Customizing your internal communications with data such as first name, last name, and more is a great way to boost open rates and increase read times. Learn how to personalize your ContactMonkey internal communications.
Personalizing messages for your recipients can help you save time, increase accuracy, and improve the effectiveness of your email communication. ContactMonkey offers the ability to personalize your messages through the use of Merge Fields. Merge Fields can be used to automatically sub in data in bulk such as first name, last name, or other data.
Merge Fields are not yet supported for Google Groups. If you want to use Merge Fields, consider using the other sending options that are compatible.
Getting Started
Merge Fields work across all platforms and are supported for the following sending types:
When getting ready to send your email, Individual Tracking or Anonymous Tracking must be enabled as your tracking option in order to use merge fields. Learn more about your email tracking options here.
Before using Merge Fields, you’ll need to know which version of ContactMonkey you are using- Gmail, Office 365, or Outlook On-Premise.
- Add Merge Fields to subject lines in Outlook
- Add Merge fields to email bodies in the ContactMonkey email builder
Using Merge Fields In Office 365
Customize your email body with Merge Fields while creating it within ContactMonkey. A merge tag button is available inside the Paragraph and Text blocks in our Email Editor, however, the tag will match what is in our Sample CSV. If you have customized your headings to differ from the sample, you will need to edit the tag that is auto-populated (e.g. if your header is First Name instead of FirstName, your merge tag would need an underscore where the space is).
Customize your subject line with Merge Fields while getting ready to send it within Office 365. Learn more about sending emails with Office 365 here.
How you add your contact information can affect your merge field options:
Distribution Lists: The subject line and email body can be personalized using the {{FirstName}}, {{LastName}} and {{DisplayName}} merge fields. These fields can be accessed via the subject line's sidebar and within the editor's Merge Tags option.
CSV: The subject line and email body can be personalized using any heading or date you have in your CSV file. If you have a heading like First Name or Department, you would need to use the {{First_Name}} or {{Department}} merge fields.
💡CSV formatting tip: Keep your CSV headers and merge fields all lower case, with no numbers or special characters. For example, instead of using "Code1", use "codeone".
Contact Lists: If the List Management feature is enabled for you, you can personalize the subject and the email body with any fields you have uploaded with the integration. The field headings would need to be inserted into your merge field like such: {{Heading1}}.
Previewing Merge Fields With Office 365
Previewing your merge fields is a vital step in ensuring your communication is sent correctly to your contacts.
To preview your merge fields, follow these steps:
- Click Count Recipients in the sidebar
- Click the number of recipients as it loads
This will pop up a preview of how each recipient will see the merge fields for their email:
Using Merge Fields In Gmail
Merge fields are added to your subject line while sending through “Compose & Send” within ContactMonkey. They can be added to the body of your email during email creation. Learn more about sending emails with ContactMonkey and Gmail here.
CSV: The subject line and email body can be personalized using any heading or date you have in your CSV file. If you have a heading like First Name or Department, you would need to use the {{First_Name}} or {{Department}} merge fields.
Contact Lists: If you have the List Management feature enabled, you can personalize the subject and the email body with any fields you have uploaded with the integration. The field headings would need to be inserted to your merge field like such: {{Heading1}}.
Using Merge Fields In Outlook On-Premise
Customize your email body with Merge Fields while creating it within the ContactMonkey email builder. Customize your subject line with Merge Fields while getting ready to send it within Outlook. Learn more about sending emails with Outlook On Premise here.
Distribution Lists: The subject line and email body can be personalized using the {{FirstName}}, {{LastName}} and {{DisplayName}} merge fields. These fields can be accessed via the sidebar for the Subject Line and within the Merge Tags option in the Editor.
CSV: The subject line and email body can be personalized using any heading or date you have in your CSV file. If you have a heading like First Name or Department, you would need to use the {{First_Name}} or {{Department}} merge fields.
Previewing Merge Fields In Outlook On-Premise
Previewing your merge fields is a vital step in ensuring your communication is sent correctly to your contacts.
To preview your merge fields, follow these steps:
- Launch Outlook
- Click Preview in the sidebar
This will pop up a preview of how each recipient will see the merge fields for their email.
Now that you know the different ways to use merge fields with the different versions of ContactMonkey, you can create customized and personalized email content with very little effort.
Frequently Asked Questions
You likely have not switched your tracking to Individual or Anonymous from Overall. Merge Fields are only available for Individual or Anonymous tracking.