Mailchimp have recently introduced “Sections” into the email design process.

ooohhhh…… a new toy to play with!

Let’s see if it’s actually useful?

At first glance, it looks like just a design tweak. A few nicer layouts, a slightly different way of building emails. Nothing that immediately feels like that big a deal.

And to be fair, it is not… for most Mailchimp users.

But it could fundamentally change how you build emails in a way that makes things more structured, more repeatable, and far less fiddly over time!

If you are building lots of emails regularly, that matters more than it sounds.

Save time, get better emails?… sign me up!

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First things first, what exactly are Sections?

A Section is a pre-built layout made up of multiple email “elements” that behave as one unit.

Instead of adding a text block, then an image, then adjusting spacing, then checking mobile, then fixing it again, you can start with something that already works.

It might be a header with a button, a two-column content block, or a call-to-action strip. The important part is that it already holds together.

You’re no longer assembling everything from scratch.

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… has Mailchimp given us pre-built sections?

Mailchimp has created lots of new sections in their Library you can use… and they will make your life easier.

You’ve got pre-built headers (with links already ready for you to populate).

…and lots of other options such as feature blocks, hero shots and products, along with the usual footer options.

If you want to drop something in, just select, drag and drop and it goes straight into the email.

…and they do look pretty darn good!

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…and you can save them and re-use them too.

Missing from the original launch in March was the ability to save sections and then re-use them again in the future… well as of 12th May, they’re now rolling the ability to save sections out (I’ve seen it in a few accounts), and this changes lots of our advice on how to use them.

Saving sections could be a big deal if you have lots of templates etc. and will save you a lot of time.

Plus you can store them in folders to make them easy to access.

If you’re sending the same types of emails every week, that time saving compounds surprisingly quickly.

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Sections vs Templates

At this point you might be thinking:

“Isn’t this just another version of a template?”

Not quite.

A template gives you a complete email structure.

A Section gives you reusable parts of that structure.

Think of a template as a complete house. A Section is a room you can move around and reuse whenever you need it.

That’s what makes Sections different. Instead of starting with a full email and deleting what you don’t need, you can simply combine the Sections you want.

When you build and use dynamic Sections,( more on that later) it becomes more than just efficient. It becomes adaptable.

You are no longer building slightly different emails for different audiences.

You are working from one structure that adjusts depending on who receives it.

It is not overcomplicated personalisation. It is just a cleaner way of delivering relevant content.

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What actually changes when you use them

The easiest way to understand Sections is to look at what they stop you having to do repeatedly.

If you are building an email from scratch and not using any templates, you will still need to get things looking right. That part has not disappeared.

Sorry 🙁

…but if you’ve got a template or an email already set up, there is a subtle but important shift in how you build.

Instead of piecing things together block by block, you are working with chunks. That reduces the number of small decisions you have to make each time.

You are not constantly asking yourself where something should go or whether it lines up. You are starting from something that already works and adjusting it.

…and if you’ve saved your sections, you can use and re-use them again and again.

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Fine…but where will it help me, right now… today?

Firstly, you can easily move sections around.

Reordering an email used to feel like a chain reaction. Move one thing, then adjust another, then fix what that broke. With Sections, you move the whole thing. It is cleaner, quicker, and feels more like organising your message than wrestling with layout.

Want the CTA section above other stuff… you can move the section yourself and not just the individual elements.

The same goes for styling.

Instead of tweaking fonts, colours, spacing, and borders across multiple elements, you can apply those changes at a Section level. One adjustment can affect everything inside that Section, which keeps things consistent and cuts down on repetitive edits.

It also reduces mistakes. Because every time you manually rebuild something, there is also an opportunity to break it.

Maybe the wrong phone number gets added. Maybe an old CTA link sneaks back in. Maybe someone’s signature hasn’t been updated.

A saved Section removes much of that risk because you’re reusing something that has already been tested and approved.

Which becomes even more valuable when multiple people are creating campaigns.

None of this is dramatic.

But it saves time every single time you build an email.

And that adds up quickly.

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A quick reality check

Before we get carried away, Sections do not fix bad emails.

They do not give you a strategy.

They do not decide what your email should say.

If your structure is weak, Sections will just help you build a well-formatted weak email.

…and who wants that?

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OK, so do you actually have a core template?…and do you need one now?

A core template is your standard email structure. The one you use again and again.

It’s something that most people who use Mailchimp alot have set up.

