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5 Secrets to Great Email Marketing Design

March 6, 2025 / Email Basics, Marketing Strategy / Alex Gallagher

Want to improve your email marketing design and create campaigns that look great on any device? Whether you’re using Mailchimp, Klaviyo, or another email marketing platform, design best practices remain the same. Use these 5 tips and craft optimized emails like a marketing pro.

Structure Emails Hierarchically

A well-structured email makes it easy for readers to absorb key information at a glance. The most important message should be front and center, using larger fonts or bold formatting to stand out. Typically, this means starting every email with a large heading or even a colorful header image.

Before you design an email, ask yourself: What action do I want readers to take? That action—whether it’s signing up for an event, watching a video, or making a purchase—should be the focal point of your design.

A clear hierarchy also improves readability and scannability, which is essential for subscribers in a hurry.

Use Consistent Fonts and Colors

Your email design should reinforce your brand identity. Keep things cohesive by using the same colors for buttons and links throughout your campaigns.

Choose 1-3 fonts and apply them consistently—such as one font for headings and another for body text. Mailchimp and Klaviyo both allow you to set brand colors and fonts within their design tools, making it easier to maintain a polished, professional look.

Keep Text Concise

People skim emails in seconds, so keep your content short and to the point. If a paragraph runs longer than four lines, break it up with line breaks, subheadings, or bullet points. Shorter sentences and clear formatting make your emails easier to digest, especially on mobile devices.

Sometimes, it takes a few passes to make your email as concise as possible. Try writing out a draft and leaving it alone for a few hours. When you return, read through and consider every word. If you can shorten a sentence in any way- Do it! This can be a tedious process, but it will pay off for

Use Engaging Calls-to-Action

In email, a call-to-action (CTA) is the text found on a button or text link. Even for nonprofits who aren’t selling anything, all emails should have one primary CTA. This conveys the next step your subscribers should take, which could include donating, buying a product, reading an article, and many more.

The CTA text itself should tell subscribers exactly what to do—without being forceful or overly generic. The best CTAs are:

Short (around 3 words)
Actionable (starting with a verb)
Clear (avoiding vague phrases like “Click here”)

For example, instead of “Learn More,” try “Discover Our Mission” or “Start Your Free Trial.” Challenge yourself to include at least one button CTA and one text link in every email, so readers have multiple opportunities to engage.

Follow Accessibility Best Practices

Great email marketing design is accessible to everyone. Keep these best practices in mind:

Use alt text for images so screen readers can describe them.
Ensure high color contrast between text and background for readability.
Underline links and avoid using only color to indicate clickable text.
Review your email in dark mode to ensure all elements remain visible.

Take advantage of preview and test email features in your email marketing provider, and check out resources like Litmus’s ultimate guide to accessibility. To ensure color contrast, bookmark a simple contrast checker like Coolors.

Get a Beautiful Email Design from Pure Firefly

Need a custom email template that’s professional, engaging, and easy to use? Pure Firefly specializes in email design for Mailchimp, Klaviyo, and beyond. Whether you’re looking for a one-time template or a complete email marketing refresh, we can help. Contact us today to get started!

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How to Convert a Word Document into a Mailchimp Email

March 1, 2025 / Email Basics, Mailchimp How-To / Alex Gallagher

So, you’ve created an email in a Word document and need to send it through Mailchimp. You’re likely wondering how to transfer the content into a Mailchimp email without losing formatting. While Mailchimp doesn’t allow direct uploads of Word files, you can easily copy your text and images into a Mailchimp email template while keeping it clean and professional – Here’s how!

Why Convert from Word to Mailchimp?

Many new Mailchimp users assume they can upload a Word document and send it as an email directly, but this isn’t the case. Microsoft Word formatting doesn’t translate directly to email HTML. This can cause spacing issues, misaligned text, or other unexpected changes – Even deliverability issues! By properly copying your Word document into Mailchimp’s template builder, you ensure your email looks great on all devices and maintains a consistent style.

Pasting Text into Your Mailchimp Template

To transfer your content seamlessly, start by moving the email’s text into MailChimp. Follow these steps:

Divide your email text into sections. Use subheadings, bulleted lists, images, or signatures for guidance. You can have multiple paragraphs in one section, but make sure each paragraph is no more than 3 lines long.
Add your first text block. Locate the content blocks on the left side of Mailchimp’s template builder. Click on “Paragraph,” hold your mouse down, and drag the block into the preview on the right side of the page.
Copy in your text. Copy the first section of text from your Word document. Paste it into the text block without formatting (use Ctrl+Shift+V on Windows or Cmd+Shift+V on Mac).
Set your formatting. Use the top toolbar to add bullet points, italics, and bold text as needed. If the first section of text is a heading, set it to Heading 1. Set subheadings to Heading 2, and leave all body text set to Paragraph.
Repeat the process. Copy and paste all text from your .doc or .docx, working section-by-section to ensure clean formatting.

