Dynamic Emails with customisation by property fields

[HStocker]

Hello, 

Does anyone know if there are any plans to implement additional customisations for Smart Rules, as it stands you can only include dynamic content for a contact based on the subscription type or the contact lifecycle type. I would like to be able to build dynamic content which changes based on a specific property field. 

[karstenkoehler]

@HStocker could you maybe explain again what exactly you're trying to achieve? Step by step, what does a contact do, which email should be sent? What exactly does the smart rule content personalize by?

With smart content, you could do the following, regardless of whether the email is used in a workflow or a regular email:

• Create a list based on contact property
• Create smart rules within the email and filter for list membership

[HStocker]

Hi Karsten, 

What I'm trying to do is send emails to specific contacts that are association with a project (our custom object). 
Projects has it's wn pipeline and the project is created once a deal is closed won. So once the project is created we send the contact an email. 
The email that is sent ideally has dynamic content based on if a specific project property field is X or Y. If it is X we send a certain smart content, if Y we send another smart content. 
The email will be triggered through a workflow when a contacts with a project associated enters the first stage of the project pipeline. 
The contacts for the smart rules will vary daily so I cannot use a static list. As the list will be created if a project has criteria X, and a new project could be added to this list daily so it needs to be an active list. 

Does that explain why this workaround wouldn't work? 

[karstenkoehler]

@HStocker thank you for explaining, the fact that we're talking about a custom object based workflow, not a contact-based workflow, makes a big difference here.

Correct, in this case it's easiest to create multiple versions of the email and use branches in your custom object based workflow.

Additionally, you could request better options for this in the HubSpot Ideas section of the community, reviewed by the product team: https://community.hubspot.com/t5/HubSpot-Ideas/idb-p/HubSpot_Ideas

[HStocker]

Thanks Karsten, and I am correct in my understanding that the workaround would only be for static lists, not active lists? 

[karstenkoehler]

@HStocker that approach wouldn't work unless you can guarantee that a contact is associated with just one custom object record – a list would filter for "contact is associated to at least one custom object where property meets filter criteria". An older record from a year ago, for example, might still make the contact meet the criteria and email would be personalized incorrectly. There is a potential mismatch between the custom object record that triggered enrollment and the one that sorts a contact into a list.

[HStocker]

@karstenkoehler 
Hi Karsten,

Thank you for that, but that isn't answering the question. I can copy over the custom object filters to the contact level that wouldn't be an issued.However  I need an active list and I cannot see the active lists as an option under smart filters. So it would need to be a static list correct? 

[karstenkoehler]

@HStocker both active and static lists should work – are you sure you're trying to find a contact-based list?

[HStocker]

Hi Karsten, 

Maybe I misunderstood, so I can filter in lists for these topics; however, one email would apply to multiple lists, and these lists would be active, not static. 
Not to mention, these emails would also be part of a workflow. 
As far as I can see, you cannot use active lists. 

[karstenkoehler]

Hi @HStocker,

HubSpot typically doesn't announce plans like these in advance. You could request this in the HubSpot Ideas section however: https://community.hubspot.com/t5/HubSpot-Ideas/idb-p/HubSpot_Ideas

As far as workarounds go, if you create smart rules based on list membership, you can design your list to filter for any custom properties. This is the typical way to do this.

Best regards!

[HStocker]

Hi Karsten, 

Thanks so much for your input. However, lists don't allow me to add the option for dynamic content where for example, if the property field 'Room' is "1", send X, and if "Anything else", send Y. 
The alternative is an email for each option however, I want to avoid having to create an email for each X or Y option as that would be a lot of emails for me. 

Does that make sense? 

[karstenkoehler]

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@HStocker wrote:

However, lists don't allow me to add the option for dynamic content where for example, if the property field 'Room' is "1", send X, and if "Anything else", send Y.

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Can you explain why that's not possible? Why isn't filtering for those values within the list not an option for you?