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For the last several years, I have been a steady champion of drag-and-drop email builders. I've written several blog posts, numerous slack messages, and had countless discussions with others about why harnessing the power of drag-and-drop builders was the best way forward for non-technical email teams.
But now my position is shifting.
At Modular, we've had more opportunities to work with teams at large, global brands who deploy hundreds of thousands—even millions—of emails daily.
And as a marketing automation ecosystem grows in both size and complexity, the approach you take to tactical creation must evolve with that growth. That's why we've shifted to focusing on HTML email development for larger ecosystems.
But we also created a hack that helps us get the best of both worlds for a company of any size. This is incredibly powerful because it brings the design sophistication of HTML to the ease and efficiency (and non technicality) of drag-and-drop.
Here’s how we did it: We created an email design and development system that allows us to build customized HTML emails and convert them into drag-and-drop modules.
How our email development system works:
- Our designers work with brands to create a modular design system of email components. Think hero sections, spacers, product lists, headers, footers, etc.
- Then, our developers take these designs and create HTML components that are compatible with a drag-and-drop editor.
- And viola – either the Modular team or a brand’s marketing team can utilize the custom components in this system to visually churn out pixel-perfect, design compliant, pre-tested emails with unique content.
The result is that email messages are more unique and engaging, marketing teams are not overwhelmed with custom development and QA, and the end user experience complies with a brand’s design standards 100 percent of the time.
So Now What?
I get that some teams do not have access to HTML developers nor do they have the time or experience to stand up a modular system like I’ve described above. That’s why I’ve outlined the pros and cons of HTML and drag-and-drop below — so you can start by getting a handle on the differences compared to what you’re doing today.
RELATED: Email Design tips and best practices (updated 2023). Share these with your design team to streamline your asset development process.
Pros vs Cons: HTML Email Development
Pros of Developing Emails in HTML
- Complete Control: Offers precise control over every aspect of the email design, allowing for custom and unique layouts and features, as well as pixel-perfect branded emails.
- Optimized Performance: Emails can be coded to be lightweight and efficient, ensuring they load quickly and consistently.
- Custom Interactivity: Advanced features, like hover effects or custom animations, can be implemented.
- Complex Personalization: Custom-coded emails can be seamlessly integrated with a variety of systems and tools, without being confined to a specific platform's ecosystem.
- Easier Troubleshooting: HTML code can easily be reviewed and errors will point to specific lines of code. Since you have 100 percent visibility into how the email is put together, pinpointing problems and fixing them is faster and easier.
Cons of Developing Emails in HTML
- Requires Technical Skill: Not everyone has the expertise to code emails, and training or hiring experts can be costly.
- Compatibility Errors: Inexperienced developers may not understand what kinds of elements and styles display differently across different email clients and devices.
- Maintenance: As email client standards and practices evolve, manually coded emails might need periodic updates to remain effective and compatible.
Pros vs Cons: Drag-and-Drop Email Editors
Pros of Using Drag-and-Drop Editors
- User-Friendly: Aimed at users of all skill levels, especially those without technical knowledge.
- Quick Turnaround: Ideal for businesses that need to deploy simple emails rapidly.
- Client/Device Compatibility: Most drag-and-drop editors provide modules that are already optimized for multiple devices and email clients, reducing the risk of display issues.
- No Coding Knowledge Required: Marketers typically do not need technical expertise to work with a drag-and-drop editor; however, the initial template build is often tedious.
Cons of Using Drag-and-Drop Editors
- Limited Customization: Advanced and unique designs are typically not possible due to the constraints of the editor. You will not get pixel perfection in a drag-and-drop editor.
- Bloated Email Code: Drag-and-drop editors generate excessive and redundant code which can affect email performance or compatibility.
- Over-reliance & Troubleshooting: Marketers who only work within drag-and-drop editors will lack a deeper understanding of email mechanics, thus troubleshooting issues will be harder.
- Generic Designs: Because many brands use similar templates, there's a risk of emails looking generic or too similar to competitors. e.g., DTC emails in Klaviyo.
- Communication With Designers: This is a big one. Design teams often do not know or understand the limitations of drag-and-drop editors, leading to internal confusion and disagreement. The stronger the brand guidelines, the bigger the case for HTML.
- Not Built for Personalized Customer Journeys: As your customer experience becomes more personalized and sophisticated, you will find it difficult to include dynamic personalization logic and merge parameters in drag-and-drop editors. It can be done, but it requires more technical expertise from your marketers.
- At-Scale Management: When brands are dealing with hundreds of email templates in their ecosystem (or more), drag-and-drop editors become a hindrance. They can be slow to load and difficult to troubleshoot, leading to lost time and internal confusion.
Jon Uland is Modular’s Senior Director of Operations. As a marketer and developer, Jon has spent his career creating sustainable marketing ecosystems for major brands and tech startups and was previously on the lifecycle and email teams at Peloton, Teachable, and Warner Music Group.
