How to Create and Use Email Templates in Zoho CRM

In a modern CRM-driven workflow, efficiency and consistency are paramount. 

Email templates eliminate repetitive typing while allowing personalization through merge fields and dynamic placeholders. In Zoho, they save time, maintain brand tone, and ensure that teams across departments deliver messages aligned with your company’s goals. Whether you’re nurturing leads, following up on deals, or sending post-sale thank-you messages, Zoho’s email templates can streamline every customer touchpoint.

In today’s guide, our email design and development team explores how to create email templates in Zoho CRM, along with best practices and testing frameworks. Let’s begin!

How to Create Email Templates in Zoho CRM

Designing an email template in Zoho CRM is a straightforward process that lets you personalize communication while maintaining consistency across your outreach. 

Here’s how to get started:

• Log in to Zoho CRM and go to Setup → Customization → Templates → Email.
  
• Click on “Create Template” and select a module (e.g., Leads, Contacts, Deals).
  
• Choose a layout, either Plain Text, HTML, or Zoho’s Drag-and-Drop Builder.
  
• Add your content: include a subject line, body text, and merge fields.
  
• Customize the design by adding images, buttons, links, or your company/brand logo.
  
• Save and test your template before using it in campaigns or workflows.

Pro Tip: Utilize Zoho’s HTML editor if you want complete control over formatting and styling for marketing or newsletter-style emails. You can also build Zoho CRM HTML email templates from scratch for greater flexibility and branding precision.

Using your email template in Zoho CRM

So once your email template is ready, you can use it in several ways:

• Send directly from a lead or contact record using the “Send Email” option.
  
• Add it to workflows to trigger automated messages — for example, a thank-you email after a form submission.
  
• Attach it to campaigns for bulk email sending to larger audiences.
  
• Use it in Blueprints to automate communication steps tied to specific stages in your process.

Blueprint is a process automation tool designed to create an online replica of your business’s offline workflows, guiding your team step-by-step to ensure consistency and efficiency.

Device Compatibility: Sending Emails from Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM works seamlessly across desktop, mobile, and tablet devices, but the experience of creating, editing, and sending email templates can vary depending on your device.

Desktop (Windows/Mac)

Working from a desktop offers the most complete and stable Zoho CRM experience:

• Best experience: Full access to all Zoho CRM features.
  
• The HTML email editor and drag-and-drop builder work smoothly, with no major issues during sending or preview.
  
• Recommended for creating, editing, and testing complex templates.

Mobile Devices (Android/iOS)

Using Zoho CRM on mobile makes it convenient to manage templates on the go, though there are some design and editing constraints:

• You can send and use templates through the Zoho CRM mobile app or a mobile browser.
  
• Limitations:
  
  • The template editor isn’t fully optimized for mobile screens, a major disadvantage.
    
  • Complex HTML templates may not render properly during preview.
    
  • Some custom fonts or layouts may display differently on smaller screens.
    
• Workaround: Create and test templates on desktop, then use the mobile app only for sending.

You can still benefit from responsive email templates Zoho CRM provides to ensure smooth display across devices.

Tablets (iPad/Android)

Tablets provide a middle ground between desktop and mobile for editing templates.

• Offers a better editing experience than mobile but it’s still not as seamless as desktop.
  
• Minor alignment or image-size inconsistencies may occur while designing templates.

Email Client & Browser Differences

Different email clients and browsers interpret HTML in unique ways, which can affect how your template appears to recipients.

• Recipients using Outlook, Gmail, or Apple Mail may see slight formatting variations, especially in complex HTML templates.
  
• Always test templates using Zoho’s Preview and Send Test Email features before sending to your audience.
  
• Avoid CSS-heavy layouts or external scripts that may not render correctly in certain email clients.

Best Practices for Email Templates in Zoho CRM

1. Multi-level Testing Process 

Before sending your email to audiences, thorough testing helps ensure consistent performance and appearance across devices and inboxes. Keep these points in mind:

• Use the built-in Preview and Test button to see both desktop and mobile views before sending.
  
• Always test both desktop and mobile versions.
  
• Send test emails to yourself or other users in your database for initial quality checks.
  
