Content Blocks

Content Blocks are containers of message content that can be reused across Campaigns. If you repeat similar content across Campaigns, then setting up that material within a Content Block can save you the time of having to enter and re-enter that content in each separate Campaign. You can instead define that content once in a Content Block, then simply assign that Content Block to each Campaign that needs it.

Content Blocks can also be used in conjunction with Dynamic Blocks. If your Campaign message needs to vary from one recipient to the next based on a rule or condition, the Dynamic Block rules can assign the individual Content Blocks to use in each case.

The platform supports two different data sources for building Content Blocks -- the Cheetah Digital database, and the Engagement Data Platform (EDP). The Engagement Data Platform is the data layer that powers and unifies the applications within Marigold Customer Engagement Suite.  

 

Access

The Content Blocks screen is accessible via the Main Menu; select Assets > Blocks > Content Blocks

 

Email Content Blocks

For Content Blocks in the Email channel, the platform uses an improved HTML Advanced Editor. The key unique features available in this version of the Advanced Editor are as follows:

  • A cleaner, more streamlined user interface.

  • A larger content editing space with formatting enhancements designed to improve the readability of your HTML code. These enhancements include color coding of HTML tags, find / replace, line numbers, character rules, and highlighting Merge Symbols to make them easier to find.

  • Usability improvements to the Personalization Pane where you select Personalization Fields and other assets.

  • The Content Designer -- a simple way to create responsive email content via a graphical, drag-and-drop interface; the Content Designer is intended for users who prefer not to code in HTML when building email content.

Note: Content Blocks for channels other than Email continue to use the existing, classic Advanced Editor.

The features available when creating a Content Block in the Email channel are as follows:

 Create a new email Content Block

To create a new Content Block:

Add simple looping to a Content Block

Simple Looping is a simplified version of a Looping Block that allows you to loop through the records in a joined table, and display one or more records. You can define how many records to display, and how to sort them. A common use case for this feature is to display one or more of a recipient's purchases within an email message. For a given recipient, the platform will loop through the purchases on a joined Orders table to display them within the email content.

 Using an approval workflow

Cheetah Digital allows you to establish points in the system that require approval before processing can continue, or before an item can be used. This feature, called an Approval Workflow, allows you to establish the rules around the approval -- who the requestors and approvers are, the types of items that require approval, and what the next steps should be after an item is approved or rejected.

 

Request approval

If you are a requestor, and your user account has been configured to use an Approval Workflow for Content Blocks, you can submit a request to the approver to review and approve this Content Block.

 

Review and approve

If you are an approver, and you receive a notification that a Content Block is waiting for approval:

 Preview email Content Block

To preview the Content Block:

 Copy an email Content Block

To copy an existing item to use as the basis for a new item:

 View or edit an email Content Block

To view or edit an existing Content Block:

 Delete an email Content Block

To delete a Content Block:

 Push email Content Block changes to a launched campaign

After you make changes to an Email Content Block, you can optionally push those changes out to any launched (but not yet finished deploying) Campaigns that utilize this Content Block. This feature runs the Pick Up Changes process on the Campaigns you select. When running Pick Up Changes, the platform suspends the current version of the Campaign, copies it into a new version, applies the updated content, then launches that new version containing the updated content. All messages not yet deployed will be updated to include the changes (the platform doesn't modify messages that were deployed prior to running Pick Up Changes).

Other Channels

The features available when a creating a Content Block in any channel other than Email are as follows:

Create a new Content Block

This topic describes how to create a new Content Block through the Content Block screen. In addition, Content Blocks can be created through the New Item screen (see Create a New Item: Content Block), or defined though an API request (see Content Block API for more details).  

 Copy a Content Block

To copy an existing item to use as the basis for a new item:

 View or edit a Content Block

To view or edit an existing Content Block:

 Delete a Content Block

To delete an item:

 Push Content Block changes to a launched campaign

After you make changes to a Content Block, you can optionally push those changes out to any launched (but not yet finished deploying) Campaigns that utilize this Content Block. This feature runs the Pick Up Changes process on the Campaigns you select. When running Pick Up Changes, the platform suspends the current version of the Campaign, copies it into a new version, applies the updated content, then launches that new version containing the updated content. All messages not yet deployed will be updated to include the changes (the platform doesn't modify messages that were deployed prior to running Pick Up Changes).

 Create Content Block for web pages using template from template library

When creating a Content Block, you will be able to select saved designs and templates for not just email, but also web pages to use as a start for building your landing pages.

Other Options

Additional Content Block features are described below.

Assign a Content Block to a campaign

Once you've created your Content Block, you can use it within one or more Campaigns. Cheetah Digital has two methods for assigning a Content Block to a Campaign: either 1) define the Content Block as the primary Content Source for the Campaign, or 2) insert the Content Block into the Campaign message.

Content Source

To change the Campaign's primary Content Source to use a Content Block:

Advanced editor

To insert a Content Block into the Campaign message:

 Assign a Content Block to a web page

To insert a Content Block into the Campaign message:

 Troubleshooting a Content Block

If your Content Block isn't rendering as expected, trying the following steps: