All the Merge Tags Cheat Sheet
Merge tags let you insert dynamic content in your campaigns. Get a list containing each merge tag and how to use it.
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If you’ve switched to our new email builder, some steps in this article may not apply. To learn how to use the new builder, check out Design an Email with the New Builder.
Our Forward to a Friend tool allows your subscribed contacts to forward your campaign to their friends, and we track these forwards in your campaign reports. It's a good idea to include a Forward to a Friend link in all your campaigns, especially if your contacts are likely to share your content via email.
In this article, you'll learn more about the Forward to a Friend tool, how to customize your form and email, and how to add the Forward to a Friend link in your campaigns.
When you create your campaign, you'll add the *|FORWARD|* merge tag to your content. This merge tag automatically populates with a link when the campaign is sent.
After a subscribed contact clicks the Forward to a Friend link in your campaign, they are taken to a form to type in their friend's details and a message. Then, the friend receives an email that includes a link to view the campaign in their browser.
Contacts can send to only one friend at a time. After they forward the email to one friend, there is a message that allows them to send to another friend.
When a contact clicks Send Email on the forward form, it counts as a forward on your campaign report. After a campaign has been forwarded using Forward to a Friend, we'll display Forwarded opens on the report, too.
Including the Forward to a Friend link in your campaigns prevents your contacts from being unsubscribed by people they forward to. This is because the Forward to a Friend link does not forward the campaign your original contact received.
By contrast, if a contact forwards a campaign using the forward button in their email client instead of the Forward to a Friend link in your campaign, the new recipient gets the contact's campaign rather than a link to the campaign. The contact's version shows the original contact's data and links that are specific to them, and the new recipient could accidentally unsubscribe the contact from your marketing.
An additional benefit of the Forward to a Friend tool is that your campaign report will show how often your campaign was forwarded and how often those forwarded emails were opened. If a contact uses their email client's forward button to share your campaign, the forward is not counted in the campaign report, and any opens will be tied to the original contact. This can result in a single contact showing a high number of opens.
The Forward to a Friend tool consists of the form your contact fills out and the email the contact's friend receives.
To customize the Forward to a Friend form and email, follow these steps.
Design changes are saved automatically. Mailchimp's translation feature is also available for your forms.
After your form and email have been customized, there are four ways to include the Forward to a Friend link in your campaign.
Add the following code where you want your forward link to appear.
<a href="*|FORWARD|*">Forward this email to a friend</a>
Click the Source < > icon to return to the visual editor to review the design.
If you've custom-coded a template or campaign, you can also add a Forward to a Friend link to your own HTML. Copy and paste the following code wherever you'd like the link to appear.
<a href="*|FORWARD|*">Forward this email to a friend</a>
When editing a Plain-Text Campaign, type the merge tag in as regular text.
Forward this email to a friend: *|FORWARD|*
We'll populate the link automatically once your campaign sends.
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Merge tags let you insert dynamic content in your campaigns. Get a list containing each merge tag and how to use it.
Learn how to customize forms, welcome emails, and other response emails with our Form Builder.