HubSpot Email Templates: From Beginner to Pro

Email marketing remains one of the highest ROI channels for businesses, and HubSpot's email template system makes it accessible to everyone—from marketing coordinators to small business owners. Everything you need to know about creating, modifying, and optimizing email templates in HubSpot is covered in this guide.

What Are Email Templates?

Email templates are pre-designed, reusable email formats that enhance your communication workflow. These templates eliminate the need to build every email from scratch, allowing you to maintain consistent branding while saving time on design and formatting.

Think of email templates as digital blueprints for your business communications. They provide a standardized framework that includes:

• Pre-built layouts that work across all devices
• Brand consistency with your logos, colors, and fonts
• Content placeholders for easy customization
• Professional design elements that require no coding skills

By using templates, beginners can design visually appealing and professional-looking emails without needing any prior design or coding experience.

Why Use Email Templates?

Because email templates provide strategic advantages beyond mere convenience. They establish a scalable and efficient marketing and sales operation through several key benefits:

• Efficiency and Time Savings Templates eliminate the need to format an email's layout or style every time a new message is sent. This allows teams to focus on content creation rather than design work.
• Brand Consistency Templates reinforce a cohesive brand identity, making every email instantly recognizable to subscribers and strengthening the brand's presence in the marketplace.
• Error Reduction By establishing a common framework, templates reduce the risk of errors that can occur when manually copying and pasting content or attempting to recreate designs from memory.
• Scalable Operations Templates provide a unified voice and standardized process that can be applied across an entire organization, particularly beneficial for small teams or growing companies.
• Cross-Department Alignment Templates ensure consistent messaging and branding across different departments, such as marketing, sales, and customer service.
  
  

Does HubSpot Have Email Templates?

Yes, there are HubSpot email templates and robust tools for creating custom ones. The platform is specifically designed to help users, including those without design experience, craft professional-looking emails.

• Pre-Built Template Library HubSpot offers a variety of ready-to-use templates that serve as starting points for different purposes:
  • Announcement templates
  • Birthday message templates
  • Meeting request templates
  • Newsletter layouts
  • Product promotion designs
• Free Tools Available A significant advantage for beginners is that HubSpot email template builder is available with its free tools, specifically as part of the Sales Hub. This allows new users to access powerful email marketing features at no cost, making it ideal for small businesses and startups.
• Upgrade Options While the free plan offers essential features like contact management and basic email marketing, upgrading to paid plans unlocks advanced tools, including
  • Advanced automation capabilities
  • Detailed analytics and reporting
  • Enhanced personalization options
  • Greater customization features
    
    

Types of Email Templates Available in HubSpot

HubSpot email templates are designed to serve various business objectives and can be categorized based on their function:

Marketing Email Templates

These templates target broad audiences and are optimized for different marketing objectives:

• Newsletter templates for regular content sharing
• Product promotion templates for showcasing offerings
• Event announcement templates for webinars and conferences
• Welcome series templates for new subscribers

• Re-engagement templates for inactive contacts

Check our blog post: Hubspot Features for Marketing: Email, Forms & CTAs to learn more about how to use this email templates to enhance your Marketing Strategy.

Sales Email Templates

Tailored specifically for the sales process, these templates support:

• Prospecting emails for initial outreach
• Follow-up sequences after meetings or calls
• Nurturing templates for lead development
• Pricing information emails for qualified prospects
• Break-up emails for disengaging inactive leads

Customer Service Email Templates

These templates streamline support operations by providing:

• Common inquiry responses for frequently asked questions
• Troubleshooting guides for technical issues
• Feedback request templates for customer satisfaction
• Onboarding sequences for new customers
• Escalation notification templates for complex issues

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Where to Edit Email Templates in HubSpot?

For Marketing Templates

• Template library and creation tools
• Folder organization options
• Sharing and permission settings

For Sales Templates

• Personal template collections
• Team-shared templates
• Quick insertion tools for emails

How to Create an Email Template in HubSpot?

1. Access the Template Creation Area: Log into your HubSpot account and navigate to the appropriate section based on your template type (Marketing > Email > Create Email > Regular for marketing campaigns, or CRM > Message Templates for sales emails).
2. Initiate Template Creation: Click the "Create new template" or "New template" button, typically located in the upper right corner of the screen.
3. Choose Your Template Type: Select between Drag and drop editor (recommended for beginners) or Custom (for advanced users with HTML/CSS knowledge)
4. Configure Template Settings: Provide a clear, descriptive name for your template, then, select an appropriate folder for organization and set sharing permissions (private, team, or organization-wide)
5. Design Your Template: Using the drag-and-drop interface:
   1. Add and arrange modules (text, images, buttons, etc.)
   2. Customize colors and fonts to match your brand
   3. Insert personalization tokens for dynamic content
   4. Add your company logo and branding elements
6. Step 6: Save and Test: Save your template, preview it across different devices, send test emails to verify functionality and make any necessary adjustments before publishing.
   
