Personalize email campaigns with custom values
Custom values — also called merge fields — insert each recipient's own data from their contact record into an email campaign, so one message shows every member the right name, organization, and membership details without you editing the email for each person.
What custom values are
A custom value is a placeholder such as {{first_name}} that fills with the matching data from each recipient's contact record when the email sends. Each recipient receives a personalized version of the same email, so you write the message once.
Custom values work in the email copy, the subject line, the email description, the From name, the From address, and color inputs such as Background Color and Button Color.
Insert a custom value into a campaign
Open the campaign in the Email Builder, then insert custom values from the inline editor of any text element.
Open the campaign in the Email Builder from Marketing → Emails → Email Campaigns, or create one with Create Campaign. For the full builder workflow, see How to use the Email Builder.
Select the text element where the value should appear, such as a greeting, and open its inline editor.
Choose Custom values from the advanced editing options.
Insert the value you want, such as first name. The merge field appears in the text as a placeholder like
{{first_name}}.
Values entered in color inputs render on the canvas immediately, so you can see them without opening Preview.
Common custom values
Custom values fall into categories such as Contact, Account, and Campaign. These are common examples:
Category | Value | Merge field |
|---|---|---|
Contact | Full name |
|
Contact | First name |
|
Contact |
| |
Contact | Full address |
|
Account | Name |
|
Account |
| |
Campaign | Event date/time |
|
Verify personalization before sending
Use the Email Builder's Preview control to confirm that custom values render with the right data before you send.
Click Preview, next to Save, to render the email with custom values filled in, and confirm that contact information, membership details, and other personalized content appear correctly. Follow Preview custom fields in the Email Builder for the full walkthrough.
A test email is not a reliable check for personalization: it can leave custom values blank — for example, {contact.email} may appear blank. To see exactly what recipients will get, use Preview instead, or send the live email to yourself as the only recipient, as described in Send a test email.
When the preview looks right, send or schedule the campaign. For content that should appear or change based on a contact's data rather than just fill in, see Personalize campaigns with conditional elements.