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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The information you collect through your Mailchimp signup form is saved in an audience field and tied to a unique label, called a merge tag. Use merge tags to insert personalized or dynamic content into your marketing emails or text messages.
In this article, you'll learn about merge tags and ways you can use them to customize your marketing content.
If you're new to Mailchimp, take a few moments to review the terminology we use to discuss audiences and merge tags.
Here are some things to know before you begin this process.
Your Mailchimp audience contains audience fields that refer to your contact's information. Each audience field corresponds to a unique merge tag, which looks like a snippet of text wrapped in special characters: *|EXAMPLE|*. When you insert a merge tag into your content, we'll replace the tag with the content stored in the corresponding audience field.
For example, you can use the *|EMAIL|* merge tag to display each subscribed contact's email address where the merge tag was placed.
Some merge tags use URLs to link to other content, such as text or images. When you link an image in your content with a merge tag, you'll use the hyperlink tool on the editor toolbar to add the merge tag in the linked URL. When your subscribed contacts click the linked image they'll be taken to the URL the merge tag refers to, such as an update profile page.
Merge tags can be used in any regular or automated email, text messages, and in the final "welcome" email in the form builder. Each time you send content that uses merge tags, we'll pull the most recent data to replace the merge tag.
Mailchimp offers two types of merge tags to help you include audience and contact content: system merge tags and audience merge tags.
Use our cheat sheet as a quick reference for available Mailchimp merge tags: All the Merge Tags Cheat Sheet.
Merge tags are one way to insert dynamic content into your emails. Enter merge tags into your emails, or choose merge tags from the Merge Tags drop-down menu. You can also customize merge tags and set default values.
When you enter a merge tag directly into your content, be sure to surround the label with the asterisk (*) and pipe (|) characters. If there's a typo in the merge tag, your subscribed contacts will see the mistyped text instead of their personalized content. You'll find the pipe key above the enter/return key on most U.S. keyboards.
To avoid typos and syntax errors, insert a merge tag in a content block from the merge tag menu. Place your cursor where you want the merge tag to appear, and click the Merge Tags menu on the editor toolbar. Choose the merge tag you need, and that's it!
Default audience merge tags look something like this: *|MERGE1|*. You can edit and customize these merge tags in your audience settings to give them a more descriptive name, such as *|BIRTHDAY|* or *|CITY|*. Be careful when you rename your audience merge tags, because our system uses certain reserved field names that can't be reused elsewhere.
Manage Audience and Signup Form Fields
A merge tag works correctly only when there is data in the field it's associated with. For your most commonly used audience merge tags, be sure to input default values that will display if the contact profile doesn't have any data in a certain field.
For example, you could set the default value for the first name merge tag to "Friend." Then, when you use "Hello *|FNAME|*," subscribed contacts whose first names are not in your audience will see "Hello Friend."
If you don't set a default value and the subscribed contact doesn't have the data in their profile, they'll see a blank space where the contact-specific content was supposed to appear.
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You should always preview and test your merge tags before your marketing content is sent. Here are some things to know about testing merge tags in Mailchimp.
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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.
Mailchimp stores your contact data in audience fields. Learn about field types, how to view this data, and how to add and delete fields.
Learn how to set default merge values for your audience. A default merge value will act as a replacement to fill in for missing field information.
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