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Email Marketing Glossary.

Clear, no-fluff definitions of every email marketing term that matters—from open rates to double opt-in. 

 

Merge Tags

Merge tags are placeholders in an email that automatically pull in subscriber-specific data — like a first name, city, or last product purchased — when the email is sent.

Also known as: merge fields, personalization tokens, dynamic fields

Merge tags are the mechanics behind personalized email. You drop a tag into your content, and at send time it's replaced with each subscriber's actual data — turning one message into thousands of individualized ones.

How do merge tags work?

You insert a tag (for example, a first-name field) into your subject line or body. When the email sends, the platform swaps each tag for the matching value from that subscriber's record.

Examples of merge tags

First name, last name, company, city, last product purchased, or loyalty points. Anything stored on the subscriber's record can typically be merged in.

Merge tags best practices

Always set a fallback (default) value in case data is missing, and test before sending — a broken tag like "Hi " is worse than no personalization at all.

Related terms

Subject Line Call to Action (CTA) Preheader Email Template Personalization Dynamic Content

Related reading from Drip

How to Use Liquid for Email Personalization How to Segment Email Lists with Tags, Custom Fields, and Events

Frequently asked questions

What are merge tags?
Merge tags are placeholders in an email that automatically pull in subscriber-specific data — such as a first name, city, or last purchase — when the email is sent, enabling personalization at scale.
How do merge tags work?
You insert a merge tag into your subject line or email body. At send time, the platform replaces each tag with the corresponding value from that subscriber's record, so every recipient sees their own data.
What are examples of merge tags?
Common merge tags include first name, last name, company, city, last product purchased, and loyalty points. Generally, any field stored on the subscriber's record can be merged into an email.
What happens if merge tag data is missing?
Without a fallback, a missing value can render awkwardly or show raw code. Always set a default fallback value (like 'there' for a missing first name) and test your emails so tags display correctly.
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