Content Item: Content

Content item can contain virtually all of the types of information that an email can contain. The only exception is that a content item cannot contain other content items or content rule sets. A logical loop that could not be processed might be created.

A content item is, in most respects, simply a chunk of an email communication that has been defined as a reusable email component and that has been assigned its own reference tag.

What Types of Rich Content Go into a Content Item?

You can use the Rich Content page of the Content Item wizard to create a set of rich content HTML code (including links) that you can use as a preassembled component when you are constructing an email communication. If you intend to insert a content item into an email by applying a content rules set, the content item should be suitable for use as an interchangeable component that can be replaced by alternative content items. The selection of the content item to be inserted depends on the targeting rules set up in the content rules set.

When you are defining the contents of a content item, you can use the Rich Content page to specify the dynamic fields and specific elements you want to add to an email, and package them in the form of a content item.

Details

At the most detailed level of processing, the Rich Content page provides assistance by helping you select or generate the reference tag for a dynamic field or element that you want to include. (These tags are sometimes also called "personalization tags" because they refer to data that personalizes the email.) You can then insert the reference tag into your content item in the appropriate location. As Reward generates each personalized email in an email communication, it renders these reference tags into personalized data by extracting the referenced data from its extensive database. At this level of processing, specific types of data about your customers and your loyalty program are specified by the reference tags.

For example, you can personalize an email by inserting into a content item fields that display the customer's first name, point balance, last award or award date; or by inserting elements of one of the offers that you selected in the Clubs and Offers page of the Email Communications wizard, including an image; or by inserting a URL that links the customer to a questionnaire or to a Refer a Friend site. Assuming you have set up the appropriate options in your email communication to support these elements, the detailed data you specify in a content item can be quite powerful.

If your company has defined custom attributes, you can insert reference tags that pull customer specific values from these custom attributes.

What Happens to a Content Item?

After you complete your definition of a content item, that content item itself is assigned a type of reference tag, and you can manage it almost like a reference tag for a dynamic field. That is, you can select it and insert it in an email as if it were an object. Note, however, that the reference tags for content items can also be managed on a higher level when you use a content rule set.

If a content item is added to an email, the appropriate data for each recipient is extracted from the database and inserted into that email message. Ultimately, the email displays information selected for the recipient.

In summary, if you want to customize the rich content in a content item, the Rich Content page provides the basic code generation tools, code display, and text editing environment that you need.