It’s both design and structure.

Most effective emails follow a familiar pattern. An opening that draws people in, some context, the main message, a clear next step, and a sign-off.

Most people we know duplicate a previous email and work from that. That’s… kind of a core template.

…but the thing is, with Sections, core templates are likely redundant!

Think about it, your core template was where you had all the bits you needed… and then ended up deleting the stuff you didn’t need.

Now, with sections, you can save them and use them again and again.

You no longer need a core template, you just need a load of saved sections which have all your core bits set up and ready to use.

…and this is where sections could be a game changer for email design in Mailchimp.

One challenge we regularly see is that emails slowly drift away from the original design over time.

Different people make small changes. Colours change. Spacing changes. CTA styles change.

Saved Sections could help prevent that drift by giving everyone the same approved building blocks to work from.

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The best way to use Sections right now

In a previous version of this blog, I rambled on about making a ‘core template’… but this became obsolete as soon as the ability to save sections became a reality.

The best way to do things now is to start creating the core ‘sections’ you’re going to use on a regular basis.

Create a standardised signature for each person who sends emails… build some standard Calls to Action (CTA’s) that you know work well.. create some standard blog link styles and excerpts… use a few different headers… go for it and create them as sections too.

This will change your email design workflow completely.

Now instead of taking an existing template and “tweaking it”, you can take a blank template and drop in the sections you want… very easy! 

Even better, Mailchimp now allows saved Sections to be organised into folders.

That might sound like a small feature, but it becomes incredibly useful once you start building a library of reusable content.

Instead of scrolling through dozens of saved Sections, you can organise them into categories such as Headers, CTAs, Signatures, Blog Blocks, Testimonials, Products, or Seasonal Content.

The more Sections you create, the more valuable that organisation becomes.

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Where Sections start to get more interesting

Up to this point, Sections are about efficiency.

They become more useful when you combine them with dynamic content.

Dynamic content is content that changes based on who it’s going to.

Now previously, personalisation meant adjusting individual elements. Changing a name, swapping an image, updating a link. It worked, but it was fiddly and easy to mess up.

Sections change that.

Instead of making small pieces dynamic, you can make entire Sections dynamic.

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A practical example

Let’s say each contact in your audience is assigned a salesperson (and this is a field stored in your database).

If you wanted to make this dynamic, you’d have some work to do.

You would dynamically update the name, the image, and the contact details. Several elements, all needing to line up properly.

With Sections, you can take a different approach.

You create a complete signature block for each salesperson as its own Section. Each one contains everything it needs.

Then you control which Section appears based on a field in your audience – making the section dynamic.

Instead of managing multiple moving parts, you are swapping one complete block.

It is cleaner, easier to manage, and much harder to get wrong.

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Will Sections revolutionise your email design?

No.

Yep, originally I said they wouldn’t change the way you design emails… but now I’m not so sure.

For many of you out there, the “duplicate and tweak a previous email”, this isn’t going to change how you do things.

…but I can think of several clients who I currently work with who will potentially change their entire email design approach and make it very modular.

Creating and saving sections and then building emails from the saved elements will be a big step in the right direction.

But they will not fix poor structure, weak messaging, or lack of clarity.

That’s your job

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…and then now can be organised in Folders!

One thing

One thing missing from the original release was the ability to organise sections. You’d create a load of sections, save them, but then have to navigate a long list to find the ones you wanted.

…but the latest update has brought folders into the equation, which means that you can now not just create the sections, but store them in easily structured folders so that they’re easy to find and use.

It’s a small thing, but a big thing too… if sections are going to fundamentally change the way you design emails, then having some way to organise and make your life easy makes a lot of sense.

Life’s complicated enough without having to hunt for that specific section you need. 

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What’s still missing

Sections are a big improvement, but there are still a few things on my wishlist.

The biggest one is the ability to transfer Sections between Mailchimp accounts.

For agencies, consultants, and businesses managing multiple accounts, that would be incredibly useful.

I’d also love to see better sharing options between users.

If Mailchimp continues developing this feature, Sections could become one of the most powerful tools in the email builder.

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Final thought

Sections are not the big idea.

How you use them is.

You no longer need a core “template”… you need core “sections” you can use to create emails.

If you combine that with dynamic Sections, things get smarter.

…and now we can save sections… this could be a big deal.

(I can only dream of being able to “import” Sections from one account to another!)

Sections could be a game changer for some…

But using them properly… might just change your game.