promises speed and simplicity, and the other offers distinction and personality.
Today we are going past the oversimplified answer because you’ve heard “it depends” multiple times already.
While you might have heard cliched “it depends” too many times, today, we’re going beyond that oversimplified answer. Stick with me, and by the end of this blog, you’ll have a real answer—not just another “it depends.” Sounds good? Let’s roll.
What Are DIY Email Templates?
If beautiful custom email templates for branding are freshly cooked dinners made from scratch, DIY email templates are microwave food. That’s how Drupal Sinh, Senior Project Manager at Mavlers, puts it in this video.
What makes such email templates DIY?
At its core, a DIY email template is a pre-designed structure built for quick campaign production. They are designed in drag-and-drop email builders or editors where you create or edit email templates using pre-built, content blocks. Arranging these customizable blocks for text, images, buttons, and layouts is as easy as dragging and dropping. Which makes it a breeze for marketers to create branded emails quickly.
The drag-and-drop email builders hail from the family of “WYSIWYG” tools—”What You See Is What You Get” in tech-speak.
These low-code/no-code tools are the game-changer in making email development more accessible to everyone, regardless of their coding knowledge. They come with a simple visual interface that lets you build emails from scratch without needing to write code. Plus, as you build, you are able to see how your email design is taking shape in real time.
Where can you find these builders?
Major email service providers (ESPs) like Mailchimp, Mailjet, Campaign Monitor, and Constant Contact have them built in. CRM platforms like HubSpot, Braze, Salesforce, etc., also house them. While some platforms offer the flexibility to write code if you have coding expertise, others are no-code solutions keeping it purely drag-and-drop.
There are still more options to create stunning, responsive email templates. Independent platforms like Designmodo, Stripo, and Beefree offer their own drag-and-drop email template builder. They feature a rich library of pre-built email templates for all imaginable campaigns, industries, seasons, and ESPs. Some are free to use, others have a purchase fee.
Said another way, it offer a fast and budget-friendly way to create polished, responsive emails. They save you from the to and fro with the designer to get that ‘pixel-perfect’ email design. Just pick a template from the library and have it customized as per branding guidelines, and you are good to go.
What Makes Drag-and-Drop Email Template Builders So Popular Today?
A revealing statistic: 60% of marketers use email templates to streamline email design and development phases.
Why have DIY email templates become such a rage in modern email marketing?
- Easy to Use for Everyone
The drag-and-drop email template editors make the email creation less complex, even if you call yourself a total non-designer or a non-coder. Without thinking about what’s happening behind the scenes, you can easily add your content by dragging it into a blank template.
- Save and Reuse Your Templates
Once you create email building blocks, save them for future use. This way, your DIY email templates retain their brand consistency. Plus, editing them for future campaigns substantially increases the rate of email production and reduces turnaround time.
- Plenty of Templates to Choose From
Drag-and-drop email builders come with a variety of pre-designed templates that match a variety of email marketing purposes, audiences, and industries.
- Cost-Effective and Time-Efficient
With DIY email templates, the reliance on separate designers or coders decreases. Since fewer people are involved in the template production process, it reduces costs and accelerates the entire workflow. You can create, edit, and launch email campaigns faster.
What Are Custom Email Templates, and Why Are They Important?
Custom email templates are tailor-made tuxedos (Italian!) of email development. Crafted from scratch, tailored to perfect-fit your brand, and designed to reflect your unique style.
Unlike DIY email templates, which might feel like run-of-the-mill designs, custom email template solutions are hand-coded from the ground up to mold them to your brand specifications.
Yes, creating custom email templates is a task reserved for someone with specialized coding skills and the versatility to work with different ESPs. And a steep learning curve? Yes, that too!
However, when you have an in-house email developer, a skilled freelancer, or a specialized agency, you can far surpass the quality of DIY email templates. That’s because the custom email templates enjoy the creative freedom and flexibility required to craft class-apart emails.
Here’s how:
- Their pixel-perfect designs are tested for compatibility across all email clients.
- Optimized code improves your email deliverability and sender reputation.
- They deliver a premium brand experience that aligns with your branding guidelines.
- They make your brand recognizable by carrying the brand’s personality.
You name it: interactive emails, gamification, unique layouts, custom typography! The creative possibilities for custom emails only end with your imagination.
Let’s talk numbers: According to Email Uplers, custom template development costs around $70 per hour, plus about $100 for testing. A single template averages around $425, making monthly costs for four templates approximately $1,700.
So, while this cost is more than DIY templates, custom email templates streamline your workflow. Since you’ll be designing emails from scratch, all customizations are handled during the initial design phase. This eliminates the back-and-forth revisions later. Also, they require less development time and correspondence than customizing a pre-made email template.
DIY vs. Custom Email Templates: How They Impact Deliverability and Branding
Let’s not limit the debate between DIY and custom email templates to just design preferences—it also affects branding consistency, email performance, and deliverability.
DIY email templates are convenient but not without limitations. The drag-and-drop editors are known to generate heavier code. The bloated emails increase spam risk. Custom templates, on the other hand, are coded with precision. It improves inbox placement and reduces email rendering issues.
Another downside of DIY editors is that they allow for customization, but only basic. You have some design options, but DIY builders might disappoint you if you have an exceptional design vision for your upcoming campaign. Because they come with limited design flexibility and pre-defined templates that confine creative freedom.
So, if precision, full branding control, and a uniform cross-channel experience are important to you, custom templates should have a seat at the table.
Also, for brands looking to scale, relying solely on DIY editors is like driving with a spare tire. It works in the short term but is not a sustainable solution. Such brands may face risks. Generic designs that fail to stand out, deliverability issues, and limited personalization and advanced interactivity—to name a few.
How To Decide Between DIY and Custom Email Templates?
Although, by now, it must be clear to you, let us reiterate it:
Custom email templates are your best bet when you want to wow your subscribers with unique, on-brand email designs. They will help your designer convert your wildest creative idea into inbox-ready emails. Rather, they are even more important when email is your critical marketing channel and you require optimized performance and personalization. But remember the higher price tag and longer turnarounds, also.
That said, no judgment for using a drag-and-drop email builder. They are a solid choice for creating good enough email designs. For a brand wanting to take its email marketing to new heights, custom email templates are non-negotiable.
It’s like, as Megan Boshuyzen puts it–
“Asking an email developer to build a campaign in a drag-and-drop editor is like handing Picasso a box of crayons. Sure, he could make something cool. But if you want a masterpiece, give the artist the right tools.”
