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How do I add merge tags to my email campaign?
How do I add merge tags to my email campaign?

Keep your audience's attention by targeting them directly with merge tags

Kevin Lorenz avatar
Written by Kevin Lorenz
Updated over a week ago

People want to be treated as individuals, which is why personalization is essential to marketing practices. Do you prefer to be addressed by your name? So do your customers!

Emails that are personalized are more likely to be opened and your audience is more likely to interact with them. Sending personalized emails to the right customer at the right time strengthens customer experiences -- which strengthens your business. 😊

Merge tags are used to insert unique user data, linked to a unique value, from your mailing list into emails. For example, you could include your contacts' names in your email by using the *[FirstName]* merge tag in your content. Each time you insert a merge tag into a campaign, that tag will be replaced with user data in the final email.

Merge tags are also known as substitution strings, personalization fields, or personalization tags.

The Contact ID, email address, and subscription date default fields are automatically created with all lists, and cannot be edited or deleted. This information comes from account information or information automatically included in your contact list.

Table of Contents:


Add a custom field to your contact list

1. Select Contacts in the top navigation bar:

2. On the Contacts page, select the mailing list you'd like to use:

3. Click on the cog wheel on the right-hand menu.

Cogwheel.png

4. You will now see the Manage lists and attributes menu:

When someone subscribes to your mailing list, the default fields (Contact ID, email address, and sign-up date) are automatically created and added here. Tailwind uses this information to track subscriber information and it cannot be removed or edited.

5. Create a custom field by clicking the Enter attribute name box and naming your attribute, then select the field type and click Save.

You can select the following field types:

  • Text – Names and other text info (Field name and Content of the field cannot exceed 255 characters, including spaces), phone numbers, etc.

  • Number – identification number, age, etc.

  • Date time – Birthday, anniversary, etc.

Helpful Tip: Custom fields cannot contain punctuation marks, special characters, or spaces.


Use a custom field in a campaign

Now that you've created your custom field, you can use it as personalized content in your campaign! 🎉 It can be included either in the subject line of your email or the content body.

Helpful Tip: You'll need to type personalized fields manually if you'd like to add them to your campaign. Remember to match the tag exactly to the field name.

Here are some examples of how custom fields can be used in a campaign:

"Hi [FirstName] Here is your weekly update!"

would become:

"Hi John, Here is your weekly update!"

You can also use the [email] tag, which will take the recipient’s email address and insert it into the campaign:

"This email was sent to [email], as requested."

would become:

"This email was sent to [email protected], as requested."

You can also use fallback fields if no data is currently available.


Include campaign information

You can automatically include the subject of your email in the body. This text comes from the information you entered when creating your campaign.

You can use the following tags:

  • [SUBJECT] “Hello, This email is regarding [SUBJECT]”


Include sender information

Sender information comes from the details you filled out in your account settings.

You can use the following tags:

  • [SENDER_NAME]

"This email was sent by [SENDER_NAME]"
  • [SENDER_EMAIL]

"For more information, please email [SENDER_EMAIL]"


Include client information

Client information also comes from the details you filled out when you created your account. You can change your account details under the Email Settings tab:

You can use the following tags for client information:

  • [CLIENTS.COMPANY_NAME]

  • [CLIENTS.ADDRESS]

  • [CLIENTS.CITY]

  • [CLIENTS.PROVINCE]

  • [CLIENTS.POSTAL_CODE]

  • [CLIENTS.COUNTRY]

  • [CLIENTS.WEBSITE]

  • [CLIENTS.PHONE]

Note: Your physical address [link article] must appear in all emails sent through an email marketing service provider in order to be legally compliant.

Use these tags as part of your email footer to provide the recipient information about who is emailing them:

"This message has been sent from [CLIENTS.COMPANY_NAME],[CLIENTS.ADDRESS]"

which will read as:

"This message has been sent from My Company, 123 Michigan Avenue, Detroit, MI, USA"


Include list information

This option includes information about a specific mailing list to the campaign. To change this information, access your list settings:

You can use the following tags:

  • [LISTNAME]

"You are receiving this email as you are part of our [LISTNAME] list"


Include actions

Tags for actions allow readers to share your campaign with others, view your email in a browser window, and use several different subscribe and unsubscribe options. You can add action tags in the header or footer of your email.

You can use the following tags:

  • [FORWARD]: Allows a subscriber to forward the campaign to a friend

  • [SUBSCRIBE]: Allows someone to subscribe to your list – useful for forwarded emails 😉

  • [UNSUBSCRIBE]: Allows a subscriber to unsubscribe from your list

  • [GLOBAL_UNSUBSCRIBE]: Allows a subscriber to unsubscribe from all lists in your account

  • [SHOWEMAIL]: Used in an email where you want to allow subscribers to view an HTML version of the email in a browser window. It’s often useful for situations where images might not be displayed, or people might receive a text email by default.


Include date

You can insert a dynamic date into your campaign or subject line using the [DATE] merge field:

  • [DATE|0|format]

Read more here about adding a dynamic date.


Use merge fields as part of a link

Are you using Google Analytics? You can use merge fields as part of a custom Google Analytics link that includes user information. This way you get highly specific tracking results!

This data will show up in your Google Analytics account under “Traffic Sources.”

Have more questions or need help? Contact our Customer Success Team using the question mark icon in your dashboard, or email us at [email protected].

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