These instructions will help your team set-up LiveTags in your email newsletters. For more insight on troubleshooting and other LiveIntent offerings, you can check out the full publisher onboarding guide here. 

Please note that in order to go live you must place the SafeRTB Tag and at least one LiveTag into your newsletter’s template.

 

Ensure variables for LiveTag parameters are correct

In order for the LiveTag to work properly, the parameters highlighted below should be updated with variables according to your Email Service Provider (ESP). Please note that the Template Max Width parameter is independent of your ESP and should be set for each template.

 

Sample LiveTag

Parameters

li=*{LIST_ID}*

The list ID is used to identify a specific email list or a subset of a list.

NOTE: This is an optional parameter. The value of this parameter will stay constant through all sends.

e=*{EMAIL}*

The ESP populates this variable with the email address of the person opening the email.

p=*{PLACEMENT_ID}*

The ESP populates this variable with a unique ID for each mailing or distribution send.

 

{INSERT TEMPLATE MAX WIDTH HERE AS INTEGER}
{INSERT TEMPLATE MAX MOBILE WIDTH HERE AS INTEGER}

For these parameters, you will need to enter the desktop or mobile max-width of the email template where this LiveTag will appear. This parameter ensures the LiveTag will collapse in desktop and mobile layouts, respectively, when demand is not present.

 

The desktop max width will match the widest piece of content on desktop. We recommend matching this width to the width of the largest article or content image in order for a better flow between the ad creatives and your newsletter content.

 

The max mobile width will match the width of the widest piece of content in mobile, this can also be matched to the width of an article or content image in mobile.

 

Updating LiveTag Parameters

The variables used to update the LiveTag parameters are simple text replacement fields used to personalize email content and coding with user specific information. They can be called different things by different ESPs, like macro, merge tags or tags. For this purpose, we will refer to them as “variables”.

 

Where to update parameters

The chart below explains which parameters you must replace if your ESP is not LiveCertified.

Within Publisher Settings, the “email tag replacement” and “placement tag replacement” fields should be updated for all of your LiveTags. Please note that all emails should be lowercase.

Place SafeRTB tag

What is SafeRTB?

The SafeRTB Tag is comprised of 5 image tags. These tags are responsible for multiple functions, allowing you to easily integrate with data, DSP partners, and participate in comScore measurements.

Where do I place it?

Place the SafeRTB tag at the top of the newsletter template to avoid Gmail clipping the code snippet. For more information about clipping, please read our Knowledge Base article “LiveTag Weight & How to Prevent Email Clipping.” The SafeRTB tag only needs to be implemented once per template. The SafeRTB tag does not need to be implemented multiple times if adding more ad slots to the template.

NOTE: If changes are made to the CNAME, ESP, or macros then all LiveTags and the SafeRTB tag will need to be refreshed in the platform and implemented again. The Section IDs for the LiveTag will remain the same, but retagging ensures that there are consistent values amongst all tags included in the newsletter.

What does it look like?

3) Place LiveTag

What is a LiveTag?

An ad slot that is configurable to serve all standard and most custom sizes for display and native creatives, including standard IAB sizes and Marquee Sizes (970×250, 970×550). If there is no demand for an impression, LiveTags will collapse to the template’s max width and a height of 1 pixel – rendering them invisible.

Where do I place a LiveTag?

Place the tag where you want the ad to appear within the newsletter’s template according to your design.

What does the tag look like in my code?

In the below example, there is the LiveTag within a width-constrained table in HTML to hold the header and ad slot.

4) Edit the Media Query

Why do I need to edit the Media Query?

Our native solution sends a flattened image rather than raw HTML. Because of this, our native ads do not dynamically change sizing based on text lengths. Instead, our native ads utilize a media query in order to be responsive and render the appropriate design for desktop and mobile layouts.

Where do I place the Media Query?

The media query should be added to the <head> </head> section of your newsletter HTML. You can easily locate this section by searching for your newsletter’s existing media queries.

What does the media query look like?

Please note that you must insert your template’s mobile responsive width within this media query where requested. We recommend you align the mobile max-width with your other media queries max-width pixels.

Below is an example of what the media query should look like.

 

NOTE: Certain Email Service Providers do not give users access to their newsletter header (such as Sailthru lite, Iterable, Braze, Blueshift, Octopus, and Klaviyo). If your Email Service Provider doesn’t give you access to your newsletter header, please reach out to your LiveIntent team for assistance in implementing the tag. 

 

5) Activate LiveTag 

Send a live send directly to [email protected]. Live send refers to putting the activate alias into an internal audience and sending an email blast to that address rather than a test, forward, or preview send.

Once the test email is sent, please let your Account Manager know and LiveIntent will run a script on each test email.

If the tags were implemented correctly, the ad slots will activate and you will receive an email. If they were not, your Publisher Development Specialist will be alerted and will work with you to fix the issue.

NOTE: All sends should be a direct send from your ESP, not a forward, as this will cause issues with activation.

 

Please make sure that [email protected] is added to the subscriber list for your newsletter. Do NOT add [email protected] to your subscriber list.

Liveseeds is our alias to review all your LiveTags after their initial activation. If there are any issues, the account team will reach out to you to correct them.

NOTE: If you are retagging an ad slot, please make sure that the LiveTag code is updated across all versions of the ad slot (for instance, if you are A/B testing or you have multiple versions of your newsletter in development and live environments). If one version of an ad slot has an older LiveTag code, the creatives will not serve correctly in that ad slot. Please reach out to your Publisher Development Specialist if you have any questions or need any assistance.

Please reach out to your LiveIntent account team if you have any questions.

 

Update For LiveTags Created after 5/9/2018: LiveTags created after 5/9/18 will not serve 300×250 creative sizes in Outlook 2000-2019 (Version 9.0-16.0) email clients on PC as well as the Outlook Office 365 (for Windows 10) desktop application. Please refer to this article for more information on this topic. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your account team.