Dynamic Emails Guide

Audience: This guide is intended for event administrators and account administrators using the Certain platform to manage email content.

What can I do with dynamic emails?

• A Display Rule is a mechanism that controls which content is shown in an email template. A Display Rule is a set of conditions that determine when certain content blocks or Confirm Sections appear in an email.
• A Content Block is a block of HTML that you create for use in display rules. Content Blocks can be inserted into emails, forms, websites, etc.
• Confirm Sections are sections that could be included in confirmation emails. Confirm Sections show a summary of a part of an attendee’s registration inline in the email.
• The dynamic email system can show different content for different attendee types or registration statuses. For example, a travel section can be included only if the attendee has a travel reservation; extra information can be included for VIP guests.

How do I build a dynamic email template?

Three Steps

1) Create a Content Block

• Plan > Event Setup > Content Display > Content Blocks

OR

Account Settings > Management > Content Blocks

• The content blocks you add can be displayed conditionally in emails, as determined by Display Rules.
• Content Blocks can be used at the event level or the account level. Event-level blocks can be edited; account-level blocks can be copied to the event level and edited there.
• To add a Content Block, click the Add New button to open the Content Block Details section.
• Give the Content Block a unique Name and optionally a Description.
• The Text Above Header is optional for introductory remarks.
• Click the </> icon to edit text in a pop-up HTML Editor window if desired, or enter plain HTML code in the simple text box.
• The Header (if any) is displayed above the body of the Content Block.
• Type the Body of the Content Block in the center text box.
• The Enable Editor? checkbox controls whether the HTML editor is available. If the checkbox is cleared, the Body can be edited in a simple text box.
• You can include dynamic information about the registration, event, or location in the Content Block body by selecting a dynamic data field from the Append list and clicking the Body button to append that field.
• The fields available depend on whether you configure event-level or account-level Content Blocks. Fields may include Standard and Custom Profile Fields, Standard and Custom Registration Fields, Standard and Custom Event Fields, Location fields, and Other Fields.
• Click Save to save the block and return to the List of Content Blocks, or Save & New to save and create a new one.
• Editing and Copying Content Blocks: To edit a Content Block, select it in the list to open the Content Block Details section. To copy a block, click the copy icon, and edit (and rename) the copy in the Content Block Details section.

2) Create a Display Rule which uses the content block and/or selected confirm sections

• Go to Plan > Event Setup > Content Display > Display Rules.
• On the Display Rules page, configure Display Rules which you can add to email templates.
• Each rule determines when selected Content Blocks and/or Confirm Sections are displayed in the email.
• Confirm Sections display a summary of that part of an attendee’s registration as it would appear on the Confirmation page of a registration form.
• Click Add New to add a new display rule in the Display Rule Details section which opens.
• Under Display Rule Details, give the rule a unique Name.
• Rule Conditions begin with an IF and allow combining with AND and additional IF conditions.
• Under Rule Conditions, select a question/data field, a comparison operator, and an answer value.
• Example: IF “Attendee Type Name” = “Exhibitor”
• You can make the condition multi-faceted by adding AND and additional IF conditions at the end.
• Under Rule Action, select the Confirm Section(s) and Content Block(s) to display if the rule is met, and click ->> to move them into the Active Sections list.
• If necessary, adjust the order of the Active Sections using Top / Up, Down / Bottom.

3) Create Email Templates, adding the display rule

• Go to Promote > Communications > Email Templates.
• Click Add New to add an email template, or edit an existing one.
• Place the cursor in the email where you want to add the display rule.
• Scroll down the Append drop-down list and select the display rule.
• Click the Message button.
• Save the email template.
• The display rule is now part of the message. When sending an email based on that template, the rule will display the relevant text if the condition is met.

What are Confirm Sections?

• Confirm Sections are sections that could be included in confirmation emails. Confirm Sections display a summary of the attendee’s registration details inline in the email.
• Confirm Sections are used in conjunction with Content Blocks to display conditional information.

Adding a Display Rule to an Email Template

• To add a display rule in an event, go to Plan > Event Setup > Content Display > Display Rules.
• On the Display Rules page, configure Display Rules which you can add to email templates (Adding a Display Rule to an Email Template).
• Each rule determines when selected Content Blocks and/or Confirm Sections are displayed in the email.

What you can do with Content Blocks and Display Rules

• The Content Blocks added here can be displayed conditionally in emails, as determined by the rules configured in Display Rules.
• Content Blocks can be used like any other dynamic data fields, since Dynamic Data Fields can be inserted directly in emails, forms, websites, etc.
• For event-level content blocks, go to Plan > Event Setup > Content Display > Content Blocks.
• For account-level content blocks, go to Account Settings > Management > Content Blocks.
• The Content Blocks page also includes a list of account-level blocks. You can copy an Account Content Block to the event level and edit the resulting new Event Content Block.
• To add a new Content Block, click Add New to open the Content Block Details section.

Editing and Copying Content Blocks

• To edit a Content Block, select it in the Content Blocks list to open the Content Block Details section.
• To copy a Content Block, click the copy icon, and edit (and rename) the copy in the Content Block Details section.

Adding a Content Block Details: practical notes

• The Content Block Details section includes fields for Name, Description, Text Above Header, Header, and Body.
• The Content Block can include dynamic data fields via the Append list.
• The Body supports HTML or plain text, depending on the Enable Editor? setting.
• The Content Block can be used across events if configured at the account level, then copied to an event level.

Adding a Display Rule: practical notes

• A Display Rule is defined by a Name, a set of Rule Conditions, and a list of Active Sections (Content Blocks and Confirm Sections).
• The Rule Conditions section supports multi-part logic with IF and AND connectors.
• The Rule Action section defines which Confirms Sections and Content Blocks appear when the rule conditions are met.

Adding a Display Rule to an Email Template: practical steps

• Open an Email Template.
• Use the Append list to attach a Display Rule to the email content.
• The Display Rule becomes part of the email text when the template is used to send to attendees.
• The result is that the email contains relevant text for the attendee if the rule condition is satisfied.

Final notes

• Sending dynamic emails remains the same as sending other emails; dynamic content appears only when the corresponding Display Rules conditions are met.
• Dynamic content can include blocks of HTML and Confirm Sections, inserted at any point in the email.