MarketingPlatform: Using Dynamic Blocks in Email Campaigns

What if you want to send different content to different target groups and target them with more personalized content?

Imagine sending the same newsletter to your entire contact list, but a newsletter where recipients receive a customized version that matches their interests and preferences.

It may sound complicated, but it really isn't. Setting up and working with dynamic content is easy!

Dynamic content is content that changes according to each recipient. Instead of sending many different campaigns to different segments, dynamic content can replace parts of your newsletter in a more intelligent way. By using dynamic content, you can target your subscribers based on the segment they belong to and send them more relevant and personalized content. This will naturally be more effective and engaging than sending them general content.

Since dynamic content is based on the subscriber's unique data, interests, and behavior, the first thing you need to do is create segments.

Data-based segments can be created based on all the data you have about your customers, including basic demographic data (age, location, gender, etc.), preferences/interests (favorite store, favorite book/movie genre, etc.), or more detailed data like last purchase, purchase value, coupon code, etc.

Behavior-based segments are created based on customers' activity in campaigns (opens/clicks) or on the website (most visited pages, categories/products, etc.).

Once you have planned your strategy and created your segments, you can proceed to insert the dynamic content into your email campaign.

You can include dynamic content in your email campaign by inserting Dynamic Blocks that correspond to the segments you have created.

Go to the Email Campaign Builder and start by adding the desired grid. Dynamic Blocks can be inserted anywhere in your email campaign, including in the header and footer.

To insert a Dynamic Block, click on the Grid Option Menu (see image below) and select Dynamic Block.

A screenshot from the MarketingPlatform interface showing instructions for using Dynamic Content in email campaigns.

Add your Dynamic Blocks one by one by clicking the "+" sign (see image below). You can also add/remove Dynamic Blocks by going to the Properties tab.

A screenshot from the MarketingPlatform interface showing instructions for using Dynamic Content in email campaigns.

Setup

In the Dynamic Content Module Settings, you can set which segment will receive which Dynamic Blocks. The setup must be done individually for each of the Dynamic Blocks you have added.

Keep in mind that the DEFAULT Block is automatically inserted and sent to profiles that do not match any of the segments, i.e., the criteria defined for your Dynamic Blocks. Profiles that do not match any of the Dynamic Blocks you have created will therefore receive the content from the DEFAULT Dynamic Block.

For profiles that match multiple Dynamic Blocks, you can choose whether to send these contacts the content from all matching Blocks or only the content from the first matching Block.

At the bottom of the Setup tab, you must name and save your Dynamic Content Block. Note that you must add content to your Dynamic Block and select the corresponding segment/segmentation rule before saving it. Otherwise, you will not be able to save it. Once the Dynamic Block is saved, it will be available in your library under Intelligent Modules/Dynamic Content Blocks.

To define the content for your Dynamic Blocks, go to the Properties tab on the right and select the corresponding existing segment. The Dynamic Block will be sent to the contacts belonging to the chosen segment.

In addition to selecting an existing segment, you can apply segmentation rules directly in the Properties tab, based on existing data fields in the platform. You can also select a segment and further filter it by using additional segmentation rules, e.g., filtering by profile source, as shown in the image below.

A screenshot from the MarketingPlatform interface showing instructions for using Dynamic Content in email campaigns.

Keep in mind that the Edit Recipients setting in the builder is not available, and once you have selected your lists/segments, you cannot change them later because you cannot change the relevant data fields since your Dynamic Content rules are based on these data fields.

In the top right corner, you also have options to add/remove/copy a Dynamic Block.

Don't forget to name your Dynamic Block at the bottom of the Properties tab and save it in the Setup tab.

To add content to your Dynamic Blocks, click on the Build tab and add elements to each of your Dynamic Blocks.

In the example below, segmentation is based on data about the type of products customers are interested in, and two segments are created accordingly.

Items intended for customers interested in makeup are placed in the first block "Women". Products for subscribers interested in skincare are placed in the second block "Men".

A screenshot from the MarketingPlatform interface showing instructions for using Dynamic Content in email campaigns.

Subscribers who do not have information about the type of products they are interested in and thus do not fall under any of the two segments will receive content inserted in DEFAULT. In this example, a combination of the most popular items from both types of segments is inserted into this block.

A screenshot from the MarketingPlatform interface showing instructions for using Dynamic Content in email campaigns.

Feed Blocks

In addition, a feed can be built in to enable synchronization with your website to include, for example, recently added items, price changes, etc.

You can insert a Feed Block in the same way as a Dynamic Block by clicking on the Grid Options menu and selecting Feed Block. If you wish to remove your Dynamic/Feed Block, simply click on Remove Intelligence in the Dynamic/Feed Block Options menu as shown in the image below.

A screenshot from the MarketingPlatform interface showing instructions for using Dynamic Content in email campaigns.

Read more about Feeds.