01. A Marriage of Complexity and Adaptation

Apart from the need to deal with a huge number of emails, the need to personalize with high quality matter and the introduction of responsive design has turned the once seemingly innocuous process of writing CSS and HTML code in your favorite text editor into a rather complex procedure. To help you deal with this newfound complexity, a number of full-fledged modular email templates along with customizable tools and editors have emerged in the market.

The advantages of these new tools cannot be overlooked while many of them can be combined into a workflow to work best for you and your team. Nevertheless, the big question remains – how do go about creating your email workflow to allow for a quick turnaround and continual iteration?

02. This is where modular design comes into the picture

Modular web design involves the creation of a system of self-contained components that you can stack, rearrange, and choose to either use or not use as the case may be. The primary goal is to possess the ability wherein you can adapt or change individual design patterns without having to alter the system as a whole. By adopting the use of these reusable patterns and modular email templates you will be in a better position to improve the consistency and quality of what you send while enhancing the speed of your regular outputs.

There are three basic steps to using designs built with modular grid layouts while setting up an email workflow.

03.Creation of the Design System

The simplest way in which you can streamline iterations is by breaking down each of the common design use cases into a system involving self-contained components. Each one of these constitutes a LEGO block with content and media as their prime ingredients that can be snapped together into a number of different configurations. This will let you build on almost an infinite number of emails without facing any kind of unwanted hassle.

04. Setting up of the Framework

This is where the whole process of incorporating a modular web design into an out-of-the-box modular email template or framework starts to take shape. If you are someone who sends out a reasonable amount of emails, creating your own custom network could prove beneficial in the long run. With your own framework in place, you will have the option to include time-saving custom helpers, leave the markup easy and light to work with, and even hook in directly to your email service provider. The long-term gains in terms of efficiency and quality where your own modular email design workflow is in place can be huge.

05. Iterations on Existing Designs

With emails being sent out periodically, this makes it possible to design iterations. If your plan involves sending out emails weekly or daily, then you are left with ample room for running A/B tests on your design decisions. Irrespective of the workflow options that you choose to adopt, ensure that important email metrics are being tracked. Also make best possible use of the available data for improving your core design because a better experience should get paramount importance rather than any single data point.

When you incorporate a modular email template and design into your workflow, the productivity increases and makes it easier for you to make iterations on the existing designs. The initial investment of time may seem like a big ask but in the long run as you start sending out mails in larger volumes, the results will significantly improve thus pushing up the customer experience and engagement rates, and also the net revenue of your business.