How to Design a Custom Email Template in Klaviyo (Step-by-Step Tutorial 2026)
If your emails look generic, they’ll get treated like they’re generic.
And in e-commerce, design is first impression.
You could create each email from scratch, but a well-built template gives your team a streamlined process and branding that feels intentional, not improvised.
In this guide, we’ll walk through how to turn Klaviyo’s default blocks into a custom, on-brand template your whole team can use.
You’ll learn how to set your header, build clean sections, use dynamic content, and design emails that feel consistent across every send, not just the ones you had extra time to polish.
Prefer to watch? Here’s the full video tutorial from yours truly at ECD.
Why Showcasing Brand Identity In Emails Matters For Your E-commerce Business
Your emails are mini storefronts. They need to exude quality, trust, and personality to earn the click.
A strong template does more than “look nice.” It does three jobs every high-performing e-commerce brand depends on:
Branded Emails Drive More Engagement
Templates create a pattern that the brain learns to respond to.
That’s why branded emails regularly outperform generic ones on:
- scroll depth
- click-through rate
- repeat engagement
Consistency isn’t decoration. It’s behavior training.
On-Brand Designs Convert More Buyers
When an email looks polished, people believe the offer is legitimate.
When it looks sloppy or off-brand, the friction starts before they even read the CTA.
Clean hierarchy guides the eye. Brand visuals reinforce value. Intentional structure sets expectations.
Every design choice either reduces friction…or adds it.
On-brand templates help you tell the right story before a single word is read. And in e-commerce, that tiny advantage compounds, especially across weekly campaigns and automated flows.
Intro To Customized Klaviyo Templates for Your Brand
Klaviyo gives you flexible building blocks, but the real power comes from shaping them to fit your brand.
When your template is truly customized, you get:
A branded header that sets the tone instantly
Reusable content sections your team can drag in without redesigning
Dynamic modules styled for your products and offers
A footer that feels finished, not forgotten
Layouts that hold up on mobile and desktop
This is the foundation you’ll build everything else on.
Now let’s start structuring it.
Step 1: Set Up Your Brand Header and Logo
Your header is the anchor of your entire template. A consistent header makes your emails instantly recognizable and visually trustworthy.
How to do it:
In Klaviyo, open the Email Builder → Add Section.
Choose a single-column layout.
Drag in an Image Block and upload your logo.
Set the width around 140–220px (big enough to recognize, small enough to breathe).
Add padding (top/bottom) and check mobile preview to ensure it scales cleanly.
Save this block as “Header – Brand” so your whole team can reuse it.
Step 2: Add Image and Text Blocks to Your Email Template
This is where your main story lives. Your hero image, headline, and supporting copy.
Clear visual hierarchy is what builds momentum to the click.
How to do it:
Drag an Image Block under your header for your hero.
Add a Text Block below it and paste in your headline.
Set line height, spacing, and brand typography once.
Add spacing (16–32px) between blocks to keep the hierarchy clean.
Save this as a reusable “Hero Section” if you want faster building later.
Step 3: Use Dynamic Content for Products and Offers
Dynamic modules prevent outdated product info and save hours of manual updates.
How to do it:
In the Builder, go to Add Block → Product or Product Feed.
Select your Shopify product catalog or collection feed.
Style the block: image ratio, font size, button color, spacing.
Save once → reuse everywhere.
Step 4: Adjust Columns and Section Layouts in Your Email Template
Columns help break up the layout, create rhythm, and guide readers down the page without fatigue.
How to do it:
Add a 2- or 3-column section depending on your content.
Drop in images, icons, or text blocks inside each column.
Switch to mobile preview and ensure columns stack cleanly.
Add padding so sections don’t feel cramped.
Great uses:
- product grids
- feature callouts
- value props
- testimonials
Step 5: Set Up a Brand Footer With Social Icons
Don’t let your email end with an afterthought. Footers are part of the brand.
How to do it:
Add a new section → drag in Social Block, Text Block, and optional Button.
Include:
-
- social icons
- support email
- business address (for compliance)
- preference/unsubscribe links
Match spacing and font size with the rest of your template.
Save as Footer – Brand.
Step 6: Optimize Klaviyo Email Templates for Mobile and Desktop
Don’t skip this. Over 70% of e-commerce email opens happen on mobile.
How to do it:
Switch to Mobile Preview in Klaviyo.
Reduce padding (12–20px usually works best).
Ensure images resize nicely—avoid massive hero blocks.
Make CTAs full-width with comfortable tap zones.
Watch for awkward stacking in column sections.
Step 7: Save And Reuse Your Custom Email Template
This is the part that saves your team hours. You start sending consistently, faster, and with fewer errors.
How to do it:
Review spacing, font styles, button styles, headers, and footers.
Hit Save as Template and name it something your whole team will understand (e.g., “Brand Master Template 2025”).
Duplicate this template for every new campaign or flow email.
How ECD Turns Klaviyo Templates Into Revenue Systems
A strong template creates magnetic first impressions and predictable returns. And when the design, copy, segmentation, and flows all work together, inbox performance stops swinging and starts compounding.
Most agencies focus on making emails “look nice.” We focus on making them perform.
That’s why our clients see results like:
- 157% jump in email revenue after design-optimized templates
- 49% of total revenue driven by email & SMS
- 27% of revenue from automated flows alone
- 7% sign-up rates (3x higher than average) from branded pop-ups
- 40% lift in desktop conversion after design restructuring
- $20K+ in first-month revenue from rebuilt core flows
If you know your email could be making more, we’ll show you exactly what’s missing.
Get Your Free Revenue Forecast
Written by: Paz
Senior Designer and proud Queen of Hobbies. If it’s handmade, she’s probably tried it. Crochet, ceramics, and embroidery. But her real superpower is her visual radar that never turns off. Paz is a collector of beautifully designed books and a firm believer that no brand wins unless it feels as good as it looks. She lives in the intersection of aesthetics and strategy, where design isn’t just pretty. It’s something you can see, feel, and watch work.