Using “static” zone code is currently the preferred method of implementing ad zones and involves copying and editing code directly into the HTML editor of your newsletter templates. It is often easier to turn over the addition and editing of code over to developers. Make sure that you have your zones created in Broadstreet and ready to connect to your newsletters. See the documentation here on how to create zones in Broadstreet.
The first step for static zone code is to get the HTML code that needs to be added to your newsletters. This information may need to be edited and modified based on how you have set up your zones on the newsletter.
If you would like to create a rotation like effect in the newsletter ads, you can adjust the code to create a “shuffle” effect for ads in your zone. There may also be some customization needed due to the way that email servers cache image information to avoid advertisements showing to customers on repeat. You can even attach keywords to your newsletter zones to include them in targeted campaigns with some adjustment to your code.
The steps below will walk you through accessing the static zone code as well as some best practices, managing multiple zones in a newsletter and common adjustments for email client caching.
Locate Static Zone Code
Navigate to the Zones option in the left side menu.
This opens the Zones page in Broadstreet. Here you can see a list of all existing zones in the program. Locate the zone that you want in your newsletter and click on the zone name.
The page for the individual zone opens. In the top right corner click Get Zone Code.
This opens the Zone Code page. Along the top tabs, select Static.
The static code can easily be copied below the Advanced User warning. Once you have the code click Okay got it to close the window. It is recommended to turn over the process over to a developer once you have the zone code. You can view a quick video here that demonstrates how to add this code to a MailChimp newsletter template.
The sections below discuss some of the modifications that might be needed for your static code when added to your newsletter.
Placing a Single Zone Multiple Times
If you created individual zones for every ad placement in your newsletter, you do not need the modifications to the static code suggested in this section. If you are using a single zone multiple times in your newsletter, you will want to look over the following information on adjusting the zone code from Broadstreet.
When a single zone is being placed multiple times in a newsletter template, the last number in the URLs of the zone code will need to be incremented for each placement in the zone. Think of it as numbering the duplicate zone that you are placing in multiple positions so the software knows which area to target.
For example, a zone code will typically look something like this:
<a href=”https://ad.broadstreetads.com/zone_static/91805/click/0“><img src=”https://ad.broadstreetads.com/zone_static/91805/image/0” style=”max-width: 100%;” /></a>
Notice the 0 at the end of the two URLs.
If you are using the zone multiple times, you would keep this code for the first use of the zone. For the second use of the zone, you would adjust the code as follows when placing it in your template:
<a href=”https://ad.broadstreetads.com/zone_static/91805/click/1“><img src=”https://ad.broadstreetads.com/zone_static/91805/image/1” style=”max-width: 100%;” /></a>
Notice the 1 now at the end of the two URLs. Following this pattern, the third placement of the same zone in a newsletter would have a 2 at the end of the URLs, and the pattern continues for as many zones as you have.
Shuffling Ads
Due to email client limitations, the rotation display settings will not work for newsletters. There is a way to create a similar effect where ads will shuffle through zones by adjusting the static code for a zone when placing it in an email template.
If you would like the ads to shuffle daily, you can add ‘ds=true’ to each URL to in the code:
<a href=”https://ad.broadstreetads.com/zone_static/91805/click/0?ds=true“><img src=”https://ad.broadstreetads.com/zone_static/91805/image/0?ds=true” style=”max-width: 100%;” /></a>
To achieve a scenario where ads shuffle, but differently per user, you can add a ‘seed’ parameter to the URL. This ‘seed’ should be a string that is unique on a per-user, per-day basis. The “cache busting” macro for MailChimp, described in the next section, would serve as a sufficient seed.
Cache Image Problem Solutions
Some email clients (such as Gmail) cache images on their server to allow for faster load time of emails. This means that a previously scheduled newsletter ad may continue to load on later days because the previously cached image is being loaded instead of the new ad. You can adjust the code in static zone code in order to avoid this problem. The different code needed for some popular email services are below.
Mailchimp
In MailChimp avoiding cached ad problems simply requires the addition of a “macro” to your static zone code. The addition of ?*|CAMPAIGN_UID|**|UNIQID|* at the end of the image URL in your static code will prevent the caching issue. See the example below:
<a href=”https://ad.broadstreetads.com/zone_static/12345/click/0″>
<img src=”https://ad.broadstreetads.com/zone_static/12345/image/0?*|CAMPAIGN_UID|**|UNIQID|*” style=”max-width: 100%;” />
</a>
MyEmma
In MyEmma avoiding cached ad problems can be avoided by adding the macro [% date: weekday %] to the end of the image URL.
<a href=”https://ad.broadstreetads.com/zone_static/12345/click/0″>
<img src=”https://ad.broadstreetads.com/zone_static/12345/image/0?[% date: weekday %]” style=”max-width: 100%;” />
</a>
Second Street
In Second Street avoiding cached ad problems can be avoided by adding the macro {{User.Id}}{{MessageVersionInstance.Id}} to the end of the image URL.
<a href=”https://ad.broadstreetads.com/zone_static/12345/click/0″>
<img src=”https://ad.broadstreetads.com/zone_static/12345/image/0?{{User.Id}}{{MessageVersionInstance.Id}}” style=”max-width: 100%;” />
</a>
Adding Keywords to Static Code
If you have a campaign that is meant to display with certain keywords, you can include a zone in a newsletter by manually adding keywords to the zone’s static code. You can add keywords to a static code zone by using the kw (keywords) or skw (soft keywords) parameters.
Add the parameter to the end of both the link and image URLs followed by the keywords. See the example below:
<a href=”https://ad.broadstreetads.com/zone_static/12345/click/0?ds=true&kw=these,are,keywords&skw=true“>
<img src=”https://ad.broadstreetads.com/zone_static/12345/image/0?ds=true&kw=these,are,keywords&skw=true” style=”max-width: 100%;” />
</a>
For more information on keywords, see the documentation here.