The Content Feeds feature enables you to create a reusable email template and use a structured data file to provide specific content at the time of sending. This feature is particularly useful for content publishers who distribute syndicated content via email.
Marketing Cloud uses the Liquid scripting engine for content personalization. You can use liquid scripting to display elements from the content feed directly in the email body.
Note: Content feeds are intended for promotional campaigns and journey campaigns only. They are not intended for transactional email campaigns.
Prerequisites
Before creating a content feed, ensure the structured data file meets the following requirements:
- The URL of the structured data must not be a redirect to the actual resource.
- The data must be either XML- or JSON-formatted.
- If you're passing data as an array, it must be passed as a named element.
Note: If you do not see the Content Feeds menu option in your account, contact Success@maropost.com to have it activated.
Managing Content Feeds
To navigate to the content feeds page, go to Marketing > Content > Content Feeds.
The Content Feeds index page displays all content feeds created in your account. From this page, you can create new content feeds and edit existing ones from the Action column.
Creating Content Feeds
Marketing Cloud supports two types of content feeds: Single Feed and Merge Feed.
- Single Feed: Contains only one content source, linked via a single URL.
- Merge Feed: Combines multiple content sources, each identified by a unique key and URL.
Creating a Single Feed
- On the Content Feeds index page, click New Feed.
- In the New Feed dialog box, select Single Feed as the Feed Type. Next, enter a name for the feed in the Name field.
- Configure the Update Content Feed On schedule:
Day of the Week: Select the days on which the feed is to be updated. You can select multiple days, including the option to update all days.
Hour of the Day: Select the hour of the day at which the feed is to be updated. You can select a specific hour or choose to update every hour.
- Enter the source URL in the URL field. Optionally, click the eye icon next to the URL field to preview the feed. Click Save.
Note: For journey campaigns and transactional campaigns, the content feed is pulled from the specified URL according to the defined update schedule. For normal, batch, and recurring campaigns, the content feed is pulled during the campaign's scheduled send date and time.
Creating a Merge Feed
- On the Content Feeds index page, click New Feed.
- In the New Feed dialog box, select Merge Feed as the Feed Type. Next, enter a name for the feed in the Name field.
- Configure the Update Content Feed On schedule:
Day of the Week: Select the days on which the feed is to be updated. You can select multiple days, including the option to update all days.
Hour of the Day: Select the hour of the day at which the feed is to be updated. You can select a specific hour or choose to update every hour.
- Enter values for the following fields for each individual feed within the merge:
Key: Enter an alphanumeric value to use as the key. This key can then be referenced when creating content or dynamic content.
URL: Enter the URL from which to pull the feed.
- To include additional feeds in the merge, click Add Feed and repeat step 4. Optionally, click the three-dot menu next to the URL field to access the following actions:
View Feed: Preview the feed content. This is useful for referencing feed elements when writing Liquid script in email content.
Delete Feed: Remove the feed from the merge feed.
- Save the changes made to the merge feed.
Important: You must configure the Update Content Feed On schedule only if you plan to use the feed for workflow messages or transactional messages. For regular broadcast messages, Marketing Cloud pulls data from the source URL and caches it at send time.
Workflow and transactional emails are sent on a 1-to-1 basis, meaning the content server is called each time one is sent. Using the Update Content Feed On option refreshes the cached version periodically to reduce repetitive load on the content server.
Using Content Feeds in Email Content
Since you will be combining Liquid scripting with HTML code to display feed elements in the email, it is recommended that you use the HTML Code content editor. This editor provides full control over your HTML and Liquid scripting code.
Open a new content editor or select an existing one, navigate to the Advanced section, and choose your content feed’s name from the Content Feed dropdown. Click the eye icon next to its field to preview the fully assembled email as it will appear when sent to contacts.
Use liquid script in the Subject and Preheader fields to personalize the subject line and preheader text based on the content feed, then save the changes made to the email content.
