Campaigns
By Maildesk Team ·
Personalize Emails with Merge Tags
Use merge tags to greet subscribers by name and pull custom field data into your subject lines and email bodies.
“Hi Sarah” outperforms “Hi there” every time. Merge tags let you drop subscriber data into your emails — each recipient sees their own values.
The available merge tags
| Merge tag | What it inserts |
|---|---|
{{firstName}} | The subscriber’s first name |
{{lastName}} | The subscriber’s last name |
{{email}} | Their email address |
{{phoneNumber}} | Their phone number |
{{birthday}} | Their birthday |
{{customFields.<key>}} | Any custom field, e.g. {{customFields.company}} |
Where you can use them
In the subject line — the subject field in campaigns, templates, and sequence emails has a merge-tag picker, so you can insert tags without memorizing them:
{{firstName}}, your August update is here
In the email body — insert merge tags anywhere in the editor:
Hi {{firstName}}, thanks for being with us since day one.
Custom fields
Beyond the built-in fields, any custom field on your subscribers is available as {{customFields.<key>}}. Custom fields are created during CSV import — when mapping columns, choose + Create new custom field and give it a label.
So if you imported a company column, you can write:
How's everything at {{customFields.company}}?
Custom fields also power automation triggers (“when custom field changes”) and exit conditions — see Set up your first automation.
Avoid the classic pitfalls
- Missing data renders blank. If a subscriber has no first name,
Hi {{firstName}},becomesHi ,. Either make sure the field is populated for your audience (collect first name on your signup form), or write sentences that survive a blank —Hi {{firstName}}with no comma degrades more gracefully. - Typos render literally.
{{fristName}}isn’t a tag, so your subscriber sees{{fristName}}in the email. Use the picker instead of typing tags by hand. - Always send a test. Click Send Test Email before sending any personalized campaign and confirm the tags rendered with real values.
← Back to guides