Dynamic Content can increase your email engagement and is a great way of making the content in your email as relevant as possible to your customer. This article will introduce you to Dynamic Content, what it is and how to use it.
Before starting, make sure you’re familiar with:
- Introduction to Dotdigital
- How to send an Integrated Email Campaign
- Designing a Dotdigital Email Campaign
What is Dynamic Content?
Dynamic Content lets you use your data from Spektrix to display different versions of parts of the same email, to different customers.
This is powered by Custom Data Fields in Dotdigital which are synced automatically with data from your Spektrix system.
You can segment customers based on their shared characteristics and create different versions of the content within your email which is personalised to them.
For example, you might have two different Auto Tags. One which is applied to Customers who have attended 3+ Musical Events, and one which is applied to Customers who have attended 3+ Comedy Events.
Using a Dynamic Content block, you can display a different message to Customers with the Musicals Auto Tag, and another to Customers with the Comedy Auto Tag.
When the Auto Tag is automatically applied to a customer, that customer will automatically receive the Variation which is relevant to them:
Anyone without either of these Auto Tags will see the Default content. If a customer has both Auto Tags, you can set the priority of which messages are displayed when you set up the Dynamic Content Variations.
If the customer no longer fulfils the criteria of the Auto Tag and it is removed, they’ll revert to receiving the Default content.
You can use Dynamic Content to create multiple variations of subject lines and from names within one email.
Dynamic Content variations can also be empty. For example, you may wish to promote your Membership scheme to Customers who are not yet Members and choose to hide this information from Customers who already hold a Membership. You can do this by adding a content block and only populating the variation with content.
You could also use Dynamic Content in Pre- and Post-show Emails. For example, to include specific content for Customers with Access requirements and/or first-time attendees to your venue.
REMINDER: Dynamic Content only works in HTML versions of your email campaign. Plain text versions of an email will only display the Default content, not any dynamic variations.
How to set up Dynamic Content
You can set up Dynamic Content to display variations on the following elements of your Email Campaign:
- Subject Lines or From Names: this is how your email is displayed in the Customer’s inbox before it is opened.
- Content Blocks: this is content in the body of your email.
Before creating your Dynamic Content, you’ll first need to make sure you have set up the Custom Data Fields you will need.
You can create Custom Data Fields by syncing data from Tags, Customer Attributes or Calculated Metrics in Spektrix. If the Customer doesn’t have the relevant Data Field, the Dynamic Content will display the Default content you set.
Follow the steps in How to sync Custom Data Fields to sync any Tags or Customer Attributes you want to segment your Customers by.
WARNING: You won't be able to use any of the Event Data fields for Dynamic Content.
Subject Lines and From Names
To set up Dynamic Content on Subject Lines or From Names, follow these steps
- From the Campaign Details page, click Campaign Settings:
- Check the boxes next to the Subject line and/or From name:
- Input your Default subject line and from name. This will display if the Customer does not meet the criteria for your variation(s):
- Click the Variations dropdown and then New Variation:
- You will then be prompted to choose one or a number of Contact Data Fields. The customers who meet the criteria you set will see the variation of your content.
- Give your Variation a memorable and descriptive name:
- Click select another contact data field:
- Browse your available Contact Data Fields and choose the one you want from the list. Depending on the type of Contact Data Field, you’ll then be asked to input a value (for example, yes or no):
TIP: You can save your Dynamic Content rules to use again in future, so you don't have to create a new one each time. To do this, drag your Dynamic Content block onto the Build area.
- Click OKAY.
- You can use multiple Contact Data Fields and connect them using the AND or OR button.
- Once you are happy with the rules you have set, click APPLY.
- From the Variations dropdown, select your new Variation:
- Then, update the content with the variation for your chosen Customers. For best results, you’ll want to tailor the content to the Customers who will see the Variation.
In this example, we’ve emphasised Musicals in the subject line for Customers with the Musicals Tag:
Repeat the steps above to add as many variations as you need.
