Personalized email messages in eMessage are based on an HTML document that defines the structure and layout of each message. The base document serves as a configurable template. Template designers can include design and personalization elements in the page that allow email marketers to modify the document by adding personalized content later. Marketers can also define rules that change the content that is presented to each email recipient, according to criteria that you specify in the rule.

Recipient-specific information and metadata are provided by a recipient list that you create in IBM ® Campaign. The template can be created with any HTML editor. Typically, the template is created outside of eMessage and Campaign. Marketers use the eMessage Document Composer to add images, HTML snippets, hyperlinks, and personalization fields to the template to create an email communication.

Email marketers can conduct an email campaign by configuring and running an eMessage mailing. A mailing combines recipient data with an email communication. When marketers run the mailing, eMessage builds individual email messages that are based on the design of the email communication and modified according to the personal data that is provided for each message recipient. Depending on the design of the email communication and the information that is provided about each recipient, email messages that are sent in same mailing can appear as different messages.