Arrow-links, not button soup
Each editorial card ends in a "Read more →" link rather than its own button. Button soup is the named failure mode of the newsletter archetype — five buttons and the reader picks none.
Preview
What's inside
What's inside this newsletter email template, module by module.
Read off the file itself, not a spec sheet. This is the module order the download actually ships with, in the order a reader meets them.
- Header / masthead
- Hero zone (text hero)
- 3-card grid
- Editorial card (myth busting) - repeatable alternate
- Pre-footer (glossary)
- Closing CTA
Import
How to import this template into Mailchimp, step by step.
The download is a single HTML file. Here is where it goes in Mailchimp, what the platform expects, and which tags are already wired up.
- Open Email templates and choose Create template.
- Pick Code your own, then Paste in code.
- Paste the downloaded HTML and save the template.
- Replace every placeholder before you send — image sources, link targets, product and price copy, the sender name and the footer address. Anything marked mc:edit is editable in the campaign builder, so most of this needs no HTML.
- Start a campaign from the saved template.
Plan Custom-coded templates are a paid-plan feature. Mailchimp’s free tier does not offer the code-your-own path.
Editing This is a Classic template. Every region marked mc:edit opens in the campaign builder as an editable region with a WYSIWYG toolbar, so a non-technical teammate can change copy and images without touching HTML. Classic and the Drag-and-Drop builder are not interchangeable — an imported HTML template always lands in Classic.
Watch for Do not paste this into the Drag-and-Drop builder. There is no path from custom HTML into a Drag-and-Drop template — importing as code-your-own always yields a Classic template, which is what the mc: regions are built for.
Swapping the placeholder images
A custom-HTML template opens in Mailchimp’s legacy builder. Click the image, open the source view on that editable region, and replace the src with an image from your Mailchimp file manager — those URLs start with mcusercontent.com. The rest of the block can stay as it is.
Shortcut You can skip this entirely. Connect Mailchimp under Connectors in the studio and EmailTemple transfers the files over the API when it pushes the template, so there is no source code to edit. Connectors are on the Starter and Pro plans.
How to use it
When to send this newsletter email, and what to change first.
When to send it
This is a series, so the cadence is the product. Pick one slot — weekly or fortnightly — and hold it for the whole run, because a reader who knows issue two is coming will wait for it. Send it as a campaign to a segment of new-buyer leads. Read performance on click rate. Apple Mail Privacy Protection inflates opens on every list, and on an education email the signal that matters is which guide actually got read.
What to change first
Four links ship dead. All three “Read guide” links in the Keys 101 grid point at a bare # anchor, and so does “See down payment options” in the myth block. Send them to your own saving, pre-approval and closing-cost guides. Then the myth itself. The 20% down payment claim needs your local loan programs behind it, not a borrowed figure. Swap “Escrow” in Term of the Week for whatever term confuses your buyers most, and point “Book a free consultation” at a real calendar. The layout carries four illustration slots: three in the grid, one beside the myth.
The craft
What makes a newsletter email worth sending.
Single column, short blocks
One reading path, scannable blocks, alternating image-left and image-right between consecutive cards so the eye keeps moving without the layout repeating itself.
Structure as ritual
A fixed section order and a consistent send time turn a newsletter into something a reader can locate instantly, issue after issue. Morning Brew built a daily habit on exactly that predictability.
Or refine this
Make this email template yours.
Generate your own with this template as a starting point. Change the colors, the voice, the offer — describe what you want different and the studio recomposes it. Apply your brand kit and ship in your tone, not the template's.
The download is yours either way.
Open this template in the studio →
Questions
Mailchimp template questions, answered.
Can I import a custom HTML template on Mailchimp’s free plan?
No. The code-your-own path is a paid-plan feature — Mailchimp’s free tier does not expose custom-coded templates. Everything else about this template is free and unrestricted.
Will my team be able to edit this without touching HTML?
Yes, for the regions marked editable. Each mc:edit region opens in the campaign builder with a WYSIWYG toolbar, so copy and images can change per send while the layout stays fixed.
When should a newsletter go out?
Consistency beats any theoretical best hour. Pick a slot your audience already reads in, then hold it — the predictability is the point. Read your ESP reports to find it, and judge by clicks rather than opens, because Apple Mail Privacy Protection inflates open rates industry-wide.
Does First-time buyer education series — Mailchimp hold up in dark mode and Outlook?
Backgrounds are set with inline styles rather than the belt-and-braces bgcolor pairing, so check the render in a dark-mode client before your first send.
The “Book a free consultation” button is a bulletproof VML button, so Outlook on Windows draws a real filled button instead of collapsing it to a bare text link.
The layout is a 600px table backbone with a mobile breakpoint, and the CSS is already inlined for the clients that strip style blocks.
In the studio
Compose your own.
Describe what you want to send. Get a high-converting, dark-mode-safe template in seconds. Free tier, three generations a month, no card required.