• Create dummy or fake test contacts with email addresses pointing to different providers.
  
• Test across multiple email providers because different systems display emails differently.
  
• Send all emails to your test group before large audiences. 

A structured, multi-step testing process helps you catch rendering, deliverability, and display issues early, ensuring that your message reaches every inbox exactly as intended.

2. Saving and Preparation Reminders

Building templates in a web-based environment requires careful saving habits and setup steps to prevent data loss and ensure a smooth design process. Be sure to:

• Save early and often since the web-based program doesn’t auto-save reliably.
  
• Never close your browser without saving, or you’ll lose all work with no warning.
  
• Save after each major section of template work, not just at the end.
  
• Start with the “one column basic” template instead of a blank layout — it includes proper borders and spacing automatically.
  
• Test templates after any modifications; even minor changes can affect rendering. 

Frequent saving and cautious preparation protect your work from accidental loss and keep your design process efficient and stress-free. 

3. Email Design Best Practices 

Strong design choices improve readability, deliverability, and overall engagement, especially on mobile devices. Save these pointers:

• Use minimal graphics for better read rates (unless you’re in a highly visual industry like photography, design, or architecture).
  
• Keep templates within width constraints so they display properly on mobile devices.
  
• Avoid attachments when possible because mobile users struggle with them.
  
• Link to website forms instead of attachments for a better user experience and automatic data flow back to Zoho.
  
• Keep attachments under 3MB if you must use them (PDFs, Word docs, or Excel files only).

Clean, mobile-friendly designs not only enhance user experience but improve deliverability and engagement rates across campaigns. You can also customize email templates in Zoho CRM to maintain consistent branding while adapting visuals for mobile optimization.

4. Quality Control Tips 

Consistent quality control ensures that your campaigns perform reliably and stay compliant with best practices for deliverability.

• Test before high-volume sends, even if you’ve already tested the template previously.
  
• Send to small test batches first when reaching 20,000+ contacts to check bounce rates.
  
• Monitor bounce rates. Anything above 20% can trigger account suspension.
  
• Use A/B testing with template versions. Make small changes and compare performance metrics.
  
• Review version statistics to see which wording or design changes improved open and click rates.

Implementing disciplined quality control minimizes errors, improves deliverability, and helps you refine performance through data-driven insights. This process also ensures personalized email templates Zoho CRM users create perform consistently across audiences.

5. Template Management 

Efficient organization of your email templates in Zoho CRM helps streamline campaign creation and ensure consistent branding across modules.

• Mark frequently used templates as favorites so they appear at the top of the list.
  
• Clone templates between modules rather than recreating them from scratch.
  
• Check that the template saves successfully before leaving the editor.
  
• Review analytics after sending emails. Results can take 1–2 days to fully populate.

Organized template management saves time, maintains design consistency, and gives you better visibility into campaign performance across all of your Zoho CRM campaign emails. 

6. Pre-send Checklist Practices 

Before hitting “Send,” run through a few final checks to protect deliverability, stay compliant, and maintain brand consistency.

• Verify that you’ve authenticated your domain (DKIM) before attempting mass sends.
  
• Check your daily sending limit before selecting contacts. The system shows real-time usage.
  
• For large sends (20,000+), break them into daily batches of 1,000 to avoid triggering spam filters.
  
• Make sure opt-out contacts are filtered out. The system blocks them automatically, but still, to be on the safe side, verify your selection yourself.
  
• Confirm that the template looks professional. 

A final pre-send review acts as your last line of defense against errors, ensuring your emails reach audiences safely, compliantly, and in perfect form. Following this ensures your Zoho CRM email template design performs optimally at every step.

Get Started with Zoho CRM Email Templates with Email Mavlers!

Creating professional, on-brand email templates in Zoho CRM isn’t just about saving time—it’s about empowering your team to communicate consistently, nurture relationships, and scale outreach with precision. With structured testing, thoughtful design, and disciplined quality control, your CRM emails can evolve from simple messages into powerful touchpoints that strengthen trust and drive engagement.

Ready to elevate your CRM communication?

Partner with Email Mavlers to design responsive, high-performing Zoho CRM email templates that blend creativity, functionality, and flawless execution. Let’s get started!