Configuring an Email with RSS Content

 

Please follow the steps listed below to add RSS content to an email template within Eloqua.

1. After creating a new email, open the Cloud Content toolbox and drag the “RSS Content” on to the editing canvas. Once added, a placeholder image will appear that can be re-sized as needed. The Eloqua content API has a “flow” setting that will allow the content block to expand to fit the size of the content returned to Eloqua by the app. This means that, if the content requires a taller email, the email will expand to display all of the content sent
   
   
   
   
2. Double-click on the placeholder image to launch the RSS Content configuration screen. Login with Sureshot application credentials (please refer to the Sureshot Portal User Guide if an account has not been previously created in the Sureshot Portal.)
   
   

 

3. Once logged in, name the configuration in the Description field (this is used for reference purposes on the app dashboard)

4. Next you will need to add the Feed URI (or URL) and specify the “node” in the feed where the Feed Items/Articles start as well as the “node” for the publication date.

*To identify the Entry Path and Entry Date Path, refer to the feed XML to determine how those items are represented (The system contains default values for a Wordpress RSS Feed). For example:

5. Next, select a content source. A user may choose between 'Chronological' order (this option will automatically display the latest items in the given feed) or 'Curated' (manually choose the articles to be merged into the email). 

NOTE: Checking the 'Allow Empty Feed' box will insert a blank section of content if there is an error in the HTML

6. Select how many RSS Feed items to be made available for the “top” and “additional” sections of the content created in the 'Entries' section. (Note: The RSS app supports the ability to loop through RSS content within an email. Each content section supports 2 loops. For instance, the application will allow the user to display the 2 most recent blog posts in the top section and include links to an additional 5 articles below that)

Click 'Next' to move onto the next page, or 'Submit' to save the configuration

 

7. First, select the credentials to use when accessing the Eloqua API (this should be the credentials during setup and will contain your instance name).

 The app allows the user to specify data to be imported back into Eloqua when the RSS Content app runs in the CONTACT IMPORT FIELD MAPPING section (for instance, to use the Title of the latest Blog post as the email subject line). Specify which field(s) in Eloqua to save the data to and then which value of the RSS Feed will be returned. A static value may be entered as well. 

The CONTACT EXPORT FIELD MAPPING section allows the user to filter and or personalize content using Contact Data. The user may choose the desired contact field on the left drop-down menu, and then write a custom token to be used in the Template. For Example, in this case, the contact object City has been assigned the token "mycity". Use the "mycity" token to filter and/or personalize the content in the template.

 

Click 'Next' to go onto the next page, or 'Submit' to save the configuration

8. The Custom Object page allows the user to pull CDO fields into the template editor, allowing the user to further customize the content of the RSS feed. To pull CDO data into the RSS template editor, select the Eloqua Custom Object to be referenced and the application will turn each of the fields in the CDO into tokens the user may add into the template editor. Copy and paste the tokens into the HTML of the template editor where applicable. Click Next.

Click 'Next' to go onto the next page, or 'Submit' to save the configuration

9. Author the HTML content in the Editor that the RSS Content app will return.  This editor uses a special HTML markup (called “EVAL”) created specifically to allow for total control over how the RSS content is displayed in your email. (For further detail regarding "EVAL" Refer to the Sureshot Eval Syntax User Guide)

EVAL mark-up & tag examples:

• “Top” Entries of RSS Content
  • Top loop of entries: <eval for="channel.item.top"></eval>
    • All corresponding Eval tags for the Top content items, must be contained in this tag.
    • If # of Top entries is >1, all the code inside of this tag will loop.
• “Additional” Entries of RSS Content
  • Additional loop of entries: <eval for="channel.item.additional"></eval>
    • All corresponding Eval tags for the Additional content items, must be contained in this tag.
    • If # of Additional entries is >1, all the code inside of this tag will loop.
• "Curated" contains curated content.
  • Top loop of entries: <eval for="channel.item.curated"></eval>
• "All" contains all content
• RSS Item data (Please note: these item nodes will change based on the RSS feed you are working from. This example is for a Wordpress feed.)
  • Value in Title node: <eval for="title._value" ></eval>
  • Value in Description node: <eval for="description._value" ></eval>
  • Value in Publication date node: <eval for="pubDate._value" ></eval>
  • Value for a hyperlink using the Link node: <a eval-href="<eval for='link._value'></a>
  • Value in Content:Encoded node: <eval for="encoded._value" ></eval>
    
    

10. While editing and adding HTML content, can click “Test Template” to see a preview of exactly what content will be delivered back to Eloqua via the App.

11. Once complete, click Submit to save the configuration.

 

Upon completion of the RSS Content, the user may now send a test email.

1. Due to how content is rendered in the email, testing must be done using the “Email a Contact” option in the email settings menu, or via the Campaign Canvas.
2. Using the “Test Content and Deliverability” and “Preview” options may become available in the future, but due to current limitations, they will fail to provide an accurate test of the RSS Content.
   
   

NOTE: Most tests are sent within a minute, but Eloqua email and bulk API queuing may result in delays.

Using the RSS Decision in a Campaign

The RSS Decision app is intended to allow the user to trigger an email with new RSS content based on when that content has been added to the RSS Feed. 

1. Open a new Campaign in Eloqua. Click the arrow next to 'Campaign Steps' to fully expose the Steps menu.  Drag and Drop the RSS Decision App on to the Campaign Canvas. 
   
2. Double-click the RSS Decision step and click the Edit button to open the Configuration screen.
   

3. Enter the Feed URI (URL) as well as the evaluation Time Span and XML Path for the Content publication date (The default value is for a Wordpress RSS feed.)

   The RSS Decision will then look at the latest entry of the RSS Feed and send contacts down the Yes/Green path if the Feed has a new entry in the Time Span entered or will send contacts down the No/Red path if it does not.
   

The following is an example campaign flow that utilizes an RSS Decision step and then an email with the RSS Content. This example will look for a new RSS entry every day and send an email with the latest entry to all contacts only if a new entry has been added that day.

This use case enables your Eloqua instance to act similar to the Feedburner utility for blogs.