Adding Images to Your Mailchimp Email

If you have images in your email draft, you’ll first need to extract them from the Word document. You can follow this guide from Microsoft, or just screenshot each image if you’re in a pinch.

Add Image Blocks: In Mailchimp’s email builder, click “image” on the left side menu. Hold your mouse down and drag the block where you want the image to appear.
Insert Images: Click on the grey box where you’ve dragged an image block. Click “Add” to upload an image from your computer or Mailchimp’s content studio.
Adjust Appearance: Use the left side menu to alter the image size, alignment, borders, and more. Click “Styles” for even more detailed formatting options
Use Layouts: If you want to place images and text side-by-side, try adding a layout block. Click “Layouts” on the left side menu and drag in the block that most matches the appearance you’re looking for.

If you have large images in your email, be sure to optimize your files for proper delivery.

Refining Your Mailchimp Template Styles

Once text and images from your Word doc are in place, you’re ready to customize the email’s design. Click on your email’s grey background to pull up the content block options, then click “Styles” on the leftmost menu – Look for the paint bucket icon.

Text Styles: Use the Text Styles menu to determine how each text style appears. For example, you can have 16px black body text and 30px blue headings!
Background Color: Choose colors that complement your branding. Body color refers to the area where your text and images appear, while background color refers to the area around your email content (this is usually grey by default).
Mobile Styles: Preview and adjust the mobile version to ensure a responsive design. Pay attention to the padding settings, which have a major effect on how images appear for mobile viewers.

For more guidance on mobile style settings, check out this guide from Mailchimp’s help center.

Simplify Your Process with a Template by Pure Firefly

Converting a Word document into a Mailchimp email works, but it can be a lengthy process. For a truly polished and professional look, consider using a custom email template. At Pure Firefly, we design Mailchimp templates that streamline your email creation process and ensure brand consistency across platforms.

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5 New Time-Saving Features from Mailchimp

February 20, 2025 / Mailchimp How-To, Product Reviews / Alex Gallagher

In 2025, Mailchimp has rolled out several new features to make email marketing more efficient and user-friendly. These new features can help you streamline your campaigns and improve engagement, from improvements to the email builder to better automation tools. Here are five Mailchimp updates worth exploring this year.

SMS Shortcodes & A/B Testing

Mailchimp has expanded its SMS marketing capabilities, now allowing users to send messages using shortcodes. These short, memorable numbers help recipients recognize and engage with your texts more easily. Short codes also help with deliverability, ensuring messages reach customers faster.

Additionally, Mailchimp now supports A/B testing for SMS campaigns. This means you can test different messages, timing, or CTAs to see what resonates best with your audience—just like you would with email. If SMS marketing is part of your strategy, these updates offer more ways to refine your approach.

New Builder: Mobile Editor

In 2025, mobile responsiveness plays a huge role in email engagement. Thankfully, Mailchimp has updated its new template builder to improve mobile optimization. No more switching between preview modes—Mailchimp now lets you edit emails in both desktop and mobile views.

Just switch to “mobile” within the New Builder to see what your email will look like on a smartphone. Plus, you can now edit mobile styles block-by-block for more flexible and responsive designs.

Improved Customer Journey Builder

New features from Mailchimp include updates to their automation tools. The latest improvements to the Customer Journey Builder include:

The ability to move contacts to another path after an If/Else branch
An intuitive drag-and-drop interface
The option to pause a single step while the journey is still active

These updates give you more flexibility when crafting automated email sequences, allowing you to easily build relationships with your customers and boost conversions. For help with the updated journey builder, consider contacting a Mailchimp expert like Pure Firefly.

Mailchimp’s New Comparative Reports

Want to see how different audience segments engage with your emails over time? Mailchimp’s new Comparative Reports feature lets you analyze trends across different segments. For example, you can compare click rates across the past 20 campaigns for customers vs. non-customers.

Comparative reporting insights can help you better understand your audience and craft strategic messages.

New Builder: Edit in Sections

New features in the Mailchimp builder now allow you to edit your email in sections. This makes it easier than ever to adjust the header, footer, and body content without having to tweak each element individually. This feature saves time and ensures consistency across your campaigns.

