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Personalization

Mail Merge

Combining a template with data fields to create personalized emails for multiple recipients at once.

Definition

Mail merge is the process of combining an email template with recipient data to generate personalized emails at scale. Originally a word processing feature, mail merge in email marketing means dynamically inserting subscriber data (name, company, purchase history, etc.) into template placeholders to create individualized messages for each recipient from a single template.

Why It Matters

Mail merge enables personalization at scale. Instead of writing individual emails or sending generic messages, you write one template that automatically personalizes for each recipient. This improves relevance and engagement while maintaining efficiency. Modern email marketing is essentially sophisticated mail merge.

How It Works

Your template contains placeholder tags like {{first_name}} or {{company}}. When sending, the email platform replaces each placeholder with the corresponding value from your subscriber data. The recipient sees a personalized message; you managed one template. Modern systems extend this to conditional content and dynamic blocks.

Best Practices

  • 1Use clear, consistent naming for merge fields
  • 2Always set fallback values for empty fields
  • 3Test merged emails with various data scenarios
  • 4Keep data clean for quality personalization
  • 5Start simple and add complexity gradually

Frequently Asked Questions

Depends on your setup. Without a fallback, recipients see blank space or the tag itself. Set fallbacks like {{first_name|there}} which shows 'there' if first_name is empty. Always configure fallbacks for critical merge fields.

Mail merge is a technique within personalization. Basic personalization uses mail merge for simple field insertion. Advanced personalization adds conditional logic, behavioral data, and dynamic content blocks beyond simple merge.