Set targeting rules

With Movable Ink, engage customers with intelligent content that's targeted to their environment or a particular attribute the moment the creative is rendered. Individualize the campaign experience by displaying context-specific intelligent or static content based on a customer’s:

  • Weather

  • Location

  • Device

  • Time

  • Language

  • Website Behavior (requires Stories)

  • Anything else using query parameters

Automatically segment consumers

If a set of rules for a target is met, then the corresponding creative displays. This lets you set a variety of content in one template but target specific content to each consumer. There’s no need to manually segment your audience list based on different criteria. Movable Ink’s rules targeting automates this work and tailors the creative experience for every consumer. For ideas on ways to use targeting, refer to Contextual targeting rules examples.

Combine rules to create a hyper-targeted creative experience. In the example image below, location targeting is used to display a city-specific background image to the customer, along with the current temperature and weather forecast.

Order is important

The set of rules for each target is checked individually, starting with the first target, until a match is found. Once a match is found, the corresponding image displays; if no match is found, the default content displays. This method is sometimes referred to as the "waterfall model" where rules are checked in cascading steps down an incremental waterfall.

Considerations and solutions for targeting in Gmail and Yahoo are outlined in this article in the "Considerations for Gmail and Yahoo" section.

Each rule takes one value

If you have multiple values for one rule, add each value as a new rule. In the example below, using the Query param rule, the targeted content displays if the parameter matches the value of red, blue or yellow. Rather than adding the color values to one field, add each as a new rule repeating the query parameter each time.

Considerations for Gmail and Yahoo

Gmail app

The Gmail app strips the user-agent when loading images, preventing Movable Ink from being able to detect the recipient's device. This only impacts users opening within the Gmail app, and does not impact @gmail.com addresses where the emails are opened in other environments such as the iPhone Mail app.

Based on our analytics and reporting, we've determined that this affects only a small portion of recipients (between 2.5 % to 5%).

Geotargeted content

Some email clients, including Gmail's and Yahoo's webmail clients, cache images on proxy servers, preventing Movable Ink from accurately geolocating recipients by IP address at the moment of open. As a result, these email clients geolocate all recipients in the same location. For example, Gmail locates all recipients in Mountain View, California, while Yahoo locates all recipients in Sunnyvale, California. 

Image caching affects geotargeted content only when messages are opened within these specific clients. This means that gmail.com or yahoo.com addresses can still receive geotargeted content if messages are opened outside of Gmail or Yahoo clients (for example, messages are opened in a native mail app on a phone).

To prevent recipients from seeing inaccurate content as a result of being incorrectly geolocated, it's recommended that you set up content in Movable Ink specifically for these email clients as well as default content for any recipients that may go undetected. For more information about how to target recipients using Gmail and Yahoo.

The Gmail mobile app geolocates all recipients via proxy server, meaning Movable Ink serves default content within the app. However, the correct geotargeted content displays if Gmail messages are loaded in the native iOS Mail app.

Linking to default content in Gmail

Because Gmail delivers images via proxy server, users see the default content but click through to the targeted URL. This happens because Movable Ink cannot geolocate Gmail users and delivers default content to those recipients. However, the clickthrough URL is not proxied by Gmail, so when Gmail users click on the default content, they are sent to the geotargeted URL instead of the default URL.


Gmail's image proxy doesn't impact all Gmail users, only those who open messages in the Gmail web browser or the Gmail mail app. We estimate this covers about 2.5-5% of users.

In summary, Gmail users see default content but click through to the geotargeted URL.

Considerations for Apple Mail

Apple’s iOS15 release prevents Movable Ink from using IP level data to customize content. Users are encouraged to add the device targeting rule to segment customers enrolled in Apple Mail’s enhanced privacy protection.

This rule, “Apple Privacy,” creates specific fallback experiences for emails received via the Apple Mail inbox on devices with iOS 15. The targeting rule cannot differentiate users based on whether they have enrolled in Mail Privacy Protection.

IP level targeting rules still work for all customers on iOS14 and earlier as well as those who use other mail applications (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook).

If a user only applies a targeting rule to Apple Privacy, they need to include an OR targeting rule: user-agent-contains iPhone OS 15_0. This combination, which is illustrated in the following graphic, is necessary to associate the clickthrough link with the targeted block. 

When a consumer follows the clickthrough link for a piece of content that targets Apple Mail, they navigate from the Apple Mail app to their default browser on their iPhone. Movable Ink then loads the content based on their browser settings, which breaks the linking relationship the user set at the target level. Consumers will see Apple Mail targeted content but they will be brought to the clickthrough link set on the block level or on a different target.

FAQs

Is it possible to target specific operating systems?

Yes, if the operating system is identifiable using the user agent. To do so, when setting rules in Movable Ink, create a rule based on device and select user-agent contains as the targeting criterion. Then enter the user agent details in the text box to the right. For example, this user agent is of an iPhone running iOS 6: :

Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_0 like Mac OS X

To target all iPhones using iOS 6, enter iPhone OS 6 in the text box.

A Google search such as, "What is the iOS 6 user agent string?", can help you identify user agent strings for the operating system you're targeting.


How do I launch a mobile app when targeting by device?

To launch a mobile app from a link, a protocol handler (or custom URL scheme) needs to be registered with the device’s app store (iTunes, Google Play, etc). For example, the protocol handler for Facebook is fb://.

Your engineering team may have already done what is necessary when they first created and registered your app with the appropriate app store. If you haven't registered a Protocol Handler for your app yet, push out an app upgrade to your user base. Then, you can use that Protocol Handler to deep link directly into your app. 


What size should my image be if I'm promoting an app download?

When promoting an app download, suggested image dimensions for various devices include:

  • Image width: When using a fixed-width template, the image size matches the width of the creative. In many cases, this width is 600 pixels. On an iPhone, the creative automatically formats so the largest image is the width of the screen.

  • Image height: For iPhone or Android devices, the image height can take up the entire screen, if you choose. An iPhone is 960 pixels high and an Android is typically 800 pixels high (varies by device). If you want the customer to see the top of your original HTML email, the image should be sized to be less than the height of the device. For an iPad, Android Tablet or Kindle Fire, the suggested image sizing should be equal to or less than the hero image of your creative.