Merge tags are placeholders you put in email subject lines and bodies that get replaced with each recipient's actual data at send time. They're what makes "Hi {{first_name}}," become "Hi Sarah," in Sarah's inbox.
Syntax
Merge tags use double curly braces around the field name: {{first_name}}. They're case-sensitive and must match a known tag exactly — typos render as literal text in the sent email.
Contact Tags
{{first_name}}— recipient's first name{{last_name}}— recipient's last name{{full_name}}— first + last combined (empty if both are missing){{email}}— recipient's email address
Agency / Sender Tags
{{company_name}}— your agency name (from Settings){{mailing_address}}— your agency mailing address (from Settings){{unsubscribe_url}}— personalized unsubscribe link for this recipient (required by law to appear in every marketing email — Marketing injects it into your default footer automatically, but if you build a custom footer, include this tag)
Where Merge Tags Work
Subject line — yes
Preview text — yes
Email body (drag-and-drop editor) — yes, any text block
Canva-imported HTML — yes, type tags into Canva text frames before exporting
Landing page form thank-you messages — yes
Image alt text — yes
Button labels — yes
Fallback for Missing Data
If a recipient is missing a value (e.g., no first_name on file), the tag renders as an empty string — not a literal {{first_name}}. Plan your copy accordingly:
Bad:
Hi {{first_name}},→ "Hi ," for contacts with no first nameBetter:
Hi {{first_name}}, hope you're well!→ still reads OK as "Hi , hope you're well!" but uglyBest:
Hi there!(no tag) OR build a segment that excludes contacts without a first_name from this send
Custom Field Merge Tags
Every custom field you define on Contacts becomes available as a merge tag too. If you have a custom field called favorite_destination, you can use {{favorite_destination}} in any email.
Custom-field tags follow the same fallback rule — missing values render as empty strings.