Understand structured emails

Xperience by Kentico includes a built‑in email marketing feature that lets you design, send, and track emails directly within the platform.

You can create marketing emails in Xperience in two primary ways: using structured emails or the Email Builder. Each approach offers you different benefits; depending on what you want to achieve, your level of technical comfort, and the level of control you need over the final look and personalized content. If you’re a little unsure on which approach to email is best for you, you’ve come to the right place.

We’ll walk you through:

What structured and builder-based emails are.
The pros and cons of each approach.
Choosing the right one for your scenario.
A look at how you can combine both methods in advanced email workflows.

By the end, you’ll feel more confident deciding how to create emails that match your needs, whether you’re sending recurring newsletters, running targeted mail blasts, or experimenting with AI-powered content creation.

The example of email template we’re showing uses our Kbank demo website that lets you try out what it’s like working with Xperience by Kentico in a safe, sandbox environment.

If you don’t have your demo site yet, request it through the form at Kentico website and request the Xperience by Kentico – Business Tutorial Kbank demo site. Once you approve the request, we will automatically send you a link to the demo site.

Understand structured data in emails – structure and ease of mind

Structured emails use ready-made content fields that you simply fill out. They can be as simple as a title, image, and a text field to store the email body. Or, depending on their purpose, they can contain many different fields that add data to email sections, such as a subtitle field, a summary field, and a selector for recently published articles. You could also add another section for promoting new services and then another group of fields to provide a link collection for interesting articles.

There’s no drag-and-drop interface or visual design process involved. Instead, developers build the structure and layout in advance, so you don’t need to look out for visual consistency and brand control.

To see simple or more complex structured emails in action, check out the Simple email and Newsletter email templates in the Kbank demo website. These emails are an excellent fit for high-volume, repeatable mailouts where speed and consistency matter more than layout creativity.

Newsletter template in Kbank

How structured emails work

Structured emails are built in such a way as to make them predictable, fast to use, and reliable in layout. Here’s what makes them special:

They’re created from structured content types, and their editing resembles working with content in the Content Hub.
You can edit them only through form fields; no visual design tools are needed.
Developers prepare templates that handle layout and content rendering without editor intervention.
They’re designed with business users in mind for cases when you need to quickly add your content and hit “Send”.

No hassle, all play – you can use the structure provided by the predefined sections, and focus all your creative energies on what you want to tell your audience instead of the how.

Key benefits of structured emails

The main strengths of structured emails are the time they save you, the fact that their look will always display as the developers and graphic designers intended, and the possibility of integrating automation. Let’s break down some of the most helpful benefits.

Fast and focused creation

Structured emails are designed for efficiency. You enter content into the email fields, hit publish, and you’re done.

The template defines the styling and layout, you just enter your content and publish.
Structured emails help when you need to move fast but not sacrifice quality.
Ideal for regularly sent updates, newsletters, or product alerts.

Strict template control

Because developers handle the layout, you never need to worry about branding or formatting errors.

Developers ensure everything stays on brand.
You can’t accidentally break layouts or introduce off-brand elements.
Great for organizations with strong brand governance.

AIRA-powered editing with Xperience AIRA

Xperience by Kentico introduces AIRA, your friendly assistant that helps make structured email creation even faster and more polished. You still provide the raw content, but you can leave the difficult task of putting everything into the right words to AIRA, nice and neat.

Save time and improve the quality of your writing with AI-assisted features: