Creating Dynamic Email Content in the Classic Editor

Tip: Are you looking for information about Constant Contact’s Email and Digital Marketing product? This article is for Constant Contact’s Lead Gen & CRM product. Head on over to the Email and Digital Marketing articles by clicking here. Not sure what the difference is? Read this article.

Understanding Dynamic Email

Dynamic emails contain content that changes based on information on a lead. As an example, consider a lead who is interested in services that a marketing agency provides. These services could be branding, website design, development, digital marketing or creative services. When a lead shows an expressed interest in one of those services, custom fields in Lead Gen & CRM can be changed to capture said interest.

The lead then fills out a form on the website for more information on the service in which they are interested. That form fill then triggers an email autoresponder from Lead Gen & CRM. Using dynamic email, you need only one email that sends to all leads who fill out the form. However, the content within that email will be specific to the interest of that lead.

Note: This article will explain how to include dynamic, personalized content in your emails using the old email editor. To create dynamic emails using the new email editor, please read our Dynamic Content in the New Email Editor article. 

Regarding Email Creation

To create an email in Lead Gen & CRM, you must first start with a template. Though using either a created template or an existing template is up to you, emails can only be created by using a template.

Refer to the following articles for more information on the email creation process after creating a template:

Creating Dynamic Content Rules

Dynamic emails help to significantly increase conversion rates by delivering messages that are tailored to the recipient.

Tailoring these messages requires rules. Similar to dynamic landing pages, dynamic content rules control what content a specific lead will see based on the information on that lead in your instance of Lead Gen & CRM.

To create dynamic content rules, create or edit an email from the Email tab in the left toolbar. 

Note: This article will explain how to include dynamic, personalized content in your emails using the old email editor. To create dynamic emails using the new email editor, please read our Dynamic Content in the New Email Editor article. 

1. In the email designer toolbar to the left, click    Dynamic Content.
2. Click Add rule group. 
    
   Note: If no rules already exist, you will immediately see the popup window when you click Dynamic Content.
   
   

    

3. Click +Add in the pop-up window that appears.
4. Enter a name for the rule.
5. Select the desired audience and lead fields. Repeat as necessary.
6. Click Create and Add Dynamic Content Rule to This Email.
   
   

    

7. Click the    Rule Segments caret in the rule.
8. Click Build new segment.
   
   

    

9. Modify the rule segment. Repeat the process, creating as many new segments as needed. 
10. Click Save.
    
    

     

For dynamic content rules, rule groups and rule segments are universal modifications that will impact all emails or landing pages on which the rules are currently applied.

Creating Dynamic Content Blocks

You can create entire blocks of dynamic content in emails. 

To create dynamic content blocks, create or edit an email from the Email page in the left toolbar. 

1. Hover over a content block in the email.
   
   

    

2. Click    Dynamic Content and then click the desired dynamic rule.
   
   

    

3. Expand the rule to edit the content.  
   
   

    

4. Edit the content within the content block, for the rule segment.
5. Optionally, customize the messaging with Merge Variables. 
6. Optionally, send specific Media Center links depending on the lead, by clicking on the plus sign dropdown.  
   
   

    

7. Click the checkmark to collapse the rule segment and save your changes. Repeat the process for each rule segment. 
8. Click Done. 
9. Click Save.
   
   

    

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I have multiple dynamic content rules in one email?
A: Yes, but there are limits. You can create many different dynamic content rules and apply them to different sections of the email. However, be aware that dynamic content adds additional lines of code to emails. Depending on how many lines of code there are in the email, you may see a Voyager error. This error means that the email size limit has exceeded what Lead Gen & CRM allows.

Q: What does a lead see if they do not have anything in the field I build my attribute around?
A: When creating dynamic content, there is always a default section. This section is displayed when a lead does not have anything that qualifies them to see a variable content block.

Q: How do I remove dynamic content from a section?
A: After adding dynamic content to a section, you can remove the content by clicking
  Dynamic Content > Revert to Default.

Q: Can I make my subject line dynamic?
A: Yes. You can apply dynamic rule groups to subject lines as well.

Q: Can I make my background images dynamic?
A: Yes. You can apply dynamic rule groups to background images as well.

Q: Can I test my dynamic email?
A: Yes. Refer to Creating Litmus Render Tests for more information.
 

Q: How do I create dynamic buttons?
A: Buttons cannot be used with dynamic content.

Did this article answer your question?