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Single Source Template Strategy
A Single Source template allows you to create content once and reuse the content for multiple emails, contexts, and audiences. For example, if you’re sending a campaign to multiple countries that have multiple languages, each language requires a separate email which can total 200 emails or more. The number of emails increases when you segment into commercial and transactional or other customer-based profiles. To reduce unnecessary work, create a single source template that never changes, and create new emails based on the template.
Single Source Template
For each country in your campaign, create a paste HTML template that contains the same HTML layout, CSS, media queries, and other personalization. Add country specific headers and footers to each template, then name and save each basic template. To create emails for new campaigns, duplicate the basic template of the desired country and add campaign specific content.
Business Unit Component Sharing Strategy
To organize your single source templates and components, you can create a business unit for each country and use these sample guidelines and permissions:
- The single Paste HTML Template is stored at the parent business unit level and shared with all child business units.
- Reference blocks with localized headers and footers for each country are stored in the parent business but shared only with specific business units. This allows for easier management and prevents unauthorized users from making changes. For example, a content box with a German header is shared only with your Germany business unit (View and Send folder permission). See the Shared Folder Permissions table.
- All updates to the shared HTML template are replicated in emails that use this template across all business units. When the HTML template is edited, you are notified in the email with an Update Email Now link.
| EMEA | Germany | Italy | Spain | UK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HTML Template | x | x | x | x |
| Header-DE-de | x | |||
| Footer-DE-de | x | |||
| Header-IT-it | x | |||
| Footer-IT-it | x | |||
| Header-ES-es | x | |||
| Footer-ES-es | x | |||
| Header-UK-en | x | |||
| Footer-UK-en | x |
Single Source Template Advantages
- Centralized template management - Allows you to make changes to the shared template, headers, and footers from a single parent business unit.
- Access control - Only admins with access to the parent business unit can make changes to the shared template, footer, and headers.
- Simplicity - Quick and easy to deploy edits like email hacks and branding style changes.
- Cost efficiency - Use less resources in template creation and maintenance.
Single Source Template Disadvantages
- Because each country specific template requires a language declaration in the head tag (for example, lang="en"), you can’t use a Single Source template to serve multiple languages. Alternatively, you can declare language at a lower content level like header, body blocks, or footer.
- For some users, creating emails from an existing email is not as intuitive as creating from a template.
- Users need to pay attention to email properties and ensure that the template is always up to date.
