Create your Board in Content Studio
Learn how to curate your brand content and set up a Board in Content Studio.
This article explains how to create and manage a Board in Content Studio. Content Studio is the central hub for branded marketing content on Zalando, helping you create engaging stories for your customers.
Requirements and specifications
Before you begin creating your Board, ensure you have the following ready:
A hero image sized 2229 x 2145 pixels in JPEG format with a maximum size of 500 KB.
Between 40 and 100 active SKUs (article variant IDs) from a single brand.
Access to the Marketing module in zDirect.
Step-by-step guide: How to create a Board
Step 1: Navigate to Content Studio
Log into zDirect, hover over Marketing in the navigation menu and select Content Studio.
Step 2: Set basic configurations
Enter your Board name, target groups, brand and target countries. Board visibility is automatically set to the Home feed.
Step 3: Add copy and localisations
Add your Board title, description and localised copy for your target markets.
Step 4: Upload your hero image
Upload your hero image according to the required specifications.
Entrypoint
Header visual within the Board
Important
The hero image is used as a header visual within the Board and as the entry point image for the campaign. Please refer to our creative guidelines for Sponsored Boards in the Downloads section to review asset best practices.
Step 5: Upload your content
Paste your list of SKUs (article variant IDs) directly into the field (separated by commas) or upload a CSV file. Toggle between edit and preview modes to review how your Board looks.
Step 6: Rearrange your content order
By default, content order is personalised based on customer interests and behaviour. The first 25 articles will automatically appear in the entry point product carousel.
Step 7: Publish or edit your Board
Select Publish to make your Board live. You can select Edit at any time to amend configurations, or Unpublish to take the Board offline (it can always be published again at a later stage).
Step 8: Create your campaign
Once your Board is live, you can promote it by creating a Sponsored Board campaign in Ad Manager.
FAQs
What is a Sponsored Board and where does it appear?
A Sponsored Board is a brand-owned, curated ad format appearing exclusively in the Zalando app feed to drive customer engagement.
What is the difference between a Board and a campaign?
A Board is always-on organic content created in Content Studio, whereas a campaign is the paid promotion of that Board configured in Ad Manager with a set budget and duration.
Can I include content from multiple brands in my Board?
No. Currently, Boards are a monobranded format. It’s only possible to insert content and SKUs (article variant IDs) from one brand per board. However, we’re working on enabling multi-brand boards in the future.
What is content moderation and how long does it take?
Content moderation systematically checks submitted images and product data to ensure compliance with Zalando’s brand content guidelines. The process is automated and usually immediate, but it can take up to two business days in some cases.
What happens if an article on my Board goes out of stock?
Out of stock articles are automatically removed from your live Board. You can also monitor low-stock articles on the Board composition page and replace them proactively.
Can I update content while a campaign is live?
Yes. Content can be updated while a campaign is live. The live campaign will continue to display the previously approved version until your updates pass moderation.
What happens if my updated Board content fails moderation?
Your live campaign continues running the previously approved version. You’ll receive a notification in Content Studio explaining the rejection reason so you can make corrections and resubmit.
Need support?
If you encounter issues while setting up your Board, please submit a request via the support form using the topic zDirect and request type Marketing. You can also contact your Partner Consultant or email zms_customerjourneycompass@zalando.de.
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