PathFactory Dynamic Personalization is a key feature that enables marketers to create and use just one template that dynamically personalizes section copy, logos, and images in real time based on visitor identity. First you build audience cohorts in PathFactory Segments—and then use them in Segment Rules to activate scalable, automated ABM and personalization of a digital experience. This feature is available for use in Templated Experiences and Content Playlists to help you customize content experiences for every visitor, based on account identification from Demandbase or custom query parameters.
Example of Using Segment Rules & Custom Field Merges
The following example demonstrates what Segment Rules and Custom Field Merges you would use to detect a visitor’s industry and present relevant content assets.
Objective
Tailor content for visitors from the tech industry.
Segment Rules
Criteria – Visitor identified as Tech Industry by Demandbase other ABM platform
Action – Add Custom Field Merges {{custom.TechHeader}}, {{custom.TechImage}}
Note: You do not have to be a Demandbase customer other ABM platform to use Dynamic Personalization.
Custom Field Merge Definitions
Add to Header –
{{custom.TechHeader}} – This Custom Field Merge displays “Welcome, Tech Professionals!”
{{custom.TechImage}} – This Custom Field Merge displays an image relevant to technology advancements
Note: If you’re new to the concept of Segments, we recommend you read the article, Introduction to Segments before proceeding further with the setup instructions in this article.
Dynamic Personalization Setup
To start using PathFactory Dynamic Personalization, you first need to create Segment Rules. These rules set specific criteria for identifying visitor attributes, such as industry, vertical, geographic location, etc.
Alongside these rules, you will define Custom Field Merges, which are dynamic placeholders that modify content elements like headers, text, images, and CTAs based on visitor data provided by your chosen intent platform (Demandbase or other ) or using custom query paramaters.
These are the steps we’ll walk you through in this tutorial so you can start using this feature:
- Identify the audience segments.
- Download the Segment Rules Template from PathFactory.
- Fill out the Segment Rules Template.
- Upload the modified CSV file for your template to PathFactory.
- Design your Experience (i.e., Landing Page, Content Page, or Content Playlist).
- Add Dynamic Personalization to your Experience.
- Preview the Experience.
Step 1: Identify the Audience Segments
Begin by pinpointing the precise audience segments you aim to target with your marketing program. This involves defining the specific characteristics and behaviors that distinguish each segment. Consider factors like demographics, firmographics, purchase history, and engagement level to form a detailed profile of each group.
Once you have clearly defined these segments, you will need to create corresponding Segment Rules in PathFactory. These rules should accurately reflect the characteristics of your target accounts or groups. By setting up these rules, you can ensure that your marketing content and messaging is tailored specifically to the needs and interests of each segment.
For detailed information on how to create and configure segments, refer to How to Create, Edit, or Delete a Segment.
Step 2: Download the Segment Rules Template from PathFactory
After you have defined the audience segments, follow the instructions below to download the PathFactory Segment Rules Template and fill it in with your segment rules and Custom Field Merges.
Using this spreadsheet-style template, your marketing teams can collaborate asynchronously, allowing for flexible contributions that support matrixed teams, schedules and workflows.
- On the upper right corner of your PathFactory application, click on the gear icon. In the menu that drops down, select Personalization.
- On the Personalization menu that opens, on the left side click Segment Rules.
- Next, download the Segment Rules Template by clicking the down arrow icon, as highlighted in the screen capture below. This will download a copy of the file onto your computer.
- The Segment Rules Template facilitates asynchronous collaboration among stakeholders involved in executing your campaigns and personalization rules. By sharing the template on a shared drive, teams and cross-functional groups can access and contribute to the segment rules simultaneously, ensuring streamlined and efficient marketing coordination.
Step 3: Fill Out the Segment Rules Template
Below are descriptions of each of the fields you’ll find in the Segment Rules Template. You’ll need to fill out the variations you want in these fields for each of your segments.
Custom Field Merge Type (Text, Image or Video)
Use this to define the type so that content displays properly within the Templated Experience or Content Playlist.
Below is a screen capture of an example where we are setting up rules that create multiple personalized 1:1 pages for key accounts using a single template and defined Segment Rules.
Fallback
In this field, make sure you define a default Templated Experience for visitors who are not recognized by your intent platform. We call this a “fallback” Experience that can be shown to unknown visitors who cannot be matched to an account or other firmographic data.
Segment Rule
In this field, enter the name for the segment and the name for the marketing program. Naming is important when managing multiple programs simultaneously.
