Templates
Templates are your email blueprints. Design one, reuse it across campaigns and automations. The visual editor makes it feel like building with blocks (because it is).
The Visual Editor
Drag blocks onto the canvas to build your email. Here's what you can work with:
- Text: paragraphs, bold, italics, links.
- Heading: H1, H2, or H3.
- Button: a call-to-action with custom color, size, and link.
- Image: upload from your computer, pick from your image library, or paste a URL. Optionally wrap in a link.
- Columns: 2 or 3 columns for side-by-side content.
- Divider: a horizontal line.
- Spacer: blank vertical space.
- HTML: raw code for when you need full control.
- Product: pull in a product from your catalog (more on this below).
HTML Mode
Click the HTML tab to go full code. Once you edit in HTML mode, the visual blocks are replaced with your custom markup. Great for developers; just know it's a one-way switch.
Preview & Test
The Preview tab shows you exactly what your recipients will see. Hit "Send Test" to fire a real copy to your inbox before you commit.
Image Library
Every image you upload is saved to your organization's image library. That means you upload once and reuse across all your templates. No more hunting for the same logo URL every time.
When you click an Image block, you'll see two options:
- Choose from Library: opens a gallery of all your uploaded images. Click one to use it.
- Paste URL: if you've got an image hosted elsewhere, just paste the link.
To upload a new image, click "Choose from Library" and drag a file onto the dropzone (or click to browse). We accept JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, and SVG up to 10 MB. The image uploads directly to our servers and shows up in your library immediately.
Product Blocks
Add a Product block to your template to feature items from your catalog. Three modes are available:
- Manual: select a specific product at template design time. The product's image, name, price, and description are embedded directly. Good for one-off promotional emails.
- Parameterized: define a named product slot (like "Featured Product" or "Product 1") that gets filled in when you create a campaign. This makes templates reusable. A "New Arrivals" template with 3 parameterized slots can be used every week with different products. When creating a campaign from this template, a product picker appears for each slot.
- Recommended: Pigeon Perch selects the best products for each recipient at send time based on their engagement history. Available on Growth and Scale plans.
Each product block also has a Product Style selector that controls the visual layout (image, name, price arrangement, button style). Manage styles from the Product Styles page.
Template Variables
Variables are placeholders that get swapped with real data when the email sends. Drop them anywhere: subject lines, body text, buttons, headings. They look like this: {{first_name}}.
Contact Variables
These pull from the recipient's contact record:
| Variable | What it becomes | Example |
|---|---|---|
{{first_name}} | First name | Jane |
{{last_name}} | Last name | Doe |
{{email}} | Email address | jane@example.com |
{{company}} | Company name | Acme Inc |
If a contact doesn't have a value (say, no company on file), the variable just disappears. No ugly placeholder text.
Unsubscribe Variables
These generate personal, secure links for each recipient. No login required on their end.
| Variable | What it does |
|---|---|
{{unsubscribe_url}} | One-click unsubscribe. Takes them to a page that immediately opts them out of all your emails. |
{{preferences_url}} | Preferences page. Shows your suppression groups and lets them pick which email types they still want. |
Tips
- Always include an unsubscribe link. It's the law (CAN-SPAM, GDPR), and it keeps your sender reputation healthy.
- Lead with the preferences link. Giving people a choice ("I only want the newsletter") saves you from losing them entirely.
- Put both in your footer. "Manage preferences" as the main link, and a smaller "Unsubscribe from all" below it.
Example Footer
<p style="font-size: 12px; color: #999; text-align: center;">
<a href="{{preferences_url}}">Manage your email preferences</a>
|
<a href="{{unsubscribe_url}}">Unsubscribe from all</a>
</p>List-Unsubscribe Header
Every email Pigeon Perch sends includes List-Unsubscribe headers automatically. That's the thing that puts a native "Unsubscribe" button at the top of Gmail, Apple Mail, and Outlook. You don't have to do anything to set it up.