Creating marketing content to display on store pages

Create marketing content to fill e-Marketing Spots and Commerce Composer widgets with images, text, or static HTML. You can specify the marketing content as default content for the e-Marketing Spot or widget, or you can create a web activity to display the content in the e-Marketing Spot or widget.

Before you begin

If the marketing content contains an attachment, ensure that you create the attachment in Management Center with the Attachments tool. For more information, see Managing attachments.

Procedure

  1. Open the Marketing tool.
  2. From the explorer view, click Content.
    The Content - List page opens.
  3. From the toolbar, click the arrow on the right side of Create New Create New; then select Content.
    The New Content page displays.
  4. Enter the properties for your new content.
    PropertyDescription
    Name Enter a name, for example, White Sale Home Page Ad.
    Content type Select one of the following options:
    Asset
    Select this option to specify an image file, attachment, or URL.
    Text for store page display
    Select this option to specify text or static HTML.
    Text message for mobile device
    Select this option to specify text for display in a text message.
    Associated asset If you select Asset from the Content type list, then the Associated asset table displays.

    If you are changing content to associate an asset with the content or to change an associated asset, consider the file size of the asset. If content includes asset files that are large, the loading time of store pages can be affected. If you must associate a large file, such as a video, to a piece of content, you might need to select to Ignore the associated asset file size limit.

    To associate a URL to the content:
    1. Above the Associated asset table, click on the new icon and select if you want to add an attachment, url, or file. icon. Then, select URL.
    2. In the Path column, type the URL.
    Note: When you include marketing content with associated assets in an e-Marketing Spot, ensure that IT or an administrator caches the e-Marketing Spot or page. If you are IT or an administrator, you can include the e-Marketing Spot or page in the JSP DynaCache. For more information about caching marketing objects, see Marketing cache design considerations.

    If an e-Marketing Spot that includes content with associated assets is not cached and a file size limit is configured, whenever the e-Marketing Spot loads on a page, the service that checks the file size of associated assets is called. If a file size limit is configured, you are recommended to cache the e-Marketing Spots that include content with associated assets.

    Text By default, the Text field editor is set to HTML mode within the Marketing tool. Enter the HTML content that you want to display as your content. This field is available in multiple languages.
    In your text field you can personalize your content:
    • To personalize the text for individual customers, you can use substitution variables in the text. To use substitution variables, a store developer must customize the JSP file for the store page that contains the e-Marketing Spot to support this feature. This customization would support text entries like the following example:
      Hi [FirstName], welcome back!
      For more information, see Adding support for personalized text in an e-Marketing Spot.
    • You can add promotion proximity messages in your content to inform shoppers how close they are to qualifying for promotions that are based on an order subtotal. For more information, see Adding promotion proximity messages for promotions

    You can also enter standard rich text into the Text field. If you choose to, you must first click the following icon in the text toolbar:Source. Clicking Source takes the editor out of HTML mode and into visual rich text editor mode. The HTML that was previously entered is translated and displayed visually within the Text field. You can switch back to HTML mode by clicking Source again at any time.

    For more information about rich text editors, see Rich text editor (CKEditor).

    In your HTML, you can include replaceable parameters to include more images and links. By using these parameters in the file paths for your images and links, these file paths can work in both the storefront and in store preview without requiring changes. Previously, the file path to an image or link had to be changed depending on whether you wanted the image or link to display in your storefront or in store preview. For more information, see Substitution variables for entering HTML in Management Center