For example, you may want to create a 1:1 ABM program for Account A for Product X in Q2. In Q4, you may want to build a different 1:1 ABM program for the same Account A, but for Product Y that requires different Segment Rules and Custom Field Merges to drive the desired personalization.
Make sure you are using Segment Rule names that use naming conventions that make it easily find, manage and track multiple Segment Rule names in a list over time. For the example scenario above, this might look like “Account A – Product X Q2 ABM Program” for the first one and “Account A – Product Y Q4 ABM Program” for the second.
Segment
Enter the names of the Segments in this field that you defined and created in Step 1.
Important! Verify that each segment named in the Segment Rules Template already exists within PathFactory to prevent errors.
Custom Field Merges
Custom Field Merges are basically dynamic content fields that automatically populate your Experiences with personalize content based on a visitor’s unique profile or behavior and how that aligns to your Segment Rules.
Using Segment Rules and Custom Field Merges in combination bring personalization at scale to life within your PathFactory Experiences. Custom field merges change images, logos, contact info, or copy blocks dynamically based on the rules you specify in your Segment Rules Template.
All Custom Field Merge names you use must start with the prefix “custom” to clearly distinguish them from field merges for Demandbase or other ABM platform. Here are two examples of Custom Merge Fields and their effects:
{{custom.HealthcareHeader}} = “Welcome, Healthcare Professionals!”
{{custom.HealthcareImage}} = Link to a relevant healthcare image
When creating Custom Field Merges for different campaigns, it’s crucial to use unique names to avoid confusion and ensure correct usage. For example:
{{custom.copyblockQ2}} for a Q2 1:1 ABM program
{{custom.copyblockQ4}} for a Q4 1:1 ABM program
Align your Custom Field Merge definitions with their associated Segment Rules to maintain an organized template. Below is an example showing two custom field merges – one to add a custom copy block in and another to personalize what hero image will appear on a landing page based on what account and visitor is engaging with the Experience.
Step 4: Upload the Modified CSV File to PathFactory
Once you’ve finished building your Segment Rules in your Segment Rules Template, upload the file as a CSV back into PathFactory. To do this, follow these steps.
- Click the upload icon as highlighted in the screen capture below.
- At the prompt, click Browse and select your Segment Rules Template. Click Upload.
- When your Segment Rules are finished processing, you will receive an email to confirm the upload is complete. To see the newly added file on the Segment Rules tab, refresh your browser screen.
Important! When you upload a CSV file, new Segment Rules are added and any existing rules with the same names are updated/overwritten. Segment Rules will not be automatically deleted during this process. Any rules in the platform already that are not included in the most recently uploaded CSV template will remain unchanged in the system.
- If you’ve forgotten to fill out any inputs in the template, or you need to make changes, you can add new Segment Rules or edit individual cells in your template by clicking into them directly on screen right within PathFactory. All of the Segment Rules are editable, as shown in the screen capture below.
Step 5: Design Your Experience (Page or Content Playlist)
Before you can activate the Dynamic Personalization variations you set up in Segment Rules, you’ll need to create a layout for whatever Experience type you are planning to use – a Landing Page Template, Content Page Template, or Content Playlist – and then identify which elements will benefit from adding Dynamic Personalization – e.g., header logo, hero copy, CTA.
For detailed instructions on how to build a Templated Experience or a Content Playlist, read Introduction to Templated Experiences or Introduction to Content Playlists.
Step 6: Add Dynamic Personalization to Your Experience
Once you’ve added your Segment Rules in PathFactory, you need to add the Custom Field Merges to your Experience layout. The steps below will guide you through the process of adding Custom Field Merges to a Content Playlist or Page Template.
- To get started, you’ll want to go to the Page Template or Content Playlist in which you want to apply Dynamic Personalization.
- If you are doing this for a Content Playlist, open the side menu panel and select Content Playlists.
- In the main list of Content Playlist experiences that that displays, check the box next to the playlist you want to edit and then click the edit icon.
- If you are doing this for a Templated Experience, open the side panel and select Templated Experiences.
- From the list that appears, select the Templated Experience you want to edit.
- Next, navigate to either the Content Page Templates tab or the Landing Page Templates tab, depending on which Page Template you are working on, as highlighted below.
- Whichever Experience type instructions you followed above (Playlist, Content Page or Landing Page), you should now see a menu on the right side of your screen like the one below. Expand this to view the available layout options for inserting your Customer Field Merges that will drive Dynamic Personalization based on what you defined in Segment Rules.
Below is a screen capture of a Content Playlist open for editing, with the expandable menus highlighted.
