Brands sent nearly 23 billion promotional emails in 2023.
That’s enough to make your inbox cry for mercy. But let’s forget the inbox for a second. What about the teams behind those campaigns?
The ugly truth is that email production has turned into a ball and chain. 21% of teams spend a full week just to get one email out the door. And 62%? They get stuck in the cycle for two weeks or more. And while that’s happening, nearly a quarter of marketers are balancing five emails in production at the same time.
And then we wonder why email building (41%) and designing (40%) are the biggest culprits in email production? Pouring more hours into email template production than strategizing campaigns is no pretty picture for any brand on this planet.
That explains why marketers with a ‘work-smart-not-hard’ mindset can’t stop raving about modular email layouts.
Chad S. White at Oracle Marketing Consulting asserts that modular email systems can reduce production time by 25–40%.
And if you want the real “I lived it” proof: Carin Slater at Litmus says modular email templates building “completely transformed” her work. Work that once ate hours now takes her… wait for it… ten minutes.
But hold on. If you think designing modular email layouts is something only a senior email developer can add to their job portfolio, let us break that illusion.
With the right tools—especially Litmus Builder—modular email building becomes an accessible, team-wide superpower. Whereby you create an empowering workflow for your entire team to build emails smarter, faster, and more consistently.
And that’s exactly what this guide is about.
Here’s the step-by-step guide that will walk you through the ins and outs of building modular emails with Litmus Builder.
What is a Modular Email Layout?
Modular email design refers to constructing emails by assembling reusable, interchangeable components—building blocks, rather than crafting each email from scratch.
You create these building blocks or modules for different types of email campaigns in advance. They have unmatchable flexibility. You can edit the content and position the module according to your campaign objectives.
As Email Mavlers explained in High Production Time? Ship Faster with Modular Email Templates!, this method gives marketing teams the flexibility they need to move quickly without compromising quality.
For marketing teams racing against the clock, this approach is a lifesaver—
- Delivering repeatable efficiency
- Keeping branding airtight
- Shrinking turnaround times
What Are The Key Litmus Components For Modular Email Layouts?
Litmus Builder breaks down modular email construction into a few essential components:
- Snippets: These are your modular workhorses. Small blocks of reusable content. Hero images, primary or secondary content blocks, and call-to-actions (CTAs) are ideal snippet candidates.
What sets snippets apart from static code sections is that snippets are editable within each email or template. That makes them flexible on the fly.
- Partials: These are global, dynamic, and usable across campaigns. When you update a partial, the changes are reflected everywhere it’s included.
Headers and footers, your CSS resets, or responsive design rules are some common partials.
- Templates: It’s the canvas where your modular components come together and form a seamless modular email layout. Thanks to templates, you have an error-proof, on-brand email foundation wherein you plug in copy, images, and links.
- Design Library: This is your centralized vault. Snippets, partials, templates, brand colors, and other modular components all live here. Tap into it anytime to maintain consistency and workflow efficiency.
Step 1: Get Buy-In and Set Your Modular Goals
The biggest hurdle is often time when creating modular email designs–
- Time to build reusable modules
- Time to audit existing emails
- Time to train your team.
For smooth sailing through the process, it’s important that you present modular building as a priority. Which often starts by educating your leadership on its benefits. Let them know modular emails:
- Helps you to scale on-brand experiences without ballooning headcount.
- Cuts email production time, allowing you to ship your campaigns faster.
- Moves you from firefighting to strategic marketing.
Step 2: Audit Existing Emails & Identify Common Modules
Before firing up the code editor, take stock. Gather your current email templates and identify frequently recurring sections. Take note of patterns and common design elements.
Litmus suggests using design tools like Figma to map out these modules visually first. Rushing into code would be counterproductive. Creating wireframes ensures your modules are designs you’ll actually use time and again.
Step 3: Create Your Snippets and Partials in the Design Library
Head over to Litmus’s Design Library and start building:
- Click New Module and choose between Snippet or Partial.
- For snippets, name your module, define a “trigger” text, and paste the module’s HTML/CSS code.
- For partials, name it and paste the shared code.
Don’t have code handy? Litmus’s community shares example snippets and partials, which are a goldmine for modular design starters.
Step 4: Build Modular Emails in Litmus Builder
Now, launch a new email in Litmus Builder. Take your call if you’d like to select a blank template or build from an existing one. Even better, copy and paste your HTML/CSS if you have pre-existing content.
Mark the section you want as a snippet and click Save selection as module. Assign a name and trigger, and that’s how a new snippet is born! Now you can reuse these snippets in future emails, which speeds production significantly.
Step 5: Organize Your Design Library
Organization is paramount for everything. But more so for marketers managing multiple clients or campaigns.
Get a cleaner library structure, and your development cycles will thank you by getting shorter.
Litmus recently added module categories in the Design Library, enabling you to:
- Group like elements (buttons, headers, spacers).
- Tag modules for specific clients or projects.
- Search and retrieve assets without having to hunt down scattered code.
Step 6: Use Litmus Builder’s Visual Editor to Go Low-Code
Litmus’s Visual Editor is great for assembling and editing modular email layouts without deep coding skills. Drag and drop your snippets and partials from the Modules tab directly into the email layout.
Non-coders can edit images, text, and brand colors via a simple interface without altering the underlying modular structure.
By taking a low-code route, email building becomes accessible across teams — speeding up processes and clearing bottlenecks.
Step 7: Test, Preview, and Refine with Litmus’s Advanced Tools
A modular layout only makes a statement if it renders great. Confirm if it does using Litmus’s testing features:
- Group and filter email previews based on top clients, such as Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail.
- Customize filters informed by your own audience data from Email Analytics.
- Prioritize testing for platforms that matter most to your subscribers.
Iterate and Expand Your Modular System
The best modular email layout is iterative. Start simple. Build micromodules, such as buttons and body copy blocks. Save and reuse these bits to construct larger macromodules.
Make it a habit to save anything reusable. Over time, your modular email design system will grow into a strategic asset that accelerates production and preserves brand integrity.