  5. Optional: Specify any required click action that is to be associated with your marketing content.
    PropertyDescription
    Number of click actions You can specify the following number of click actions that are to be associated with your content. The options are:
    None
    Select this option if you do not want the content to have a click action. In other words, if the customer clicks the content, nothing happens.
    Single
    Select this option if you want only a single click action to be associated with your content. If the customer clicks any area of the content only a single action occurs. If you select a single click action, you must then specify a Click action type.
    Multiple (image map)
    Select this option if you want multiple click actions to be associated with your content. To associate multiple click actions with a piece of content, you must create an image map. When you select to associate an image map, you must specify an Input option for specifying the click action areas within your image map.
    Input option(available when you select Multiple (image map) You can select to specify each individual area that is to contain a click action, or select to use HTML to specify the entire image map area. You can select only one option. You cannot define click action areas in both the Areas table and with HTML:
    Specify individual areas
    Select this option to specify the individuals areas that are to contain a click action within your image map. You must enter each click action area within the Areas table.
    HTML
    Select this option to specify HTML code that defines the entire image map.
    Areas(available when you select Multiple (image map) and Specify individual areas Specify each individual click action area within this table. To add an area, click the Add newArrow Create New icon. You must specify the following properties for each individual click action area:
    Shape
    You can select to create your click action area in one of following three shapes:
    • Rectangle
    • Circle
    • Polygon
    Coordinates
    Specify the coordinates, in pixels, for your selected shape. These coordinates identify the size and location for the click action area. You should retrieve this information from your developers or the supplier of your image. Enter your coordinates relative to the upper left boundary (0,0) of your image. The coordinates for each shape must be in the following format:
    • Rectangle: Specify the upper left and lower right coordinates. Define these two coordinates in the format: X1, Y1, X2, Y2 (Where X1, Y1, is the upper left coordinate, and X2, Y2 is the lower right coordinate).
    • Circle: Specify the center point for the circle and the radius. Define the center point location for your circle and radius in the format: X, Y, Radius (Where X, Y are horizontal and vertical coordinates for the center of the circle, and R is the radius of the circle).
    • Polygon: You must specify at least six coordinates and you must specify an even number of coordinates to complete the polygon shape. Use the format X1, Y1, X2, Y2, ... Xn, Yn. Enter these coordinates in either a clockwise or counterclockwise order to ensure that the correct shape is defined.
    Hover text
    Specify the text that your customer views when they hover over the click action area. This text can be entered in multiple languages. If your store supports multiple languages, the hover text and coordinates are specific to each language.
    URL
    Displays the URL that opens when a customer clicks the click action area. This URL is specified in the URL field after the options for defining the Click action type. To set the URL for a click action area, select an entry in the Areas table. The URL specific to an area displays in the URL entry field. You can manually enter the URL or use the Click Action selection widget.
    There are also the following optional properties for each click action area. You can display these properties by right-clicking a table column and selecting to configure the columns:
    • Target - The location where the URL page is to display when it opens. Example: _blank, _parent, _self, _top.
    • Alternate Text - The alternate text for the click action area.
    • There are also five addition customizable fields (Field 1 to Field 5) available by default for your usage:
    Click action type The following are the available click action types:
    Predefined click action
    If you select this option, you must select the predefined click action from the list that displays. Options are:
    Display catalog entry
    This click action redirects the customer's browser to the product details page for a catalog entry you specify.
    Selecting this option displays a field in which you enter the code for the catalog entry and click Find and Add, or click the Show utilities view Show utilities view icon to open the utilities view, and then search or browse for the appropriate catalog entry to display.
    Display category
    This click action redirects the customer's browser to the category page for a category you specify.
    Selecting this option displays a field in which you must specify the target category. You can either enter the name of the category and click Find and Add, or click the Show utilities view Show utilities view icon to open the utilities view, and then search or browse for the appropriate category to display.
    Add to shopping cart
    This click action redirects the customer's browser to the shopping cart page and adds a SKU you specify to the customer's shopping cart.
    Selecting this option displays a field in which you must specify the code for the SKU that you want to add to the customer's shopping cart. You can either enter the code and click Find and Add, or click the Show utilities view Show utilities view icon to open the utilities view, and then search or browse for the appropriate SKU to add to the shopping cart.
    Add to wish list
    (For consumer-direct-type stores only). This click action redirects the customer's browser to the wish list page and adds a SKU you specify to the customer's wish list.
    Selecting this option displays a field in which you must specify the code of the SKU that you want to add to the customer's wish list. You can either enter the code and click Find and Add, or click the Show utilities view Show utilities view icon to open the utilities view, and then search or browse for the appropriate SKU to add to the wish list.
    Predefined click action for a promotion
    If you select this option, you must select the predefined click action from the list that displays. Options are:
    Display promotion description
    This click action redirects the customer's browser to the Promotion Details display page. The promotion details that are displayed on this page are the Customer viewable short description text and the Customer viewable long description text, as defined for the promotion. This click action applies to promotions with any redemption method.
    To associate this click action to a promotion, you must create a Web activity that uses the Recommend Promotion action. You must specify the promotion and this content in the Web activity.
    Add coupon to customer's coupon wallet
    This click action redirects the customer's browser to the shopping cart page and displays the coupon in the coupon wallet. This click action applies only to promotions for which the redemption method is Coupon promotion.
    To associate this click action to a promotion, you must create a Web activity that uses the Recommend Promotion action. You must specify the promotion and this content in the Web activity.
    Add to shopping cart and apply promotion
    This click action redirects the customer's browser to the shopping cart page, adds the specified SKU to the customer's shopping cart, and applies the promotion to the customer's order. This click action applies only to promotions for which the redemption method is Requires promotion codes. Ensure that the promotion has only one promotion code defined. If it has more than one, then you cannot activate any Web activities that reference the promotion.
    Selecting this option displays a field in which you must specify the code of the SKU that you want to add to the customer's shopping cart. You can either enter the code and click Find and Add, or click the Show utilities view Show utilities view icon to open the utilities view, and then search or browse for the appropriate SKU to add to the shopping cart.
    To associate this click action to a promotion, you must create a Web activity that uses the Recommend Promotion action. You must specify the promotion and this content in the Web activity.
    Custom URL as click action
    Select this option if you want to redirect the customer's browser to a custom URL when the customer clicks the content. Selecting this option displays a field in which you must type the custom URL.

