Email templates and merge variables
Save reusable HTML email designs, insert merge variables that fill in per recipient, and keep the unsubscribe link that makes a marketing send legal.
A template is a saved HTML email with a subject, stored so you can reuse it across campaigns. Templates are also where merge variables live — the tokens that become the recipient's name, the unsubscribe link, and the rest, at the moment the email is sent.
Before you start
Marketing view access is enough to read templates. Saving one needs marketing edit access — view-only roles see a View Only badge and cannot save.
Create a template
Open the template list
OutboundOne-time emailsTemplates — Templates and Lists are buttons in the header of the one-time emails list, not tabs of their own. Then create a new template.
Name it and set the Subject
The name is internal; the subject is what recipients see, and it can carry merge variables too.
Edit the HTML
Click a variable in the Variables list to insert it at the cursor.
Preview
Check how it renders before you attach it to a campaign.
Save
It now appears in the Email Content picker when you build a one-time email.
Merge variable reference
Each token is replaced per recipient at send time. Click to insert them rather than typing them — a token with a typo is sent to your list as literal text.
| Variable | Resolves to |
|---|---|
{{recipient_name}} | The contact's name |
{{recipient_email}} | The contact's email address |
{{subject}} | The campaign's subject line |
{{action_url}} | The campaign's primary action link |
{{unsubscribe_url}} | The tracked one-click unsubscribe link |
{{company_name}} | Your agency name |
{{current_year}} | The current year, for a footer copyright line |
Sequence steps use their own tokens — {{company}} and similar — and are
written on the sequence, not here. See
building an email sequence.
Keep the unsubscribe link in the footer
{{unsubscribe_url}} is the tracked opt-out, and removing it costs more than a
complaint: unsubscribes are how Zyan learns to suppress an address on every
future send, so a template without it keeps emailing people who have asked you
to stop.
Settings reference
| Setting | What it changes | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Template name | How the template is listed when you pick one for a campaign. | — |
| Subject | The default subject for campaigns built from this template. Merge variables work here. | — |
| Variables | A click-to-insert list of merge tokens. Inserting is safer than typing. | — |
| Preview | Renders the template as a recipient would see it, with sample values. | — |
Send yourself a test before every campaign, not every template
Preview shows you the markup. A real Send Test from the campaign shows you what Gmail and Outlook do to it, which is a different question and the one that usually bites.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| A token appears as literal text in the sent email | It was typed with a typo, or it is not a supported variable | Use the click-to-insert Variables list; only the tokens in the table above resolve |
| Save is disabled and a View Only badge is showing | You have marketing view access, not edit | Ask the workspace owner for marketing edit access |
| Recipients have no way to unsubscribe | {{unsubscribe_url}} was removed from the footer | Put it back — it is also how addresses get suppressed for future sends |
| The template looks right in preview and wrong in an inbox | Email clients rewrite HTML and CSS | Keep the markup simple, and test with Send Test from a real campaign |
| The subject is blank on a campaign | The campaign's own Subject Line overrides the template's | Set the subject on the campaign |