Updated Canva Integration

For those who design their email visuals in Canva, this update is a game-changer. Mailchimp’s improved integration now allows users to switch more seamlessly between platforms, making it faster and easier to pull in branded graphics without exporting and re-importing image files.

Make the Most of Mailchimp with Pure Firefly

With all these updates, now is a great time to optimize your email strategy. If you need help making the most of Mailchimp’s new features, Pure Firefly is here to help.

Whether you’re setting up a new automation, testing SMS campaigns, or refining your email designs, we can guide you through the process. Check out our blog for more email marketing insights, or contact us for support with your next campaign.

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Designing for Dark Mode in Mailchimp’s New Template Builder

January 6, 2025 / Mailchimp How-To, Marketing Strategy / Alex Gallagher

Dark mode in Mailchimp is becoming essential for email marketers as more users adopt dark mode settings on their devices. Ensuring your emails look great in this environment can improve user experience and engagement. Here’s how to design emails that shine, even in the dark.

How Dark Mode Works

Dark mode is an option that allows users to view their interface with a black or dark grey background and white text. Some people use this option to reduce eyestrain when browsing at night, and others simply prefer it.

For email marketers, dark mode can entirely change the appearance of the design. Inbox providers handle dark mode differently:

Some invert colors entirely, altering hues and brightness.
Others keep the original design but adjust backgrounds and text colors.
A few modify only specific elements like links or buttons.

With the wide variety of ways different platforms can convert emails for dark mode, it can be challenging for marketers to ensure their emails still look good for all recipients. Here are some tips to help users optimize their emails for dark mode in Mailchimp’s new builder.

Making Images Work in Dark Mode

Images can present particular challenges when designing for dark mode. Here are some tips to keep them looking great on all devices:

Use transparent backgrounds – To avoid a blocky appearance, use transparent backgrounds for all light-colored graphics.
Add a glow – For black logos or text-based graphics, apply a white glow or stroke to maintain visibility on dark backgrounds.

Optimizing your image sizes is always important too. This can help reduce load times and ensure visual balance on mobile devices.

Choosing Colors for Dark Mode

When choosing colors for dark mode in Mailchimp emails, focus on contrast and flexibility:

Avoid Pure Black or White: Instead, use deep greys and soft whites. This can improve visibility once colors are inverted for dark mode.
High-Contrast Design: Ensure text, buttons, and backgrounds remain legible by selecting colors with strong contrast ratios.
Accessible Links: Use underlines or bold text to make links noticeable without relying solely on color changes.

Because there is so much variation in dark mode rendering across platforms, it is essential to test and adjust colors to ensure they are visually appealing when inverted, lightened, or simply placed on a dark background.

Optimizing Mailchimp Emails for Mobile

Mobile devices are the most common place users enable dark mode, so optimizing your emails for mobile is non-negotiable. Mailchimp has a few options to improve your emails’ mobile display:

Use the mobile styles menu to adjust the way your email renders on mobile devices
Adjust padding settings as needed to ensure proper alignment
Consider setting a unique button, link, and divider color for mobile

Keep in mind that Mailchimp’s multiple-column layouts will stack vertically on mobile – There is no way to alter this setting.

Mailchimp’s Dark Mode Limitations

Mailchimp is a powerful and responsive email marketing tool. However, it does have some limitations when it comes to dark mode.

Mailchimp does not have a built-in dark mode preview, so users need to rely on test emails to review designs. Additionally, Mailchimp does not allow you to code for specific colors or images to appear in dark mode or light mode – There is only one version of the design, which is then modified by the email inbox itself.

One smaller limitation some users have noticed is the design of Mailchimp’s social media icons. If you use a social media icon block, avoid placing it on a pure white or black background. The icons will not adjust in dark mode, so they can easily become invisible when the background color changes.

Testing Dark Mode in Mailchimp

As with any design changes, testing is essential to make sure dark mode alterations work as intended. In Mailchimp, the best way to test emails for dark mode is to send a test email to multiple inboxes.

Cover your bases by sending a test email to users on some of the most popular email platforms:

Gmail
Apple Mail
Outlook
Yahoo

Open the email in dark mode on mobile and desktop devices, and note any differences you see across platforms!

Refine Your Email Templates with Pure Firefly

Navigating dark mode in Mailchimp can be tricky, but you don’t have to do it alone. Pure Firefly specializes in email designs that work seamlessly across all platforms, including dark mode optimization. Contact us today to elevate your email marketing strategy!

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