How to use merge tags and custom fields.

Use contact data and merge tags to create personalised emails. By adding custom fields and utilizing merge tags, you can tailor your newsletters on Minutemailer, enhancing engagement and conversions.

The default merge tags you can use are:

%full-name% - a contacts full name which is a combination of first and last name.
%first-name% - a contacts first name.
%last-name% - a contacts last name.
%contact-email% - the email address of the contact.
%sent-date% - the date the email is sent.
%phone% - the phone number of the contact.
%address% - the address of the contact.
%postal-code% - the postal or Zip code of the contact.
%city% - the city of the contact.
%country% - the country of the contact.
%referral-link% - a link for signing up to Minutemailer that gives you and the person signing up extra credits to use on Minutemailer.

If you want to you can also add custom fields to your contacts to use other kinds of merge tags. Just follow these steps.

Step 1: Adding custom fields

Adding custom fields under settings

Go to your Settings.
Navigate to the Fields page.
Click on New field.
Name your field (e.g., Favourite color or Pet name), pick a field type (Text, Number or Date) and save.

Adding custom fields when importing your contacts

While importing contacts you get to pick what columns to import. If your import file has columns not matching existing fields, you can create custom fields on the fly.

Step 2: Using merge tags in emails

When creating your email, insert merge tags where you want personalized content either using the Insert menu or writing the merge tag as a text.
Use the format %field-name% where "field-name" corresponds to your field name with dashes replacing spaces. You can also find your tags on the field settings page.
Example: To personalize with a first name, use Hello %first-name%,.

Best practices

Preview Emails: Always send a test email to yourself. Check if the merge tags correctly populate the fields.
Fallback Values: Use fallbacks for empty fields in your contact data. Or if that's not possible try to use the tags in a way that makes it OK if some recipients recieve an empty tag.

Use cases

Personalised Greetings: Use %first-name% to greet recipients by their first name, making emails feel more personal.
Personalised codes or discounts: For shopping or memberships, use custom fields like %discount-code% or %discount% to give more personal discounts.
Feedback after purchase: Send a personalised email asking for feedback, using %product-name% to mention what they bought.

Tips

Keep your contacts updated. The more up-to-date your custom fields, the more personalised and effective your emails will be.

Regularly review and clean your contact list to maintain high email engagement rates.

Also read our guide to creating better emails.