MAIL MERGE

MAIL MERGE 

  WHAT IS MAIL MERGE?

Mail merge is a powerful tool for creating personalized communication in bulk, such as emails, letters, and labels. At its core, mail merge involves combining a template document with a data source like a spreadsheet or database, allowing for personalized content to be generated automatically for each recipient. This technique is used widely for various purposes, including email marketing, invitations, and business communication.

HOW DOES MAIL MERGING WORKS?

The process begins with selecting a data source containing the personalized details to be merged into the template. This data source is usually an Excel spreadsheet, Outlook contact list, or a Word data file. It includes specific information like names, addresses, or dates, organized in a structured format with distinct columns for different data types.

A template is created in a word processing program like Microsoft Word. This document serves as the base for the personalized copies and contains the static text that will appear in every output document.

In the template, placeholders known as merge fields are inserted. These fields are linked to the columns in your data source and indicate where the personalized data (like a recipient's name or address) will be placed in the document.

The data source is connected to the template. This step ensures that the information from the data source will be correctly inserted into the corresponding merge fields in the template.

Before executing the merge, a preview option is usually available to check the alignment and correctness of the data in the template. Any necessary edits can be made either in the template or the data source at this stage.

The final step is to execute the merge, where the software creates individual documents for each record in the data source, inserting the specific data into the template. This results in a set of personalized documents or emails.

Advanced mail merge tools offer features like tracking the success of email campaigns, adding attachments, and ensuring compliance with privacy regulations.

Why would you want to use a mail merge?

Mail merging can save you time and make it much easier to send out many documents at once. For example, let's say you work for a dentist's office and want to send a spring update to wish all of your clients a happy spring and inform them that the office is closed for a week during April. To make these letters more personable, you could include each client's name in the salutation. Manually entering each client's name into a new document would be time-consuming and tedious, but if you use a mail merge, you can automate the customization process.

How to do a mail merge

Follow these five steps to successfully complete your mail merge:

1. Create your data source

Sometimes, like if you have a mailing list, this data source might already be ready to use. However, if you don't have a spreadsheet of data to use in your mail merge, create one that has a section for each piece of information you need to customize. Be sure to format this spreadsheet correctly. It's important for the titles of the columns in the spreadsheet to match the values you're going to input in Word. All of the data you want to use in your Word document needs to be on the first page of the spreadsheet.

2. Write your template

Though you can do this later, the next step is typically to draft your email or letter as a template in a Word document. Once you do this, you'll know where you want to input the different data fields before you start the mail merge. When you're writing, don't worry about the salutation or other fields you plan to import from your spreadsheet because Word helps you put that together.

3. Go to the Mailings tab and start the mail merge

Select "Mailings" at the top of the Word document, and click on the button that reads "Start Mail Merge." At the bottom of the drop-down list, click on "Step-by-Step Mail Merge Wizard." Choose from letters, email messages, envelopes, labels and directories. If you've already written your letter into the current document, choose the option to use your current document. Otherwise, you can start with a template or use a different document.

4. Add the recipients and data fields

Next, you'll either want to type in your list of recipients or import the list from your spreadsheet by clicking "Browse" and selecting the appropriate spreadsheet from your files. Once you import the contacts, you can choose to deselect any you don't need to include. Otherwise, just press OK and move on to the next step. Now you can add items like addresses, greeting lines, electronic postage and more. This is where you add the fields that change with each letter, such as the greeting.

5. Preview the documents and then send or print

Click to progress to the next step, where you can look through each of the letters to check for errors. This is a great chance to do some quick proofreading and editing before finalizing the messages. Once you look through the full document, you can print your documents if they're printable. If they're emails, Word has a built-in feature that allows you to send them directly from the mail merge feature, provided your contact data sheet includes their email addresses.

MAIL MERGE FROM EXCEL TO WORD

HOW TO MAIL MERGE EXCEL TO WORD?