How do I personalize my messages?

Personalization variables are small snippets of code that allow you to include information specific to individual subscribers in your messages. In this article, we will walk through the steps to add a personalization to your message.

Step By Step Instructions

1. First, click the element that you would like to edit and position your cursor where you would like to add the personalization.
   
   
   
   
2. Then, click the "Personalize" drop-down menu from the main toolbar. This may be located within the 3 dot menu on the far right side of the main toolbar.
   
   
   
   
3. There are three options in the drop-down menu: "Subscriber's Info," "Subscriber's Location," and "Your Snippets." The "Subscriber's Info" option includes the subscriber's name, email address, and any custom field information specific to the subscriber. "Subscriber's Location" includes geographic information. "Your Snippets" are your global text snippets, which you can create in your list settings.
   
   
   
   
4. If you would like to personalize the message with the subscriber's name, click "Subscriber's Info."
   
   
   
   
5. Then, select "First Name."
   
   

And that's it! The personalization will appear in your message. When the message sends, it will populate with each subscriber's first name.

Tips and tricks for better personalization

Since you may not have captured the names of every one of your subscribers, you need to be careful how you use name personalization in your messages.

Always make sure that your message makes sense even if there is no name to insert. Be especially careful with commas and other punctuation.

For instance if you type a greeting line as:

Hello {!firstname_fix},

Then a subscriber whose name you don't have would get a message that started out:

Hello ,

Looks strange, doesn't it? To eliminate the odd appearance of the comma, simply remove it:

Hello {!firstname_fix}

This way John Doe's e-mail will read:

Hello John

A subscriber whose name you don't have will get an e-mail that starts:

Hello

Much better.

There are also other variations to keep the comma using a slightly longer syntax.

Are there any other ways to personalize a message?

In addition to variables like {!firstname_fix}, you can add dynamic content to your messages. The personalization codes under the "Personalize" tab are static, meaning each variable will only pull in one piece of subscriber data.

With dynamic content, you can tailor your messages further by displaying specific content if certain conditions are met. In the example above, we showed that you can greet your subscribers using the {!firstname_fix} personalization, but if the subscriber didn't submit their first name, then that code won't pull in any information. Instead of using that personalization, you can add dynamic content to pull in another greeting for subscribers who didn't submit their names, like "Hello friend."

Our articles below provide an overview of dynamic content, the variables that you can use, and how to use dynamic content to personalize your greetings.

• What is Dynamic Email Content?
• What variables can I use to create dynamic email content?
• How can I personalize email greetings with dynamic email content?