Acknowledge the silence, skip the guilt
"We miss you" works. "We noticed you haven’t opened our last eight emails" does not — it reads as surveillance, and post-MPP it is often not even true.
Preview
What's inside
What's inside this re-engagement 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.
- Hero zone (greeting archetype)
- Avatar
- Headline
- Body copy
- Primary CTA
- Editorial body zone (3-up grid)
- Section heading
- 3-card grid
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 re-engagement email, and what to change first.
When to send it
This one is the odd shape in the win-back set. It is date-triggered on the anniversary of the closing rather than fired at a dormant segment, and it is a relationship email, not a re-engagement play — nobody has to have gone quiet for it to land. Store the closing date as an audience field in Mailchimp and let the send follow that date.
What to change first
The headshot slot and the personal note carry the whole email, so a stock face defeats it. Use your own picture and rewrite the note in your own words, keeping the “no catch to this email” line honest. The “Local Pros” card promises your personal list of trusted plumbers, electricians and painters, so that list has to exist before you send. Every link, including “See what your home is worth now”, still points at example.com, and the footer reads your business name with an example New York address.
The craft
What makes a re-engagement email worth sending.
Make the exit visible
A preferences arrow-link and a soft "or unsubscribe here" in the pre-footer. Respecting the reader’s choice is part of the voice, and a clean list is worth more than an inflated one.
Protect the sender reputation
Frequency should match engagement — send most often to the recently engaged, and to contacts dormant past six months only inside a campaign like this one. Repeatedly mailing the disengaged is what trains inbox providers to route you to spam.
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.
Should a win-back email include a discount?
Only if the reason they left was price. Give them a reason to stay or an easy exit — a reflexive discount teaches the engaged half of your list to wait for the next one.
Does Past-client home anniversary check-in — 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 “See what your home is worth now” 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.