What are content blocks?

Content blocks are reusable pieces of email content in Customer Insights - Journeys. You can think of them as mini email templates: instead of defining the structure of an entire email, they let you save and reuse individual sections, columns, or elements across different emails. They can be especially helpful when you're creating unique emails that don't justify a complete template but still contain design or content elements you use repeatedly.

When should you use a content block instead of an email template?

A full email template works well when your emails generally follow the same overall structure. Content blocks are useful when your emails vary more but still share individual pieces of content or design. Common examples include:

• Headers and footers
• Legal text or disclaimers
• Conditional content, such as different messaging for people who have or haven't registered for an event
• Sections containing customized HTML
• Sales representative signature sections
• Other reusable pieces of email content that should remain consistent across messages

Content blocks can therefore help you build new emails more quickly without forcing every email into the same template.

Create a content block from an existing email

One way to create a content block is to save something you've already built in the email designer. For example, imagine you've created a one-off email and don't need to save the entire message as a template. However, you've built a text-and-image section that would be useful in future emails. Select the entire section you want to reuse. If you've accidentally selected an individual column or element inside it, use the selection menu to switch to the section itself. With the section selected, choose Save as Content Block from the toolbar. You can then give the block a name and configure its settings.

Use tags to organize your content blocks

Tags aren't required, but they can make a growing content block library much easier to manage. For example, you might use tags such as:

• Header
• Footer
• Pricing table
• Text and image

Choose tags based on the reusable content your organization commonly creates. Later, you can use those tags to help locate the appropriate block in the email designer.

Understand the Ready to Send setting

The Ready to Send setting controls whether a content block is published and available to add to emails. If you've completed the block and want marketers to begin using it, set it to Ready to Send. Otherwise, you can keep it as a draft while you're still working on it.

Protect content that shouldn't be changed

The Protected setting prevents the content inside a block from being modified after the block is added to an email. This is particularly useful for content that should remain consistent, such as an email footer containing required company information and a preference center link. However, not every block should be protected. If you're creating a reusable layout where the text, links, images, or other content will change from email to email, leave the block unprotected so it can be customized after it's added.

Add a saved content block to an email

Once your block is saved and ready to use, return to the email designer and open the content blocks panel. You can search for the block by name or use its tags to help find it. Then, drag and drop the content block into your email. You now have a reusable copy of the section that can be used in the current email or future messages.

Create section, column, and element content blocks

You aren't limited to saving complete sections. Individual columns and certain elements can also be saved as content blocks. The main difference is how they're inserted later. A section-level block can be added as a complete section, while column- and element-level blocks are inserted into existing sections of an email. This gives you flexibility to decide how much of your design you want to make reusable.

Create content blocks from scratch

You can also create a content block without starting from an existing email. In the left navigation, go to Assets and open the content blocks view. Select New to open the drag-and-drop designer. The experience is similar to designing an email, including tools for personalization, dynamic content, and conditional content. You can also configure the Protected setting and publish the finished block by selecting Ready to Send. If you're not finished, simply save the block as a draft and return to it later.

Build content blocks with multiple sections

Creating a content block directly from the content blocks area has an additional advantage: you can build a block containing multiple sections. When saving something from an existing email, you're limited to the section or element you've selected. In the dedicated content block designer, you can combine multiple sections into a single reusable block. That makes direct creation useful when you need a larger reusable portion of an email without creating an entire email template.

Reuse custom HTML without rebuilding it

Content blocks can also save time when your emails contain custom HTML or specialized styling. You might use a custom code element or modify the existing HTML of a section to produce a specific design. Instead of recreating those changes every time, save the finished content as a block and reuse it in future emails. This can be particularly useful for complex sections that would otherwise require repetitive manual HTML changes.

Modify an existing content block

To edit a content block, return to the content blocks view and open the block you want to change. Select Edit to return it to a draft state. While editing, you can also change whether the content block is protected. There's one important limitation to remember: changing the original content block does not automatically update emails that already use that block. The content block's settings can show which emails and templates currently use it. If you've made an important change, use that information to identify the existing content that may also need to be updated.

Build emails faster while keeping your brand consistent

Content blocks give you reusable building pieces that sit between designing every email from scratch and relying on a complete email template. By creating a library of useful headers, footers, layouts, signatures, conditional sections, custom HTML, and other reusable components, you can mix and match those pieces to build new emails faster while maintaining the general look and feel of your brand.