What Is Content Builder in Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC)?
Content Builder is SFMC’s cross‑channel content management and design workspace for creating, organizing, and reusing email, mobile, and web assets. It supports drag‑and‑drop blocks, reusable partials, approvals, and advanced personalization with AMPscript and dynamic content.
Quick Answer
Content Builder centralizes your SFMC assets—images, documents, blocks, templates—and provides a visual editor with reusable components. Marketers assemble modules; developers extend with AMPscript and Handlebars/dynamic content. Assets are versioned and permissioned, and can be shared across business units to keep brand control while speeding production.
Why Teams Use Content Builder
Step‑by‑Step: Build an Email with Content Builder
Follow this sequence to create, personalize, and reuse content safely across business units.
Plan → Create → Assemble → Personalize → Test → Approve → Publish
- Plan modules & data: Identify the blocks (hero, product grid, footer) and the fields you’ll use (FirstName, Segment, Offer).
- Create assets: Upload images/files; add metadata (alt text, descriptions, expiry dates); organize into folders.
- Assemble the message: Start from a template in Content Builder; drag blocks; lock brand‑critical regions.
- Personalize: Add Dynamic Content rules or AMPscript (e.g., `%%[ IF @segment == "VIP" THEN ]%% ... %%[ ENDIF ]%%`).
- Test: Use subscriber preview/test send; run Content Detective; validate links and images.
- Approve: Route for review; capture comments and version snapshots; apply naming standards.
- Publish & reuse: Save reusable blocks/partials; share to other business units; document usage.
Content Builder Patterns & KPIs
| Pattern | Use When | Build With | Owner | Primary KPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reusable Blocks Library | You need brand consistency across many messages | Locked header/footer, prebuilt modules | Marketing Ops/Brand | Production time, error rate |
| Dynamic Content Rules | Different copy/images per segment | Rule‑based content variants in Content Builder | Marketing Ops | Click‑through rate, relevancy score |
| AMPscript Personalization | You need conditional logic or external data lookups | AMPscript within blocks/HTML | Dev/Marketing Ops | Render success, conversions |
| Shared Assets Across BUs | Multi‑brand or multi‑region deployment | Shared folders, permissions | Admin/Marketing Ops | Reuse rate, governance compliance |
| Compliance & Accessibility | Regulated content or strict brand standards | Locked legal copy, alt text, color contrast checks, approvals | Brand/Compliance | Approval cycle time, audit pass |
Snapshot: Modular Design → Faster Campaigns
A B2B SaaS team built a 20‑block library in Content Builder and locked brand areas. Build time per email dropped by 45%, QA defects fell, and localization scaled with fewer revisions.
Combine Content Builder modules with The Loop™ and journey testing to ship on‑brand, personalized messages faster.
Content Builder in SFMC: FAQs
Ship On‑Brand SFMC Content, Faster
We’ll help you design a modular library, set permissions, and wire approvals so your team moves quickly without sacrificing quality.
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