Email Personalization

Personalizing your emails is one of the most effective ways to boost engagement. You can add a personal touch in several areas, like your subject lines, the content of your message, and even the type of emails each contact receives. By tailoring these elements to your audience, you create more relevant, meaningful communication that encourages your subscribers to open, read, and interact with your emails.

BEFORE GETTING STARTED

The personalized data will only appear if the information is present in the contact's record. If no data is present, the fallback value will be displayed.

To learn more about contact fields, click here.

Test Emails do not display the personalized data. To test the functionality, we recommend creating a contact list with email addresses that you can use for testing purposes.

Subject Line Personalization

A simple way to add personalization can start with the subject line of your email. Use fields like the first name or custom fields to add a personal touch.

Here's how to use the Subject line personalization.

Open a draft email.
In the email checklist, select the Subject option.
Add your subject line, and click on the Personalize icon.
- Select the Contact Data you'd like to use.
- Add a Fallback; this will only be used if there is no data for the contact.
- Finish your subject line and click Save.

To Test

The test email does not display the Personalization data; instead, we recommend creating a contact list with email addresses that you can use for testing purposes.

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Email Content Personalization

You can tailor the content your recipients see by using the data stored in their contact records. Common personalization options include greeting subscribers by their first name or adding details like their company name, city, or state. You can also use other relevant data points to highlight topics that matter to your audience. The more your message aligns with the recipient’s interests or identity, the more engaging and effective your email can be.

Within the email editor, every text block has the personalize option.

To use contact data in your email, follow the steps below.

Open a draft email and select Edit Design.
In the editor, select a text block to edit or drag in a text block.
Place your cursor where you want the personalized text to appear, and then click "Personalize."
- Select the Contact Data you'd like to use.
- Add a Fallback; this will only be used if there is no data for the contact.

Suggestions

To preview or test the personalized areas, we recommend sending yourself the email as an actual email send, not as a test email.

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Personalizing your contact lists

Personalization is more than just customizing the text inside your email; it’s about understanding your audience and sending each group what matters most to them. When you segment your contacts by factors such as preferences, location, categories, or past behavior, your campaigns become instantly more relevant and engaging.

Benchmark Email simplifies this by offering powerful filtering tools that allow you to segment contacts based on any data stored in their records, ensuring every message reaches its intended audience.

To create lists based on your contacts data, see the steps below.

Hover over Contacts and select Lists.
Select Create Lists.
Define your List Criteria.
- Filter for contacts who match specific criteria.
  - Examples include: Tags, Location, Interests, email activity, and more.
Save the list.

Repeat these steps to create different contact lists.

To learn more about Contact Lists, click here.

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Personalization Examples

Here are some examples of how other marketers personalize their email subject lines.

Contact Fields	Behavior-based	Preference-Based

Hi {{first_name}}, here’s your weekly update	Thanks for downloading {{content_title}}	Your weekly digest: {{topic}}
{{first_name}}, you’re invited!	Still thinking it over, {{first_name}}?	Recommended reads for {{industry}} pros
Special offer for {{city}} customers	We noticed you checked this out…	Because you liked {{product_name}}…
Events this month in {{state}}	Happy anniversary with us, {{first_name}}!	New arrivals in {{favorite_category}}

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my test email show the field name instead of the actual name when I send it to myself?

The Test Email feature does not display contact field data. Instead, we suggest creating a contact list with your test emails and sending an email to yourself. Make sure the contacts in the list have data in the fields you use to personalize your emails.

Why are the fields showing different text than what I assigned?

If you are seeing different text, this could be the Fallback value. The Fallback value appears when there is no data in the selected contact field.