This section provides conceptual and procedural information about personalization strings in email content. For conceptual and scenario information, see Personalization.
What Is a Personalization String
A personalization string is a tag that lets you insert any of the attributes in your account (such as subscriber name) into your emails. Personalization strings can appear in the subject line of the email or in the email's content boxes. You may have heard personalization strings referred to as merge fields or substitution strings.
In addition to the subscriber attributes (profile and preference attributes) that you can insert into your emails by means of the personalization drop-down list tool, you can insert system data personalization strings. For example, you can label your emails with the campaign ID.
The following table lists the system data personalization strings that you can insert into your email. You can type these fields into the HTML of your email body if you're creating an HTML paste email, or you can type them into the text editor of the Content-Building Wizard when you create or modify the text of a content box.
Note the following:
- All personalization strings are case-insensitive.
- Be sure to include the two sets of double percent symbols (two percent symbols on both sides of the personalization string).
- If you're inserting a personalization string into a line with other data, you want a space before and after the personalization string.
- If you insert a personalization string, and the subscriber attribute isn't populated, the string will appear blank in the email. It's important that you define a default value for every attribute you intend to use with a personalization string. See How to Modify and Attribute.
Data About the Email
| Personalization String | Description |
| %%xtmonth%% | Full name of the month in which the email is sent |
| %%xtmonthnumeric%% | Current month as a number |
| %%xtday%% | Current date of the month when the email was sent (for example, 22) |
| %%xtdayofweek%% | Current day of the week when the email was sent (for example, Thursday) |
| %%xtyear%% | Current year when the email was sent |
| %%xtshortdate%% | Current date when the email was sent in short format. For example, 12/13/2010 |
| %%xtlongdate%% | Current date when the email was sent in long format. For example, Monday, December 13, 2010 |
However, if you use any of the personalization strings above in a landing page, they actually display the current date or time because the API call occurs at the time the page is viewed. For example, if you insert %%xtmonth%% in a landing page and publish it in June, the string will render as June. But when users view the page in July, the string will render as July. For emails, the personalization strings renders at the time of send and remains static.
The following strings provide additional data about the email that isn't date- or time-based:
| %%linkname%% | Descriptive name of a hyperlink, known as the Alias. This personalization string is used with the web analytics connector to allow a web analytics program to identify web activity that initiates from individual links within the email. |
| %%emailname_%% | Internal name of the email |
| %%_messagecontext%% | Context in which the customer is viewing the email. Resolves to Forward to a Friend, landing page, send, validation, view as web page, preview, link resolution, or view sent |
| %%_MessageTypePreference%% | Will resolve to Text or HTML according to the subscriber's email type preference |
| %%_replycontent%% | The body of the email you sent. This personalization string is used in triggered sends to place the body of an email into a reply email |
| %%_IsTestSend%% | Resolves to True if the email job is marked as a Test Send. %%[
if _isTestSend == false then
... // this code will not run for test sends
endif
]%% |
| %%jobid%% | Email send ID (the unique identifier associated with this send of the email, for tracking data purposes) |
Data About the Recipient and Subscriber List
| Personalization String | Description |
| %%emailaddr%% | Subscriber's email address |
| %%First Name%% | Value for the subscriber's first name as entered in the profile attribute. |
| %%Last Name%% | Value for the subscriber's last named as entered in the profile attribute. |
| %%comment_%% | Value of the User Defined profile attribute for this subscriber |
| %%subscriberid%% | Subscriber ID (the unique identifier for this subscriber) |
| %%_subscriberkey%% | The unique identifier for the subscriber, if you use the subscriber key feature |
| %%listid%% | List ID |
| %%list_%% | List ID followed by the type of email (HTML or text). For example: 11955_HTML |
| %%listsubid%% | The identification number associated with this subscriber's membership on this particular list (This data is rarely used) |
| %%messagetypepreference%% | The subscriber's text or HTML preference. Resolves to text or to HTML. |
| %%mobile_number%% | Mobile number of the subscriber |
| %%short_code%% | Short code associated with the response |
| %%_listname%% | The name the user gives to the list. |
| %%_emailid%% | The email ID assigned by the system. |
| %%_JobSubscriberBatchID%% | This value ties a Triggered Send Job or a Subscriber Key Send Job to a Subscriber to a BatchID. |
| %%_DataSourceName%% | This value captures any audience object sent to. This covers lists, data extensions, groups, and filters. |
Data About the Sender
| Personalization String | Description |
| %%replyname%% | Your reply name, as defined in your account settings |
| %%replyemailaddress%% | Your reply email address |
| %%memberid%% | Your account ID (MID) |
| %%member_busname%% %%member_addr%% %%member_city%% %%member_state%% %%member_postalcode%% %%member_country%% | The data entered in the Address in Email Footer fields located in your Account Information workspace. If you're creating an email based on a standard template, this data is included by default in the email footer. |
Standard Links
| Personalization String | Description |
| %%view_email_url%% | If you're creating an email based on a standard template, this link is included by default in the email header. |
| %%ftaf_url%% | See the Forward to a Friend page In most cases, you want to insert the Forward to a Friend graphic from your Forward to a Friend folder rather than use this personalization string. |
| %%subscription_center_url%% | See the Subscription Center and How to Add a Link to the Subscription Center in your Email. If you're creating an email based on a standard template, this link is included by default in the email footer. |
| %%profile_center_url%% | See the Profile Center If you're creating an email based on a standard template, this link is included by default in the email footer. |
| %%unsub_center_url%% | If you're creating an email based on a standard template, this link is included by default in this email footer. |
Mobile Messaging
| Personalization String | Description |
| %%MOBILE_NUMBER%% | Mobile number of the subscriber |
| %%SHORT_CODE%% | Short code associated with the response |
Analytics
The areas to enter these strings in the application are only available if you have analytics functionality enabled in your account. To enable analytics, contact your ExactTarget representative.
For more information, see How to Include Email-Level Data with the Send Wizard and the Web Analytics Scenario.
| Personalization String | Description |
| %%AdditionalInfo_%% | You can enter this string value in the Send Wizard as part of a Guided Send when the analytic connector is enabled. |
| %%__AdditionalEmailAttribute1%% %%__AdditionalEmailAttribute2%% %%__AdditionalEmailAttribute3%% %%__AdditionalEmailAttribute4%% %%__AdditionalEmailAttribute5%% | These values are set in the property of the email when the analytic connector is enabled. You can have up to five AdditionalEmailAttribute fields to enter values. |
Note: If you include a date personalization string in your email, it will appear in the email in US format. You can use AMPscript to change the format if you need to.
Enterprise 1.0 Strings
To see a list of Enterprise 1.0 personalization strings, review the Personalization Strings section of the Enterprise 1.0 doc.
Why Use Personalization Strings
Use personalization strings to provide customized content for subscribers. Personalization strings are easier to use than dynamic content and AMPscript, and they provide tracking benefits.
How to Insert Personalization Strings
You can use personalized personalization strings that fill in with the subscriber's own information when the email is delivered. You can perform this operation in the HTML version and text version of the email.
Follow these steps to insert a personalized personalization string into your text:
- Open the email content area where you want to insert the personalization strings.
- Place your cursor where you want the personalization string to appear in the text.
- Enter the personalization value:
- In the Content Building Wizard, select the value from the Personalization menu.
- In the text version of the email, click the Insert button.
- In the paste-HTML email, type the personalization string.
- In the send wizard, click the personalization value button next to the subject line.
A personalization string for that attribute is inserted at your cursor's location in the text.
This page was last updated by Adam Evans on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:57:02 GMT.
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