To let Avid fill your Code Your Own Mailchimp template, add one editable region named body. Avid writes the Playbook email copy into that region only. You do not need a blank text block at the top of the template.
Use this guide if you or your designer built a custom HTML template in Mailchimp. A touchpoint is one piece of content in a Playbook, such as one email. Here you set up your template so each email touchpoint lands in it, then test it with a draft.
Use this article when
- You want Playbook emails to use your own coded Mailchimp template.
- Your designer or agency is building a custom HTML template and needs Avid's requirements.
- A launch failed with an error that mentions the
{HTML}placeholder. - Your Mailchimp draft shows template placeholder text instead of your Playbook copy.
Before you start
An editable region is a part of a Mailchimp template that can change for each email. Mailchimp marks these regions with the mc:edit attribute.
| Applies to | Playbook email touchpoints launched to Mailchimp |
|---|---|
| Time | About 10 minutes, plus one test launch |
| Prerequisites | An active Mailchimp connection and a Code Your Own template in Mailchimp |
Check these permissions before you change your template.
| Who | Required permission | What it enables | Where to verify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avid user | Export access for Playbooks, or Full Access | Opens Preview Play and launches emails to Mailchimp | Settings » Team in Avid |
| Avid organization | A Mailchimp connection that doesn't show Error | Lets Avid list your templates and create campaigns | Settings » Connections in Avid |
| Mailchimp user | Owner, Admin, Manager, or Author user level (Mailchimp roles) | Lets you create, import, and edit templates | Your Mailchimp account's user settings |
| Mailchimp account | Standard plan or higher (a Mailchimp plan limit) | Lets you use custom HTML templates | Your Mailchimp plan details |
Mailchimp sets the plan and user-level rules for coded templates. These are Mailchimp limits, not Avid limits.
Set up and test your template
-
In Mailchimp, open your Code Your Own template and edit its HTML.
Result: You see your template's code.
-
Find the area that should hold the email message. This is usually the main content area between your header and footer.
Mark that area as an editable region named
body. Your designer can copy the code in For agency partners.Result: Your template has one region that Avid can fill.
-
Keep your header, footer, and branding as they are. Placeholder text inside the body region is fine. Save the template.
Result: Avid will replace only the body region's content at launch.
-
In Avid, open your Playbook, click Touchpoints, then click Preview Play.
To launch only some touchpoints, select them first. The button then reads, for example, Preview 1 Touchpoint.
Result: The launch page opens and shows You're about to launch.
-
In the touchpoints list, select Emails.
Result: The Settings for Mailchimp panel opens.
-
Open Email Template and select your Code Your Own template.
Result: Your template's name shows in the field. Templates marked (Unsupported) can't be selected.
-
Complete Audience and Reply To Email Address. Leave Keep as Draft selected, then click Launch Play.
Result: The Post-Launch Checklist appears and shows each touchpoint's progress.
-
When the checklist shows the email is done, open the draft campaign in Mailchimp.
Result: The body region shows your Playbook copy. Your header, footer, and branding are unchanged.
Don't see Email Template? Avid hides it when it finds no other template you can select. Avid then uses *** Avid Template *** (Classic editable).
For agency partners
Add mc:edit="body" to the element that wraps the email copy. Avid's own template uses this pattern:
<td mc:edit="body" mc:label="Body"> Placeholder text. Avid replaces this at launch. </td>
Avid picks the region to fill with these rules:
- Avid reads the region names from your template's default content in Mailchimp.
- A region named exactly
bodyalways wins. - Otherwise, Avid uses the one region whose name contains "body" in any letter case, such as
email_body. - If no region qualifies, or several do, Avid tries to replace the first text block in Mailchimp's standard content area. That is an element with
id="templateBody"or themcnTextContentclass. Mailchimp's Classic Builder may then reload your template's default content. - If your HTML has neither, Avid can't place the copy. The launch can still finish, with your placeholder text in the draft and no error.
- Avid writes only the chosen region. Every other region keeps your template's content.
- After each launch, Avid checks the saved campaign. The launch fails if the HTML is empty or still holds
{HTML}.
Want a starting point? Launch once with *** Avid Template *** (Classic editable). Avid then saves a template named Avid Template (AVID) in your Mailchimp account. It has two regions: mc:edit="header_image" and mc:edit="body". Avid fills only body, so replace the placeholder image in header_image with your own. After that first launch, Avid Template (AVID) also appears in the Email Template list.
Avid refreshes the Avid Template (AVID) HTML each time you launch with the Avid Template. Edit a copy instead. Mailchimp's Replicate template option creates one.
FAQ and troubleshooting
Launch errors appear on the touchpoint's Failed status and in the Post-Launch Checklist. Hover the status to read the full message.
Do I need a blank text block at the top of my template?
No. Avid finds the region by its name, not its position. Placeholder text in the body region is fine because Avid replaces it.
The launch worked, but the draft shows my template's placeholder text
Cause: Your template has no single body region, and Avid found no standard Mailchimp content block to fill. No error appears because the email isn't empty.
Fix: Add mc:edit="body" to the element that should hold the copy. Then launch again with Keep as Draft and check the draft.
Which Mailchimp templates work with Playbooks?
Code Your Own templates, Classic templates, and *** Avid Template *** all work. New Builder templates show (Unsupported) and can't be selected. Mailchimp's API can't fill New Builder templates. This is a Mailchimp limit, not an Avid limit.
Error: New Builder templates cannot be created remotely
Mailchimp New Builder templates cannot be created remotely via API. Choose a Classic template, a Code Your Own template, or the Avid Template (Classic editable).
Cause: The selected template was built in Mailchimp's New Builder. You may see this in the Preview panel or after launch.
Fix: Select a Code Your Own template, a Classic template, or the Avid Template. Then launch again.
Error: The campaign still contains the HTML placeholder
Mailchimp did not persist the generated body into the Classic editable region. The campaign still contains the {HTML} placeholder. Choose a Classic or Code Your Own template with an editable Body region, or the Avid Template, and try again.
Cause: Avid couldn't find a single body region, so {HTML} stayed in the saved campaign.
Fix: Add mc:edit="body" to one region. Remove {HTML} from any other region. Then launch again.
Error: Mailchimp did not store campaign HTML
Mailchimp did not store campaign HTML after deploy. The selected template may be incompatible (for example a New Builder template). Choose a Classic template, Code Your Own, or the Avid Template and try again.
Cause: Mailchimp saved an empty email after the launch. The template may not be compatible.
Fix: Choose a Code Your Own template, a Classic template, or the Avid Template. Then launch again.
When should I contact LockStep Support?
Contact LockStep Support if your template has one body region and the draft still shows no Playbook copy. Contact us for any other launch error too. Include:
- Your organization name, plus the Playbook and touchpoint names.
- The Mailchimp template you selected in Email Template.
- The exact error message, copied from the Failed status.
- Whether you chose Keep as Draft or scheduled the email, and when you launched.