   

Can You Personalize Emails in HubSpot?

Personalization Tokens

These are the foundation of HubSpot's personalization system:

• Basic Contact Tokens
  • First Name, Last Name
  • Email address
  • Company name
  • Job title
  • Contact owner information

• Company-Based Tokens
  • Company name and industry
  • Total revenue
  • Number of employees
  • Company location

• Advanced Tokens (Paid Plans)
  • Deal-related information
  • Ticket properties
  • Custom object data
  • Behavioral triggers
    
    

How to Add Personalization Tokens

1. Open the email editor and navigate to your template
2. Access the personalization tool by clicking the "Personalize" button within text modules
3. Select the token type from the dropdown menu (Contact, Company, etc.)
4. Choose the specific property you want to display
5. Add a fallback value (crucial for contacts without that data)
6. Insert the token into your email content
   
   

Dynamic Content Capabilities

• Location-based content showing region-specific information
• Industry-specific messaging tailored to business sectors
• Lifecycle stage content matching the buyer's journey stage

AI-generated content (Enterprise plans) for unique personalized text

Want to learn more about personalizing your content? Check our YouTube video Marketing Automation, Personalization & Lead Scoring

Tips for Designing Professional-Looking Emails Without Design Experience

Focus on Clarity and Simplicity

• Single-Column Layout Use a clean, single-column layout that ensures readability on any device and guides the reader's eye down a clear path to your call-to-action.
• Effective Use of Whitespace Whitespace refers to empty areas not filled with text or images. Ample whitespace prevents content from feeling crowded and helps emphasize important elements.

Optimize Visual Elements

• Image Best Practices
  • Use images that load quickly (under 800 pixels wide)
  • Include descriptive alt text for accessibility
  • Choose on-brand visuals that fit your color scheme
  • Optimize file sizes for faster loading

• Color and Branding
  • Stick to your brand's color palette
  • Use consistent fonts throughout
  • Include your company logo prominently
  • Maintain visual consistency across all emails

Learn how to keep your brand consistent, check our blog post How to Add Your Logo and Brand Colors in HubSpot (Step-by-Step Guide).

Create Compelling Content Structure

• Break text into digestible chunks
• Use bullet points for easy reading
• Apply bold text for emphasis
• Create clear content hierarchy

Master the Critical Elements

• Create curiosity and provide value
• Use personalization tokens when appropriate
• Keep subject lines under 50 characters
• Include compelling preview text

• Use action-oriented language ("Download Now," "Start Free Trial")
• Make CTAs visually prominent with contrasting colors
• Place primary CTAs "above the fold"
• Limit to one primary CTA per email

• Preview emails on different devices
• Ensure text remains readable on small screens
• Test all clickable elements on mobile
• Verify images display properly across devices

Frequently Asked Questions

How many email templates can I create in HubSpot?

Can I share email templates with my team?

What's the difference between drag-and-drop and coded templates?

How do I edit an existing template without affecting other emails?

Can I use my own HTML code in HubSpot templates?

Do HubSpot templates work on all email clients?

Can I A/B test my email templates?

How do I organize my email templates?

Key Takeaways

• Start Simple, Scale Smart Begin with HubSpot's free drag-and-drop builder to learn the platform and test different layouts. As your business grows and design needs become more sophisticated, consider investing in custom-coded templates or higher-tier HubSpot plans.
• Prioritize Personalization from Day One Use basic contact and company personalization tokens immediately to create more engaging emails. Always include fallback values to prevent awkward blank spaces in your emails.
• Focus on Fundamental Design Principles Emphasize clarity, simplicity, and strong call-to-action placement over flashy design elements. A clean, single-column layout with ample whitespace will outperform complex designs.
• Organize for Efficiency Create a logical folder structure for your templates and establish clear naming conventions. Manage sharing permissions appropriately to ensure the right team members have access to relevant templates.
• Test Thoroughly Before Sending Always preview templates across different devices and email clients. Use HubSpot's testing tools to verify personalization tokens render correctly and all links function properly.
• Plan for Growth Start with basic templates and gradually incorporate more advanced features like dynamic content and AI-generated personalization as your marketing sophistication and budget allow.