- Expand the menus on the right side to edit the layout, add promoters, and more.
Note: For details on how to customize the Page Templates design appearance and style, refer to the article, read Introduction to Templated Experiences. For details on how to customize the appearance of a Content Playlist, refer to Introduction to Content Playlists.
- To dynamically personalize text, open the rich text editor. Click the { } icon to access the list of available field merges from a dropdown menu, as shown in the screen capture below. For example, for the Landing Page header you could select {{custom.MembershipLevel}}, which is useful for membership sites to display user’s current membership level, like “Status: {{custom.MembershipLevel}} Member”
Text Editor
- To configure CTAs to have custom text, such as personalizing a webinar registration CTA, you could use Custom Field Merges that pull from data specific to each visitor’s interests or industry. For example, “Join Our Exclusive Webinar Tailored for {{Custom.User_Industry}} Professionals!”
Example of Editing CTAs
- For configuring images and videos, use Custom Field Merges to dynamically change visual content based on viewer data and behavior. To add a field merge to an image, in any section that has an image, select Change Image. In the resulting pop up menu, select the Field Merge as shown in the screen capture below.
Image Picker
- When you are finished adding your Custom Field Merges to the Content Playlist or Page Template, click the Save button to lock in your changes.
Step 7: Preview Your Experience
Once you have configured your Experience, you can preview the impact of different Segment Rules before you activate it with audiences.
To begin, open a preview of the Landing Page, Content Page, or Content Playlist.
Along the top of the screen, you’ll see options for previewing Desktop and Mobile as usual, but there is also a Segment Rules dropdown list on the top left of the screen. By selecting from the list, you can preview what the Experience will look like for each customer and for the fallback Experience.
How to Activate and Share Your Experience
You can generate a URL link to share a dynamic version of an Experience or a static version, depending on your audience, activation and channel preferences.
Unknown Visitors
If you’re sharing your Page or Playlist with primarily unknown visitors (e.g., through organic social media or paid ads), you should use a dynamic version of the Experience. This ensures the content updates based on the visitor’s identity.
If you have many anonymous users visiting your content from various channels, you want to provide a Landing Page that has Dynamic Personalization to customize the Landing Page contents based on visitor behavior, follow the steps below.
- With the Share Link popup menu open, turn the Segment Rule toggle off to generate a dynamic version of the Experience.
Note: Turning off the Segment Rule toggle generates a dynamic version of the page, which will change based on the visitor’s identity. If the visitor is unknown, you can rely on our integration with or Demandbase other ABM platform to gather information about the visitor without needing their email address. The visitor’s information triggers the page to change.
- Click the clone icon to copy the updated URL to your clipboard.
- Share this link wherever you are activating your content/campaigns across channels. Anyone clicking the link will see a personalized version of the Landing Page.
Known Visitors
If you’re sharing your Experience with known visitors (e.g., within an email nurture campaign) or providing sales with custom URLs for specific account pages, you should use a static version of the Experience. This ensures the content remains consistent for all viewers.
If you want to share a Landing Page with known leads in your email nurture campaign, you can share a static Experience that is customized for their specific audience segment.
- In the Share Link popup menu, fill in the Share Domain URL and Query String fields as shown in the example below.
- Optional Steps:
- Overlay Source Type toggle – When this toggle is activated, once you select a starting asset, generates a share link to that asset pre-loaded as an overlay on top of the Landing Page.
- Overlay Starting Asset – From this dropdown list, select exactly which content asset you want to display first to the visitor.
- Source Type dropdown menu – Select Content Assets or Featured:
- Content Assets – This option allows you to select from your existing library of content assets. You can choose specific content pieces that will be shown to the visitor.
- Featured – This option lets you highlight specific content or collections of content that you want to emphasize to the visitor. It’s typically used for promoting particular assets or campaigns.
- Turn on the Segment Rule toggle. In the Segment Rule dropdown list that appears, select an audience segment.
- Click the clone icon in the lower right corner of the menu to copy the updated URL to your clipboard.
- Share this link in your email nurture campaign. Known leads clicking this link will see a personalized version of the Landing Page that displays relevant and engaging content tailored just for them.
How to Navigate to the Share Link Menu
Depending on the type of Experience you are planning to share, follow one of the directions below.
Share Link for Landing Pages
With a Templated Experience open in edit mode, select the Landing Page Setup tab. The Sharing link appears, as highlighted in the screen capture below.
Share Link for Content Playlists
Open a Content Playlist in edit mode, and then select the Content Configuration tab. The Sharing link appears as highlighted on the screen capture below.
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