How to Send Automated Blog Updates with RSS Campaigns

Keep families engaged by automatically sharing your latest blog posts, news updates, and announcements through email. RSS campaigns in Enrollio let you pull content directly from your blog or website and send it to families without manual copying and pasting.

How RSS Campaigns Work

An RSS campaign connects to your blog's RSS feed and automatically pulls new posts published since your last scheduled send. You set it up once, schedule it to run weekly or monthly, and Enrollio handles the rest.

For example, if you publish weekly tips about early childhood development on your blog, you can schedule an RSS campaign to go out every Friday with that week's new content.

Setting Up Your RSS Campaign

Step 1: Find Your RSS Feed URL

Most blogs and websites have an RSS feed. Here's how to find yours:

  • Look for an RSS icon in your site's footer or sidebar
  • Try adding /feed, /rss, or /rss.xml to the end of your website URL
  • Check your site's source code (right-click → View Page Source) and search for "rss" or "xml"
  • Use a browser extension or online tool like Feedbucket to detect feeds automatically

[SCREENSHOT: Example of RSS feed URL in browser, showing common formats like yourdomain.com/feed]

Step 2: Create Your Email Template

Go to Marketing → Email Builder and create a new template or choose an existing one.

In the email builder, you'll use two special elements:

  • RSS Header: Displays your blog's title, description, and other feed-level information
  • RSS Item: Shows individual blog posts with titles, content, images, and links

[SCREENSHOT: Email builder interface showing RSS Header and RSS Item blocks in the elements panel]

Step 3: Add RSS Elements to Your Template

Drag the RSS Header element to your template. This pulls information about your blog itself.

Then drag the RSS Item element below it. This is where individual blog posts will appear.

[SCREENSHOT: Template with RSS Header at top and RSS Item block below]

Step 4: Customize What Information Appears

Inside your RSS Item block, you can use these custom values to display different parts of each blog post:

What You Want to Show Custom Value to Use
Blog post title {{rss_item.title}}
Post summary or excerpt {{rss_item.content}}
Full post content {{{rss_item.content_full}}}
Link to read more {{rss_item.url}}
Publication date {{rss_item.date}}
Author name {{rss_item.author}}
Featured image {{rss_img src=rss_item.imageUrl}}

Example Setup:

If you want to show just the title and a short excerpt with a "Read More" link:

  1. Add a heading with {{rss_item.title}}
  2. Add a text block with {{rss_item.content}}
  3. Add a button linked to {{rss_item.url}}

[SCREENSHOT: Example RSS item block showing title, excerpt, and Read More button with custom values labeled]

Pro Tip: Use triple braces {{{ instead of double {{ when you want HTML formatting from your blog to display correctly. For example, {{{rss_item.content}}} will preserve bold text, links, and formatting from your original post.

Step 5: Schedule Your RSS Campaign

Click Send or Schedule and select RSS Campaign.

Enter your RSS feed URL in the provided field.

Set your schedule:

  • Choose how often to send (weekly, monthly, etc.)
  • Pick the day and time
  • Set the maximum number of posts to include per email (we recommend 3-5)

[SCREENSHOT: RSS Campaign schedule settings showing feed URL field, frequency selector, and max items option]

Step 6: Review and Activate

Preview your email to make sure everything looks right. Enrollio will pull the most recent posts from your feed for the preview.

Click Schedule Campaign to activate it.

Understanding RSS Header Information

The RSS Header element pulls information about your blog or website as a whole. You can use these custom values:

Information Custom Value
Blog/website title {{rss_feed.title}}
Blog description {{rss_feed.description}}
Website link {{rss_feed.url}}
Last updated date {{rss_feed.date}}

How Content Gets Selected

Here's how Enrollio determines what posts to include:

First Send: When you first schedule an RSS campaign on March 10th to send on March 15th, it will include all posts published between March 10th and March 15th.

Recurring Sends: Each subsequent send includes only new posts published since the last campaign was sent.

No New Content: If no new posts have been published since the last send, Enrollio won't send an email. You can check the audit log to see when sends were skipped due to no new content.

Pro Tip: Set a maximum number of posts to include (like 5) to keep emails concise. Enrollio will always show the most recent posts first.

Common Use Cases for Childcare Centers

  • Weekly Newsletter: Share parenting tips, developmental milestones, and activity ideas from your blog
  • Monthly Updates: Send center news, upcoming events, and policy changes
  • Seasonal Content: Automatically distribute holiday activities, summer camp info, or back-to-school guides
  • Staff Spotlights: Feature teacher profiles and classroom highlights

Troubleshooting

My Blog Content Shows HTML Tags

If you see HTML code like <p> or <strong> in your email instead of formatted text, use triple braces instead of double braces.

Change {{rss_item.content}} to {{{rss_item.content}}}

This tells Enrollio to render the HTML formatting instead of displaying it as plain text.

No Emails Are Being Sent

Check these common issues:

  • Verify your RSS feed URL is correct by pasting it into a browser
  • Make sure new posts have been published since the last send
  • Check the audit log for any error messages
  • Confirm your campaign is scheduled and active

Images Aren't Displaying

To show images from your RSS feed, use this format:

{{rss_img alt="Blog post image" src=rss_item.imageUrl height="200" width="200"}}

Adjust the height and width values to fit your template design.

Best Practices

  • Keep it focused: Limit to 3-5 posts per email so families actually read them
  • Schedule strategically: Send when families are most likely to read—Sunday evenings or weekday mornings work well
  • Include clear CTAs: Always add a "Read More" button or link to drive traffic back to your website
  • Preview before scheduling: Always preview with real RSS data to catch formatting issues
  • Monitor performance: Check open rates and adjust send times or content selection as needed

RSS campaigns save you hours of manual work while keeping families connected to your center's latest updates and resources.