How to convert your RSS feed to a newsletter
About This Feature
The RSS-to-Newsletter feature allows you to automatically (and magically) convert any RSS XML Feed into newsletter content and send it out at a predetermined interval . This means you create content once and can distribute it via multiple channels automatically. Once you've correctly created an RSS-feed newsletter, our system will intelligently deploy your newsletter daily, weekly, or monthly as directed by you. The RSS feed-to-newsletter is simple to set up, deploy and track. New content from your RSS feed will be merged into the template you built and sent to your selected subscriber groups.
How it Works
When you set up a newsletter with the RSS-feed, MNB will automatically grab content from the source of your RSS URL, plug it into your template, and send it out at the interval you specified (daily, weekly, etc). The first time your newsletter sends, MNB will grab content from as far back as your preset interval. If you set the interval at one month, we'll grab all content from the last month and plug it into your newsletter then send it. For subsequent sends, we retrieve content in the same fashion, but we also tag items that have already been used to avoid duplication. If there is no new content, MNB will not send any newsletters. MNB obtains content and sends all RSS-feed newsletters at 12 noon EST on the scheduled date(s). Any posts added to your RSS XML feed prior to noon will be included in the newsletter. Posts made after noon will be added to the next scheduled send. After the sending begins, you can view reports from sent newsletters and check the sending status in your newsletter drafts folder, just like other newsletters.
[+] Step 1. Create your RSS-feed newsletter template via Genie
You can opt to create a new template with a clean, simple layout; or you can copy and edit an existing newsletter. Once you have selected your existing template or created a newsletter and identified both the layout and design you want, follow these steps:
- On the "Newsletter Details" page, provide a name and subject for your RSS-feed newsletter
- Click on "Enable RSS" under the "RSS Enabled Newsletter" section
- Once you have clicked this, the "RSS Feed URL" section will appear. Input your RSS feed URL here"
- Click "Next" and continue through the editing/creating process as normal
The next step will be giving your newsletter a layout and design that looks good with the RSS feed capabilities.
[+] Step 2. Designing your layout and theme
The most important thing to understand about how our RSS feed newsletter works is this: you are creating a structure by using snippets that represent how you want your RSS feed content to generally look in your newsletter. MNB implements content using your layout. You only need to set up the framework once, no matter how many articles you may have on your blog. MNB will pull the new content and use the format from the template/framework. Adding more than one RSS Article will create duplicate content.
Here's how to set up your RSS-feed format:
- By default, any RSS-enabled newsletter will have the required RSS-Article type
- If you do not have the RSS-Article present, you must Add it from the Genie article options
- To add or change RSS snippets to the article, use the "Predefined Content" feature on your toolbar to insert the correct snippets - these snippets must be inside the RSS-Article or they won't function
- You can add other articles or images around the RSS-Article - please realize that all content will be inserted and formatted to match where the existing RSS-Article is
- When you are satisfied that everything is formatted properly, click on "Save & Review"
- Click Finished
[+] Step 3. Schedule & test the RSS-feed newsletter
To schedule the RSS feed newsletter, click on “Newsletters” in the main menu and locate your newsletter in the “Drafts” section. Click the "Send" link for that newsletter.If you are currently editing a newsletter, hit the "Back" button until you reach the "Newsletter Details" page.
On the newsletter scheduling page, type your desired schedule interval (in English, please). Try phrases like every day, every Monday, every Tuesday and Thursday, monthly on the 1st and 15th, etc. Once you stop typing and the system translates what you typed, a mini-schedule showing the days you selected will be displayed so you can validate the input. It's pretty swanky. Now, simply select the group or groups that will receive the newsletter and click "Schedule".
Similar to our Auto-Series feature, the RSS feed newsletter will automatically send at intervals you pre-determine. If you select daily, then the newsletter will retrieve one day’s content from your website. If you select weekly, then the newsletter will acquire the previous week’s content, and so forth.
NOTE: a scheduled RSS feed newsletter will remain in your drafts and create a copy each time it is sent. The copy is what is sent; please do not delete the original template as it will cancel your RSS feed newsletter schedule.
MNB generates and sends all RSS-feed newsletters at 12 noon EST, on the scheduled date(s). It will only use content that has been added to your website/blog before that time.
You can see a copy of newsletters that have been sent in your sent folder, and see a copy of the original, editable template in the drafts folder of the "Newsletters" page. View your reports as normal to view the opens and clicks for each send.
Testing the feed
The built-in preview function will not generate content from your RSS feed, so you won't see what you produced by using the preview function. The best way to test your content is to create a subscriber group with a few test email addresses and schedule your RSS feed newsletter to send to those addresses.
One other thing you want to test is the validity of the RSS XML itself. We recommend using the W3C site. As long as there are no major flaws in the structure of the XML, the test and subsequent live versions will work fine.
[+] Cancelling the RSS-feed newsletter
To cancel an RSS-feed newsletter that is currently active, go to your Newsletter Drafts and select "Send" next to the newsletter you are using. In the scheduling section, click "Clear," located at the bottom of the screen. You'll receive confirmation that you've cleared the upcoming scheduled sends for that newsletter. You can reschedule it at any time.
[+] Making changes to RSS feed newsletters
You can edit or reschedule your RSS Feed newsletter anytime. The template will always remain in "drafts" under "newsletters," so you can open it and create the changes you want. When you edit the newsletter and change the schedule, MNB will reset the content tags and will treat all of your content as new material.
Please note: this feature only works with newsletters created in the Genie template editor. You can see a copy of that newsletter in your sent section on the newsletters page or check out the opens and clicks from the reports page.
Best Uses
If you have a blog and wish to capture more than one channel of communications (marketing, sales, etc) then you also likely only want to input your content once and distribute it magically. MNB's RSS to Newsletter feature achieves just that. When you pair this utility with our sign-up form on your blog, you get to focus on content generation and let our systems do the rest.