If you’re tired of manually tweaking decks or PDFs for every prospect, and your sales or marketing team is drowning in one-off requests, this is for you. Automating content personalization isn’t magic, but it is possible—and Relayto can help. This guide shows you how to set up real automation, what actually pays off, and where to avoid wasting your time.
Let’s get your team off the content hamster wheel.
Why Automate Personalization Anyway?
Personalized content works—people pay more attention when it speaks to them. But doing it by hand for every lead? That’s a recipe for burnout. Automation promises scalability, but only if you build it right. Relayto’s platform is built for interactive content experiences, but the automation tools aren’t always obvious or plug-and-play.
If you want to skip to the “how do I set it up?” part, you’re in the right place.
Step 1: Get Your Content Ready for Personalization
Before you automate anything, your content needs to be built for it. You can’t personalize a static PDF (well, you can, but it’s hacky and not worth your time).
What works:
- Use Relayto to turn presentations, PDFs, or whitepapers into interactive web experiences.
- Break content into reusable building blocks: sections, pages, or objects that make sense to swap or tweak for different audiences.
- Identify “personalization points”—places where you’ll want to swap in names, company logos, industry stats, or custom messaging.
What doesn't:
- One giant, static document. If you’re just uploading a finished PDF and hoping for magic, it won’t happen.
- Expecting AI or “dynamic content” to fill in all the blanks for you. It’s not that smart—yet.
Pro tip:
Start with your most-used sales deck or case study. Build one “master” version. Mark the spots (literally add notes or placeholders) where personalization should happen.
Step 2: Map Out Your Personalization Variables
Next, figure out what you actually want to personalize.
Common variables:
- Prospect’s name
- Company name/logo
- Industry or segment
- Use case or pain point
- Relevant case studies or testimonials
- Sales rep’s contact info
How to set this up in Relayto:
- Use placeholders in your content (e.g., “Hi {{FirstName}},” or “Helping {{CompanyName}} achieve...”).
- Make a list (spreadsheet, CRM, whatever works) of these variables for each prospect or segment.
- Don’t overcomplicate. Start with 2-3 variables you know are relevant to closing deals.
What to skip:
- Hyper-granular personalization (“Hi Bob, I see you like golf and have a dog named Max...”). It’s time-consuming and often feels creepy or forced.
Step 3: Choose Your Automation Method
Relayto offers a few ways to automate, but not every option is a fit for every team.
Option A: Manual Personalization with Templates
- Set up a master interactive doc in Relayto.
- Use the “Duplicate” feature to create a copy for each new prospect.
- Swap out placeholders manually, either by editing text or swapping images.
Good for:
- Low volume, high-value deals.
- Teams just getting started.
What’s annoying:
- Still pretty manual. If you have more than a dozen prospects a week, you’ll get bored fast.
Option B: Automated Personalization via Integrations
Relayto can connect with CRMs (like Salesforce or HubSpot) or marketing automation platforms using Zapier or custom API integrations.
How it works:
- Set up your master doc in Relayto with placeholders.
- Build a workflow (in Zapier or your tool of choice) that:
- Pulls prospect data from your CRM.
- Triggers creation of a personalized doc in Relayto by replacing placeholders with real data.
- Shares the unique link with the prospect (via email, CRM, or chat).
What you'll need:
- Access to Relayto’s API or Zapier integration (might require a paid plan).
- Someone on your team who’s comfortable with basic automation tools.
- Permission to connect your CRM and Relayto accounts.
What’s great:
- Truly hands-off once set up. New prospects get custom content automatically.
Where it breaks down:
- If your data is messy (missing names, wrong logos), you’ll get embarrassing mistakes. Garbage in, garbage out.
- Complex layouts or custom graphics might not swap smoothly.
Pro tip:
Test with dummy data before sending anything real. The first time, something will break. Better it happens to “Test User” than your biggest deal.
Option C: Conditional Content and Branching
Relayto supports conditional visibility—show different sections based on variables like industry or persona.
How to use it:
- Build all possible content sections into one document.
- Set rules: “Show Section A if Industry = Healthcare; show Section B if Industry = Finance.”
- When generating the personalized version, select the variables and Relayto displays only the relevant sections.
Best for:
- Segment-based personalization (think: industry, region, company size).
- Teams running campaigns to multiple audiences at once.
Pitfalls:
- Can get messy fast if you have too many variables or segments. Keep it simple at first.
Step 4: Set Up Delivery and Tracking
Sending personalized content is only half the battle. You want to know who’s viewing it, how much they engage, and if it’s actually moving deals forward.
Relayto lets you:
- Generate unique, trackable links for each prospect.
- See analytics on views, clicks, and time spent per section.
- Get notifications when someone opens or shares your content.
How to automate this:
- Build sending personalized links into your CRM workflow.
- Use Relayto’s reporting features to trigger follow-up actions (e.g., sales gets pinged when a prospect views the pricing page).
What’s not worth it:
- Obsessing over every tiny metric (“Did they click on the third bullet point?”). Focus on high-level engagement: Did they open it? Did they spend time? Did they share it internally?
Step 5: Iterate and Improve
Automation isn’t set-and-forget. The first version will be clunky. That’s fine.
How to make it better:
- Review analytics: Which sections do people actually look at? Where do they drop off?
- Ask your sales team or prospects for feedback: Is the personalization meaningful or just cosmetic?
- Update your templates and rules as you learn what lands.
Don’t chase perfection:
- “Good enough” beats “never sent.” Ship it, then refine.
What to Ignore (For Now)
There’s a lot of hype around AI-generated content and “hyper-personalization.” Most of it’s not ready for prime time. Here’s what you can skip until your basic automation is running smoothly:
- AI writing full sections for you. It usually sounds generic or off-brand.
- Overly complex workflows with dozens of variables. Start basic, get fancy later if you must.
- Integrating every platform under the sun. Stick to your main CRM plus Relayto until you have a real need.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Ship Often
Automating content personalization in Relayto is about making life easier, not showing off every bell and whistle. Start with your main sales asset, pick the 2-3 most meaningful ways to personalize, and get the basics working. Once you see what actually helps close deals, you can always add more.
Stay focused, don’t overthink it, and remember: the goal is to stop the endless copy-paste and actually get useful content in front of prospects.
Now go build something that works.