You create new posts on your website on a regular basis and want to automatically inform your customers when there’s something new? RSS feeds make your customers, prospects and readers receive automated updates when there’s news or new posts on your website or blog. Create automated and dynamic email campaigns with just a few clicks in your CleverReach account to always keep subscribers up-to-date.
This post shows you how to create the automation workflow in your CleverReach account, gives you details about the RSS feed template we have prepared for you and explains the reporting options you have.
Create RSS Feed Automation in CleverReach
To create an automation workflow in CleverReach, log into your CleverReach account and click on the menu item [Automation THEA].
By clicking on the top right [New Automation Workflow] button, you can create a [Single-Track Workflow] or use the [Multi-level Workflow].
To use our pre-designed RSS automation, click on [Multi-level Workflow]:
When clicking on the new RSS feed automation, a pop up appears for you to enter the name of the automation workflow as well as an optional description.
After clicking on [Create] the new workflow is created, which automatically contains the following modules:
- Calendar Event (orange)
- Recipient Module (green)
- RSS Feed Module (green)
- Envelope Module (select email - green)
1. Calendar Event (orange)
The first module – the Calendar module – allows you to determine when to start your workflow. Choose between daily, monthly, a day of the week, calendar week or a list of days.
[Save] your selection.
2. Recipient Module (green)
The next module is the recipient module. This module is for selecting your target group. You can select either an entire recipient list or a segment. Find out all about creating segments in this post.
After clicking on [Save] you have to select the settings for the RSS feed in the next module.
3. RSS Feed Module (green)
A pop up appears for you to fill in the following fields:
In the first field, enter the RSS feed URL. You bring the feed URL from your system. It is important that it has the correct format (Atom, RSS 2.0,..). If the URL has an incorrect format or cannot be recognised, you will automatically receive a message from our system.
If the check of the URL was successful, in the next step you select the text length to be displayed in the newsletter. You can choose between:
- the whole content from the RSS feed should be displayed
- only an excerpt should be displayed (e.g. max. 100 characters)
Then you specify how many articles are to be displayed and you set the age of the articles from the RSS feed. For example, you can choose from 1, 6, 24, 48 hours and 7 days, 14 days and 30 days.
The display of the RSS feed is currently standardised Picture left + text right.
When you are finished with all settings, click on [Save] and the window closes.
4. Envelope Module (Select Email - green)
The last step within your RSS campaign is selecting and editing the email, you automatically want to send to selected recipients. Click on the envelope module. Either select an [existing Email] or [Create New Email].
When clicking on [Create New Email] a pre-designed template opens in CleverReach.
The template contains the following variables by default:
{IMAGE} = With current content from the previously defined feed
{TITLE} = With current content from the previously defined feed
{DESCRIPTION} = With current content from the previously defined feed
{LINK} = Default text „Read more“ or individual text
Preview Delivery
The preview function contains a content standardized by us which is loaded and also used for the test delivery.
Real Email Delivery
Once your email automation is activated, the email will be filled with the dynamic content from the RSS feed in addition to the static content.
If you have selected a Text+Image element and four posts have an image and the fifth post has no image, a default image is displayed.
If your feed does not contain new content, no email will be sent out.
After having saved your newsletter, you’re done creating the automation. At the top right is a slider that is set to [inactive]. As soon as you click on it, the status changes to [active] and the automation is activated.
If you no longer want to send these automated newsletters to your recipients, you can switch the status back to [inactive] at any time.
Reporting and Click Links
The THEA Report allows you to receive a separate report depending on the RSS campaign sent and to filter by it. For example, if a new newsletter goes out every day at 8 o'clock, a separate report will be created for it as well. Clicklinks can be evaluated in the report, including openings and clicks.
To get an overview with all available reports, click on the report of the THEA RSS e-mail. To do this, go to [Reports] in your CleverReach account:
Click the small arrow on the right and [Reports]. The following overview appears:
Through the tab [Daily overview] you can view the reports of the past days:
The last 10 reports are displayed first in the daily overview, the newest report is always on the first page at the top. You can filter the time range by "Last 30 days" or "Last month". In addition, you can enter a time period and filter by it.
When you click on a day, you will see the exact report with the sends, individual opens, clicks, top links, orders, revenue and conversion rate:
With the Connect Link extension, you can evaluate the purchases generated via a newsletter with CleverReach. Generated orders, generated turnover and the order rate are measured.
An evaluation with the Google Analytics Integration is also possible, e.g. for evaluating purchases and other figures.
Please Note
- The display of the RSS feed is currently standardized image left + text right.
- If four posts have an image and the fifth post has no image, a text element is displayed.
If the feed does not provide any content at the time of sending, the newsletter will not be sent. - If your feed does not contain content, the newsletter won’t be sent out.
FAQ
Question: I want the image to be displayed as fullwidth in my RSS feed. How can I change this myself in the source code of my template?
Answer: We have created a predesigned RSS element that you can integrate. Download the file here.
This is how the element looks when you use our default element:
And this is how the element looks if you use the modified source code:
Help & Support
If you have questions or need further assistance, please contact our service team at any time.
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