Personalise a message with placeholders

Placeholders let you insert contact-specific data directly into your message content. When the email is sent, each placeholder is replaced with the actual value from that contact's record, so #firstname#  becomes "Sophie" for one contact and "Marc" for another. You can use placeholders in subject lines, preheaders, and anywhere in the body of your message across all three editors.

Prerequisites

• The contact field you want to personalise on must be populated for the contacts you're sending to. An empty field produces an empty placeholder.
• Set up your test profile in Settings so the preview shows realistic data rather than empty placeholders.
• Know the exact placeholder name for any custom fields, find these in Settings > Manage custom fields.

Available placeholders

Default field placeholders

• #firstname# , contact's first name.
• #name#,  contact's last name.
• #email# , contact's email address.
• #language# , contact's language code.

System placeholders

• #unsubscribe# , unsubscribe link.
• #update# , profile update link.
• #show_in_browser# , browser view link.
• #opt-in# , opt-in confirmation link (used in opt-in campaigns).

Email Builder

1. Click a text, heading, list or button element to activate it.
2. Place your cursor where you want the placeholder.
3. Click the Insert personalization dropdown in the text toolbar.
4. Select the field you want to insert.

Wizard Template

1. Add or edit an article
2. In the content section, click the placeholder icon (person outline) in the text toolbar.
3. Select your field.

You can also type the placeholder directly into any section of a Wizard template to personalise it.

HTML Editor

1. Click where you want to place the placeholder.
2. Click the placeholder icon in the toolbar, or type the placeholder directly if you know its exact name.

Fallback values

If a contact doesn't have a value for the field you're personalising, the placeholder becomes empty. A subject line that reads "Hi #firstname#, your update is ready" becomes "Hi , your update is ready" for contacts without a first name stored. To avoid this:

• Only send personalised messages to segments where you know the field is populated.
• Use dynamic content with if-structures to show different content when the field is empty.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Not checking for empty field fallbacks before sending. The broken result, "Hi , here is your update", reaches every contact with an empty first name field. Always test with an incomplete profile.
• Using the wrong placeholder name for custom fields. Custom field placeholders are generated from the field name in your account settings. A typo or a slightly different name won't be replaced, it will appear literally in the email.
• Personalising on a field that's only partially populated. If only 60% of your contacts have a location field filled in, 40% receive a broken or empty subject line. Check field completeness before using it for personalisation.

Next steps

• See "Set up Dynamic Content with if-structures" for conditional content that handles empty fields gracefully.
• See "The added value of personalising your messages" for a strategic overview of personalisation levels.
• Find all custom field placeholder names in Settings > Manage custom fields.