When you set a predefined value and use Merge tags to personalize your campaign, if a recipient doesn't have a value in that Merge field, a default value will be added in your campaign. So, if you use "Howdy *|FNAME|*" in your campaign and you don't have the recipient's first name, the default tag can say "Howdy Customer" instead of Howdy "blank", because who really likes blanking on a customer's name?
Note
Dear FNAME just gets your emails started on the wrong foot. Using "Dear" in your greeting will get you 2.7 spam points, which is almost halfway to getting your email blocked. So, forget dear - you can do better. Try some of our favorite openers - like Howdy, Hey there, Hej (that's danish!) or Eeep eep! Whatever you decide to use - just don't use Dear! Want to know more about spam triggers - check out this blog post.
To set your predefined values, follow these steps in your account:
- Go to your Lists Tab.
- Click on the forms link.
- Make sure you're on the build it tab.
- Under the add a field area, choose your field type.
- In the field default merge tag value, add your default preference like "Customer", "Member", "Chimp" or "Dude" if you prefer.
You can do this for any of the fields, or field types, in your list (except for email address).
Note
This will only add the default value to your campaign and will not fill your list data with default data, fields with data will remain blank within the list area.
Check out our Guide to Merge Tags for more info!