RSS campaigns: automatically email new content from a feed

An RSS campaign sends an email automatically whenever new content is published to an RSS feed you choose. You set it up once, and Tarvent watches the feed on a schedule and sends when there is something new to share. This is ideal for blog posts, podcast episodes, news, and product updates.

What we’ll cover

What is an RSS campaign
How RSS campaigns work
Set up an RSS campaign
How Tarvent decides there is new content
Your first send
Find, stop, and resume your RSS campaign
Where your sent RSS emails appear
Troubleshooting
Best practices

1 What is an RSS campaign

A regular campaign is built and sent by hand. An RSS campaign is different: you connect it to an RSS or Atom feed, choose how often Tarvent should check that feed, and Tarvent sends an email for you whenever qualifying content appears. There is no need to build a new campaign each time you publish.

2 How RSS campaigns work

Once your RSS campaign is running, the cycle is simple:

On the schedule you set, Tarvent checks your feed.
Tarvent compares the feed against what it has already sent for this campaign.
If it finds content that qualifies (based on your Feed send trigger), it sends the campaign to your selected recipients.
If nothing qualifies, nothing is sent, and Tarvent checks again at the next scheduled time.

Your email content is built from the feed each time it sends, so it always reflects the latest items. Your schedule controls when a send can happen, and the checks above control whether one happens.

3 Set up an RSS campaign

In the RSS Settings panel, these are the options you will set:

RSS Feed URL: The address of your RSS or Atom feed, for example https://www.tarvent.com/blog/rss.xml. It must be publicly reachable, and each item should have a unique identifier (a guid) or at least a link, so Tarvent can tell items apart. A green check appears when the feed is valid.
Feed send trigger: Controls what causes a send:
- Only new: send when a new item appears in the feed.
- Updated only: send when an item you already sent has changed.
- New or updated: send for either.
Send schedule: Set the Frequency (Monthly, Weekly, Daily, or First day of the month) and the Time (shown under At approximately) for when Tarvent checks the feed and sends. This sets the fastest cadence at which the campaign can send, so match it to how often you publish.
If no post changes are found, then: Decide what happens on a scheduled check when there is nothing new or updated:
- Do not send the campaign: nothing goes out. Recommended for most RSS campaigns.
- Send the campaign with the no post changes content specified in the RSS element: the campaign still sends on every scheduled check, using the special no-post-changes content you set in your RSS content block. Use this only if you want a send on every check regardless of feed content.
Recipients and content: You choose recipients and design content just like any other campaign. For help editing a campaign, see Updating a campaign, and for engagement-based targeting see Smart Filters.

Click Save to keep your RSS settings, or Close to discard them.

4 How Tarvent decides there is new content

Tarvent remembers which feed items it has already sent for a campaign. It identifies each item by its unique ID (guid) or its link, not by the item’s published or updated date.

New item: an item whose ID or link Tarvent has not sent before.
Updated item: an item Tarvent already sent whose content has changed. Tarvent looks at the item’s title and link to detect a change.

Your Feed send trigger setting controls which of these actually causes a send.

Because Tarvent tracks item identity and content rather than the feed’s dates, simply regenerating or re-publishing a feed (which often changes the dates on existing items) will not trigger a send if the items themselves have not changed.

One thing to note: an edit to only the body text of an item, where the title and link stay the same, is not counted as an update.

5 Your first send

The first time an RSS campaign runs, it sends an email with the content currently in your feed. After that, Tarvent only sends when it detects new or changed items based on your Feed send trigger. If you would prefer the current feed contents not to go out immediately, keep this in mind before you activate the campaign.

6 Find, stop, and resume your RSS campaign

A running RSS campaign is easy to find on the Campaigns page:

It appears in the RSS campaigns panel on the right, showing its status and when it started.
In the campaign list, it is marked with an RSS icon next to its name, and its status shows as Running.

Click the campaign (in the panel or the list) to open it. Then, at the top right of the campaign editor:

Stop: Click Stop to halt the campaign. Tarvent stops checking your feed, so no further emails are sent. This is a full stop, not a pause.
Start: To resume later, open the campaign again and click Start. It is the same button as Stop, relabeled based on the campaign’s current run status. Tarvent then resumes checking your feed on the schedule and sends when it finds new or changed content.

7 Where your sent RSS emails appear

Each time your RSS campaign sends, Tarvent creates a dated copy of the campaign for that individual send. This gives you a record of exactly what went out and when, each with its own reporting. The original RSS campaign remains as the parent that keeps watching your feed.

8 Troubleshooting

My campaign sent even though I did not publish anything new.

Something in your feed changed. The most common cause is your site or feed being regenerated or edited, for example during site maintenance, which can change an item’s title or link, or add and replace items. Tarvent only sends when an item is genuinely new or its title or link changed, but if your feed reports those changes, a send will happen. Check whether items were re-published, re-titled, or had their links changed.
Check If no post changes are found, then. If it is set to Send the campaign with the no post changes content, the campaign sends on every scheduled check. Choose Do not send the campaign if you only want sends when there is new content.

My campaign did not send even though I published something.

Tarvent checks on your schedule, so a send will not happen until the next scheduled check.
Confirm the new item is actually in the feed. Some sites cache or delay their feed.
Each item needs a unique ID (guid) or link. Items without either cannot be tracked reliably.
Review your Feed send trigger. If it is set to Updated only, a brand-new item will not qualify; if it is Only new, a change to an existing item will not qualify.
If you edited only the body of an existing item, with the same title and link, that is not counted as a change.

I edited an older post and it was resent.

If the post’s title or link changed and your Feed send trigger includes updated items, that is expected behavior.

9 Best practices

Match your Frequency to how often you publish. A daily blog suits a daily check, a weekly roundup suits a weekly check.
Target engaged recipients using smart filters or segments rather than your entire audience.
Make sure your feed gives each item a stable, unique guid so tracking stays reliable.
Test with a small audience before sending to everyone.
Keep If no post changes are found, then set to Do not send the campaign unless you truly want a send on every check.
If you are doing site maintenance that regenerates your feed, consider using Stop on the RSS campaign so unchanged items do not trigger unexpected sends, then click Start when your site work is done.