Set Default Merge Values for an Audience

When you use merge tags to personalize your email, it's a good idea to set default values to display for recipients who don't have any data for that field. For example, you could set the default value for your first name merge tag to "Friend." When you use "Hello *|FNAME|*," in an email, we'll display "Hello Friend" for recipients whose first names aren't in the system.

In this article, you'll learn 2 ways to set default values for your audience fields.

From the audience settings

To set the default merge tag values from the audience settings, follow these steps.

1. Click Audience, then click All contacts.
2. If you have more than 1 audience, click the Audience drop-down and choose the one you want to work with.
3. Click Settings.
4. Click Edit merge field/tags.
5. In the fields in the Default merge tag value column, enter the default text for your merge tags.
   
6. When you're done, click Save Changes.

Default merge tag values are available for all fields except the required Email Address field and the Address (physical) field. Also, default merge tag values for image fields display only text.

From this page, you can also add new audience fields, edit field labels and tag names, set required fields, and choose whether to hide or display the field in your signup forms. To delete a field, click the trash icon.

From the form builder

To set the default merge tag values using the form builder, follow these steps.

1. Click Forms, then click Other forms.
2. Scroll to the Form builder tile, then click Manage forms.
   
3. If you have more than 1 audience, click the Current audience drop-down and choose the one you want to work with.
4. On the Build it tab, use the side panel to add a new field, or click an existing field to edit it.
5. On the Field settings tab, enter your text in the Default merge tag value field. This text will appear when a recipient’s data isn't available.
   

Default merge tag values are available for all fields except the required Email Address field and the Address (physical) field. Also, default merge tag values for image fields display only text.

From the form builder, you can also add new fields, edit field labels and tag names, set required fields, and choose whether to hide or display the field in your signup forms.

Default merge tag values will only display in sent emails, and not in your audience fields.