Create a Personalization Rule

Goal

Create a personalization rule in the Personalization Builder: define conditions, structure InsertIf and InsertElse blocks, add content, and use or save the rule.

Background Information

• A personalization rule always contains at least one InsertIf block with the conditions that must be met for this block to apply.

• A rule can include additional InsertElse blocks, nested blocks, and a default block.

• A rule can contain its own content, for example a complete greeting.

• When you insert a rule into a message, its code is copied into the message. Changes you make in the message do not change the saved rule.

For the concepts, see Personalization Rules. For all elements of the Builder, see Personalization Builder: Create and Edit.

Procedure

1 Open the Personalization Builder

You can open the Personalization Builder during message creation or from the personalization overview.

During message creation

1. In the message, place the cursor where the personalization should appear, for example in the subject line. In the CMS, place the cursor inside a paragraph of a text field.

2. Click Personalization.

3. Click New.

   The Personalization Builder opens in Edit Mode for the first InsertIf block.

From the personalization overview

1. Go to Audience > Segmentation > Personalization.

2. Click Create.

   The Personalization Builder opens in Edit Mode for the first InsertIf block.

2 Create conditions

Conditions define when a block applies.

1. Click the plus symbol. The Condition Builder opens.

2. In the first input field, select the attribute.

3. In the list field in the center, select the relation, for example Equals or greater than. The available relations depend on the data type of the attribute.

4. In the second input field, enter the value. For enumerated attributes, select the value from the list. To compare the attribute with another attribute, select Compare two attributes and select the second attribute.

5. Click Add. The condition is added to the block.

6. To add more conditions, open the menu (▼) and select Add condition.

7. In Conditions to be matched, select all if every condition must be true, or one if at least one condition must be true.

8. To group conditions, select the checkbox at the end of each condition and click Group.

Grouped conditions are shown in parentheses. Click a parenthesis to expand or collapse the group. With groups, you can combine conditions where all must match with conditions where only one must match, all within one block.

Example: Grouping conditions

You want to insert a paragraph only for male recipients over 18 and for female recipients whose hobby is football. You create four conditions and group them as follows:

• Group 1: "Gender equals male" and "age is greater than 18", with all.

• Group 2: "Gender equals female" and "hobby equals football", with all.

• For the two groups, select one, so that the paragraph is inserted if one of the groups matches.

3 Structure the rule

Use the structure to define alternative blocks and nested checks within one rule, for example a greeting with several fallback options.

1. Click Structure. The Structure view opens.

2. To add an InsertElse block, click the button.

3. To define the conditions of the InsertElse block, open its menu (▼) and select Edit. Create the conditions as described in step 2.

4. To create a nested block, open the menu of the block and select Add Nested InsertIf.

5. To add a default block, open the menu and select Add Default.

Default blocks have no conditions. They apply if none of the other blocks in the rule match.

Example: Nested InsertIf for a greeting

You want a greeting that first checks whether a last name is stored. Within this block, you then differentiate by gender.

• Each branch of the greeting is a separate block.

• The block for contacts with a last name contains nested blocks for women, men, and unknown gender.

• Nested blocks usually need less code than separate blocks with very complex conditions.

4 Add content to the blocks

After defining the structure and conditions, add the content that should appear for each block.

1. Open the menu of the block and select Add Content. A content block is added.

2. Click the pencil icon of the content block. The Add Content dialog opens.

3. Enter the text, including HTML formatting if needed.

4. (Optional) To insert an attribute value, select the attribute in Attributes and click the insert icon.

5. Click Save.

6. (Optional) Open the menu of the block, select Edit Block Name, and enter a descriptive name.

Block names are useful in complex structures. The name is shown in the structure, becomes the ID of the block in the code, and appears in the email message statistics.

5 Use or save the rule

Before you use the rule, test it in two stages:

1. In the Builder, click Preview. The preview validates the rule. Enter the email address of a test contact and click Update. Repeat this with test contacts whose attribute values match each branch of the rule, including a contact with empty values. See Personalization Builder: Preview.

2. After you insert the rule, preview the message with different contacts. See Message Preview (Email).

To see the code that is inserted into the message, click Code.

Use the rule without saving

1. Click Use. You return to the message.

2. Insert the rule at the position where it should appear, for example by right-clicking the position in the editor.

If you opened the Builder from the personalization overview, you must save the rule before you can use it in messages.

Save the rule for later use

1. Enter a Name.

2. Enter a Description. A description is highly recommended, because personalization names are not unique.

3. Click Save.

You can then search for the rule by name in the personalization dialog of any message and reuse it.