Use RSS to Email to automatically pull fresh content from any valid RSS feed and send it to your audience using the Email Composer. This is ideal for sharing blog posts, news updates, product announcements, podcast episodes, or anything else that publishes an RSS feed.
Quick Reference (Advanced Users)
- Go to Outbound > RSS to Email.
- Click New to start a campaign.
- Drag the RSS block into your design.
- Paste your feed URL and configure formatting.
- Save & schedule your campaign using Send Now, Day of Week, or Monthly.
RSS to Email Dashboard
Go to Outbound > RSS to Email. The dashboard displays RSS campaigns organized into three tabs:
Draft
Newly designed RSS messages appear here until they are scheduled.
Active
Shows all currently scheduled RSS to Email campaigns. Messages cannot be edited while active.
Completed
Displays RSS messages that have finished sending. These can be copied, edited, or rescheduled.
Create an RSS to Email Campaign
RSS to Email messages must be created from the RSS to Email dashboard. This workflow uses a modified version of the Email Composer.
Start a New RSS Message
- Go to Outbound > RSS to Email.
- Click New and begin designing your message.
Configure the RSS Content Block
- Open the Design tab.
- In the right-hand sidebar, open Content and drag the RSS block into your design.
- Click Manage RSS content and paste your feed URL.
- Choose your formatting options:
- Full content – displays entire entry.
- Summary – displays excerpt.
- Title only – displays linked title.
- Set display options such as:
- Number of items (max 10)
- Publish date
- Author
- Read more link
- Alignment
Preview Your Message
In Preview Mode, you can check how the RSS items will appear within your design.
- Click Publish changes (top right) and close the Composer.
Schedule Your RSS to Email Campaign
- In the Drafts tab, open the menu next to your message and choose Schedule.
- Select Send Now, Day of Week, or Monthly.
- Enter your schedule preferences.
- Click Schedule.
View Message Reports
- Go to Outbound > RSS to Email.
- Open the Completed tab.
- Select Report from the message menu.
You can view the aggregate campaign report or select a specific send date to see item-level performance and content.
FAQs & Troubleshooting
What kind of feeds will work with the RSS to Email feature?
RSS 1.0, 2.0, and Atom. Act-On will accept any feed that validates here: https://validator.w3.org/feed/
What Elements are displayed for each RSS Item?
Act-On's RSS to Email can display the following XML elements for each Item:
| Atom | RSS 2.0 | RSS 1.0 |
| author | author | author |
| content | content | NA |
| summary | description | description |
| title | title | title |
| updated | pubDate | NA |
| link* | link* | link* |
* As a hyperlink for the title and "Read More" (if selected)
RSS Feed Item elements that will not be displayed (not an inclusive list):
| Atom | RSS 2.0 |
| category | category |
| contributor | comments |
| icon | enclosure |
| id | guid |
| generator | source |
| logo | |
| rights | |
| subtitle |
How can I edit my RSS to Email campaign?
Campaigns are locked for editing while they are active. The campaign must be stopped before editing, and then they may be rescheduled.
- Go to Outbound > RSS to Email > Active and mark the campaign as Complete using the drop-down menu.
- Go to the Completed tab, find the campaign message, and from the drop-down menu, choose Edit.
- Make your changes, Save, and close.
- Go back to the same drop-down menu and choose Reschedule.
How do I decide how many RSS items to include and/or how often to send the message?
Consider the cadence at which your feed is typically updated, the type of content, and the audience. Email deliverability is a consideration in addition to the frequency the RSS feed typically updates. Remember, the message will not be sent if there are no new feed items since the last message.
Example #1 - Feed reliably updates multiple times per week, engaged audience
- Schedule: Weekly
- Max number of Items: 10
Example #2 - Feed updates a few times per month or less (Fewer emails out)
- Schedule: Monthly
- Max number of Items: 5
Example #3 - Feed updates a few times per month or less, engaged audience (More emails out)
- Schedule: Weekly
- Max number of Items: 3
What happens if I have more updates than can be displayed in my email?
The outbound message will only include up to the maximum number of new RSS feed items you’ve specified, from the top down. If there are 6 new items and your message only displays 5, then the last item will be skipped. It will not send out in a future message, therefore, it is very important to set your RSS to Email Campaign to send the right number of feed items at the right frequency.
I accidentally missed a blog post, and now it won’t send out. What can I do?
If an RSS feed states there are no unsent items when there is a specific item you need to trigger to send, there are two ways to approach this, depending on what you have control over.
Solution #1: Change the RSS Item Link and move it to the top of the RSS feed.
We review RSS feeds from the top down and log the items by their link/URL. Updating the link and moving it to the top of the feed will bypass our logs and be considered a new post.
| If your blog is WordPress, for example, changing the publication date of a post (eg, to today) will move it to the top of the feed. This may also change the URL if it is in date format (eg https://my.web-domain.com/YYYY/MM/DD/post_name_here/). If your URL is not in date format, simply edit the post URL manually. |
Check the feed to confirm the desired post is at the top of the feed and the link has changed, then resend the email in Act-On.
Solution #2: Stop the RSS Campaign and start a new one.
This is an option if you do not have control over updating the feed. Starting a new campaign will reset Act-On’s RSS Campaign log and trigger the most recent posts to be sent out. Posts that have previously been sent may be resent.
Can I set up RSS to Email to send out whenever my feed is updated?
No, this is not a feature Act-On currently supports.
How can I send an RSS Email manually / on demand?
You can use Send Now to send your RSS Email now, then re-send the same RSS email manually by going to Outbound > RSS to Email > Completed, and clicking “Reschedule” from the drop-down menu for the email you are sending. The message will be sent again with new feed items.
Multiple items were supposed to appear in the feed, but only one or some did?
If you had several items in your feed but only one showed up, there are a couple of instances that prevent some items from appearing:
- Duplicate URLs cannot be used. In the case that you recycle a URL by updating the content, this item will not show in the feed, as we currently do not post a feed with a previously used URL to prevent potentially posting duplicate content.
- Items must be in chronological order. RSS items are processed in the order received, and this is generally based on the published date, from newest to oldest. If an older item is placed in the middle of several new items, anything past this older one will be considered old as well.