Before you start
If you’re not using personalization or real-time content, skip to Optimize for Visitor identification and personalization.
When used to personalize emails, SmartBlocks are displayed as real-time images at the point that the email is opened, or inserted as HTML at send time, depending on your configuration. When used to personalize a web page, they are normally displayed as a block of HTML and JavaScript.
In both cases, the SmartBlock is delivered and can be personalized using any data held in the platform. This means that you’re not limited to just personalizing pages in your ecommerce system and emails from your email marketing platform - you can use your SmartBlocks everywhere. For example, in emails sent through Gmail or desktop email clients such as Outlook, or in content from Salesforce or HubSpot.
Slots
SmartBlocks are displayed in Slots: each Slot is a section of HTML that you paste into your email or website, or position using our Site editor. Once created, a Slot stays the same, but you can edit the SmartBlock that it contains, or make it load a different SmartBlock, even in emails that have already been sent.
SmartBlocks are based on Layouts. The system has default Layout templates which you can can then be adjust to meet your needs, for example, adjusting the colours, text, and so on. For more advanced adjustments, you can edit the HTML or use a scripting language call Jinja2 to merge in different personalized content.
Learn more in Create and edit a cart layout.
To achieve more advanced personalization, data can be transferred - or merged - from your messaging provider or ecommerce system into the Slot, and from there into the SmartBlock. This data can then be used, for example, at the Slot level to determine which SmartBlock to show, or at a SmartBlock level to adjust text and other content within the SmartBlock itself.
Learn more in Cart and SmartBlock layout merges.
Marketing rules in Slots
You can use rules in a Slot to choose which SmartBlock is displayed to which visitor or recipient. If you simply need one fixed SmartBlock per Slot, then you don't need to worry about rules, but there are many situations where extra personalization is valuable.
For example, you could show a different SmartBlock to people who have placed an order recently, compared to those who have not. Or, a different SmartBlock for weekends and weekdays; rules are extremely flexible.
Learn more in Use marketing rules.
Types of SmartBlock
There are many types of SmartBlock. You can learn how to create and edit each type in the following articles:
*Custom SmartBlocks
Custom SmartBlocks give you free reign to create a tailored block of content. If you select a personalized option, you can use data from the current viewer's person record, if available. For example, you could create a Custom SmartBlock which shows different content depending on gender.
The possibilities are almost unlimited, so contact Support to discuss your requirements.