Managing Multiple Variations
If you’re using multiple Variations, a Customer might meet the criteria for more than one Variation. In this case, the priority of which content will be displayed is based on the hierarchy in the list of Variations. You can rearrange the order of this list by clicking and dragging the eight dots icon beside its name:
REMINDER: Customers who don’t meet the rules of your Variations will only see the Default content.
Content Blocks
To set up Dynamic Content on Content Blocks to change part of your email campaign, follow the steps below.
- From the EasyEditor, go to the Build tab.
- Drag and drop the Dynamic Content block into the body of your email:
- Input your Default content into this block. This will display if the Customer does not meet the criteria for your Variation(s):
- Click the Variations dropdown and then New Variation:
- You will then be prompted to choose one or a number of Contact Data Fields. The Customers who meet the criteria you set will see the variation of your content.
- Give your Variation a memorable and descriptive name:
- Click select another contact data field:
- Browse your available Contact Data Fields and choose the one you want from the list. Depending on the type of Contact Data Field, you’ll then be asked to input a value (for example, yes or no):
- Click OKAY.
- You can use multiple Contact Data Fields and connect them using the AND or OR button.
- Once you are happy with the rules you have set, click APPLY.
- From the Variations dropdown, select your new Variation:
- Then, update the content with the variation for your chosen Customers. For best results, you’ll want to tailor the content to the customers who will see the Variation.
In this example, we’ve highlighted a Musical event for customers with the Musicals Tag:
Repeat the steps above to add as many Variations as you need.
TIP: You can save your Dynamic Content rules to use again in future, so you don't have to create a new one each time. To do this, drag your Dynamic Content block onto the Build area.
If you’re using multiple Variations, a Customer might meet the criteria for more than one Variation. In this case, the priority of which content will be displayed is based on the hierarchy in the list of Variations.
You can rearrange the order of this list by clicking and dragging the eight dots icon beside its name:
REMINDER: Customers who don’t meet the rules of your Variations will only see the Default content.
Personalisation and Dynamic Content
You can use a Dynamic Content block with Personalisation to be able to set different Variations on your Personalisation.
For example, if you have a ‘preferred name’ Customer Attribute in Spektrix you could sync this with Dotdigital and set your Dynamic Content rule to be the ATT_PREFERREDNAME field is not blank.
In the case that the ATT_PREFERREDNAME is blank, then you can have a Dynamic Content Block which instead uses the FORMALSALUTATION Data Field. This would prevent the default value displaying if your customer does not have the PREFERREDNAME Attribute value.
Sending and Testing
We strongly recommend previewing and testing your Dynamic Content before scheduling your Email Campaign.
Sending an email with Dynamic Content
When you send or schedule your email which includes Dynamic Content, information is synced from Spektrix. This means any Tags or Attributes will be up to date at the point you send or schedule the email.
Previewing
To preview your Dynamic Content, click Preview from the navigation menu:
Then, from the Campaign preview page select the Dynamic Content icon.
This will let you preview your different Variations by choosing them from the dropdown:
Testing
To test your Dynamic Content you’ll need to send a test email to yourself.
To see the different variations you've set up, you’ll need to find your contact record and edit your contact data fields to meet the rules of your first Variation.
To edit your contact data fields:
- Go to Audience > Contacts:
- Search for the Contact you will send the Test email to.
- Click on the Contact to open the record.
- Select the Data fields tab.
- Click all data fields:
- Apply the relevant data fields by adding a value. For example, to apply a Yes/No Data Field, assign the value Yes from the dropdown.
Repeat these steps for each of your Variations.
Reporting on Dynamic Content
You can filter Dotdigital Analytics Reports to display information about Dynamic Content Variations.
In the top right of the Email report, select FILTER to:
- Filter the report by Dynamic Content Variation:
Further Reading
For more information about Dynamic Content take a look at the Dotdigital Help Center.
We’d also recommend:
For more information about Dotdigital, take a look at the Communicate with your Customers section of the Support Centre.