    If this URL directs a customer to a site outside of your store, HCL Commerce must be configured to allow redirects. You must configure HCL Commerce to allow redirects to the site before the redirect works properly. For more information, see Enabling URL redirect filtering.

    You can define a language-specific custom URL by including language variable tokens in the URL. Before you can use a language variable token in the URL, an IT developer must first add support for language variable tokens by applying the interim fix for APAR . By using language variable tags in a click action custom URL, a different URL can display for each language that your store supports. When a developer adds this support, the following tokens are available for use in a click action custom URL:
    #language#
    When you include the token #language#, the token is replaced by the language for the shopper that is viewing the marketing content. The language value that replaces the token is typically the first 2 characters of the locale, such as en for English or fr for French. This value corresponds to the LANGUAGE.LANGUAGE database column for the language.
    For instance, the following URL includes this token:
    #language#/aurora/return-policy
    When a shopper views the marketing content in English, the following URL displays:
    en/aurora/return-policy
    If a shopper views the same marketing content in French, however, the following URL displays:
    fr/aurora/return-policy
    #langId#
    When you include the token #langId#, the token is replaced by the ID of the language for the shopper that is viewing the marketing content. This value, such as -1 for English or -2 for French, corresponds to the LANGUAGE.LANGUAGE_ID database column for the language.
    For instance, the following URL includes this token:
    SearchDisplay?searchTerm=dress&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=#langId#
    When a shopper views the marketing content in English, the following URL displays:
    SearchDisplay?searchTerm=dress&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langID=-1
    If a shopper views the same marketing content in French, however, the following URL displays:
    SearchDisplay?searchTerm=dress&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-2

    Support for adding the #language# and #langId# language variable tokens in a custom URL is provided by default.

    Note: The Predefined click action for a promotion option is not available for an image map.
    URL This URL is the URL that a click action opens for the customer. If you are specifying a custom URL, you should obtain this custom URL from your developers to ensure that it leads the customer to the correct store page. This URL must be specified for each click action area you specify in the Areas table. The URL field displays the URL for only the selected click action area in the Areas table.
    HTML
    Specify the HTML source code that defines your image map. If you choose to specify HTML code, you should receive this source code from your developers. Before you save your content, ensure that the map name for your image map associates the image map with an image. Verify with your developers that the map name is set as an image content identifier, or contentId. This identifier is required to associate your image map with an image. This map name must not be a number. This map name must be set in the HTML code in the following format:
     <map name="[contentId]">
    The contentId substitution variable are replaced with the unique ID of the content at store front. For more information, see Defining image map HTML.

    In your HTML, you can include replaceable parameters to include more images and links. By using these parameters in the file paths for your images and links, these file paths can work in both the storefront and in store preview without requiring changes. Previously, the file path to an image or link had to be changed depending on whether you wanted the image or link to display in your storefront or in store preview. For more information, see Substitution variables for entering HTML in Management Center

    Content Behavior In the Content behavior field, specify whether the content behavior is static or dynamic.

    This option helps determine how to cache an e-Marketing Spot at the storefront. If the content behavior is dynamic, then the e-Marketing Spot cannot be cached at the storefront. Select one of the following options:

    Static
    Select this option if the content displays the same results to all customers.
    Dynamic
    Select this option if the content changes based on the customer. For example:
    • The content displays the customer name in the text with substitution variables defined in the e-Marketing Spot. For example:
      Hi [FirstName], welcome back!
    • The content displays the additional amount of money a customer must spend to qualify for an order level promotion with the promotion proximity tag. The following marketing content text snippet provides an example of the content details text with a promotion proximity tag:
      You are only [CartValueThreshold:200 USD,MinimumCartValue:50] away from free shipping.
  6. Click Save and then click Close.
    HCL Commerce Version 9.1.8.0 or later
    Note: