Creating a web activity that displays content

You can create a web activity that displays images, text, or static HTML in an e-Marketing Spot on a store page. For example, you can display an ad for a store promotion, or some information about an upcoming store event.

Before you begin

Ensure that a site administrator has configured your site to support Management Center marketing features.

Ensure that the marketing content that you want to include in the activity is created. The images, text, or static HTML that you want to display in the e-Marketing Spot must be associated with or included in marketing content. If the file size of an associated asset for a piece of content is large, it can affect the loading time of pages that display the content. If the content with a large associated asset displays on high traffic pages, such as your home page, your overall site performance can be affected.

You might also need:
  • Promotions – A promotion is required only if the web activity references a promotion. An example is a web activity that uses the Recommend Promotion action, or the Promotion Checker target.
  • Customer segments – A customer segment is required only if you want to target a specific customer segment in the web activity.

Procedure

  1. Open the Marketing tool.
  2. From the toolbar, click the arrow on the right side of Create New Create New; then select Web Activity.
    The New Activity From Template window opens.
  3. In the right pane, double-click one of the following web activity templates:
    OptionDescription
    Content Recommendation Displays content, such as advertisements, store information, informational images, or links to store pages.
    Promotion Recommendation Displays content that is associated with a promotion and has a predefined click action for a promotion.
    The Activity Builder opens. The top half of the page is the work area. The bottom half of the page is the properties view.
  4. In the properties view, set the following properties for the activity:
    PropertyDescription
    Name Enter a name. This name displays in the Activities - List page, and identifies the activity.
    Description Enter a description. This description displays in the Activities - List page, and it explains what the activity is intended to do. This description helps business users understand the activity at a glance without having to open the Activity Builder.
    Priority Optionally, assign the activity a priority with this list. The priority can be assigned with a number between zero and 1000. The higher the number, the higher the priority. When multiple activities are scheduled for the same e-Marketing Spot, they are evaluated in priority sequence.
    Start date Specify a start date and time for the activity. If you do not specify a start date, the activity is available on the storefront as soon as it is activated.
    End date Specify an end date and time for the activity. If you do not specify an end date, the activity runs indefinitely.
    Repeatable Specify whether the activity is repeatable. This means that a customer who views the e-Marketing Spot multiple times can see the content each time. This behavior is generally desirable for Web activities.
    Campaign If you want to organize this activity under a campaign, specify the campaign.
  5. Select the e-Marketing Spot in which to display the content:
    1. In the work area, click the E-Marketing Spot element.
      The properties view for the e-Marketing Spot displays in the lower half of the page.
    2. In the E-Marketing Spots table, specify one or more e-Marketing Spots in which to display the content.
  6. In the work area, click the action element (either Recommend Promotion or Recommend Content) to display its properties.
  7. Complete the instructions in the row of the following table that corresponds to your action element:
    OptionDescription
    Recommend Content In the Content table, specify one or more pieces of marketing content to display.
    Recommend Promotion
    1. In the Promotion table, specify the promotion to associate with the marketing content that this web activity displays.
    2. In the Content table, specify one or more pieces of marketing content to display. The content must have a predefined click action for a promotion.
  8. Optional: Add target elements to your activity.
    Targets define what more criteria a customer must meet to see the information you specified for this e-Marketing Spot.
    1. From the Targets section in the palette, drag a target element onto a flow connector in the work area to the left of the action element that you want to target.
    2. Click the target element to display its properties in the properties view.
    3. Complete the properties for the target element.
  9. Optional: Add branch elements to your activity.
    A branch element splits a single path in the activity into two or more paths. You can then use different target and action elements on each path within the same activity.
    1. From the Branches section in the palette, drag the Branch element onto a flow connector at the point where you want to split a single path into multiple paths.
    2. If you want more than two paths, right-click the Branch element in the work area; then click Add Path.
    3. Click the Branch element in the work area to display its properties in the properties view.
    4. Complete the properties for the Branch element.
      For more information, see Using the branch element in web and dialog activities.
    5. Make your changes to the elements on the paths that extend from the Branch element. These changes can involve adding or changing targets and actions on each path until you get the result you want.
  10. Optional: Add additional branches, targets, and actions to complete your activity. You can right-click on any element to open a context-sensitive menu that has tasks that you can perform. This menu includes an option to Delete unwanted elements.
  11. Click Save Save and then click Close.

Results

The new activity is created in the Inactive state.

What to do next