De-mystifying Mail Merging
Mail Merges using Microsoft Office (or similar)
The most common Mail Merge platform is MS Office. Its Mail Merge constituents are:
- a Word document, that serves as the Template
- an Excel spreadsheet, that stores the data
To set up a Mail Merge, you first set up your data. Data is organised in columns, with a heading at the top of each column. Columns should include such items as, Name, Address (one line of address per column) salutation, etc.
{mosimage}
Secondly, you type your letter and save it to a particular location.
Thirdly, you need to link your saved letter with the data-set by doing the following:
- Locate either:
- A mail merge toolbar (right-click beside the main menus to bring up a list of available toolbars)
- A mail merge wizard (look in the Tools menu for something like mail merge, letters and mailings or similar).
- Using either of the above methods, look for an option that says open data source. If the words are not obvious, hold the mouse-pointer over a button to display a descriptive "tool tip".
- Navigate to the location of the saved data set, select it, and click open.
{mospagebreak}
Fourthly, data fields from the data set must be inserted into the template document. To do this, you use a function called Insert Merge Field. (Again, if you're confused, holding the mouse-pointer above a button will display a helpful tip) {mosimage}
Choosing the Insert Merge Field function displays a list of available fields from the data-set. If the data-set includes a row of column headings, these will be displayed.
To insert a merge field in your template document, select the one you want and click Insert. You can see that it displays in the cursor's last location.
Finally, when all merge fields have been satisfactorily inserted and positioned, the actual "merge" can be performed. There will be options like:
- "Merge to printer" where the output goes directly to the printer and is not displayed in its merged form.
- "Merge to new document" which results in a new Word document, consisting of a set of addressed letters, with all data inserted in the appropriate place.
Be sure to review (print preview showing multiple pages is useful here) and print.
Mail Merges from A CRM system
The concept of a mail merge remains the same when operating from a CRM system like Goldmine as when working from standard Office applications. The merge comprises a template document and a dataset.
In a CRM system, the data will be held within the CRM system's database, in an ordered and logical fashion. One does not need to create a separate file or dataset in this case.
Once a template document has been created, once can include fields from the CRM database, including name and address, but often extending to any other details stored in the database, e.g. membership details, communication history etc.
Points to Note
Whichever tools you use to perform a mail merge, there are some points to note. A computer cannot interpret your intentions, only your instructions. It is useful to bear this in mind when creating your template and dataset, so that when combined they make sense.
E.G.
In the example above, if the "firstname" field is left blank for any given row, then the merged letter will say "Dear," which is obviously unacceptable.
It is important that every row is complete in order for maximum effectiveness: a letter with obviously blank fields looks awful to the recipient!
