Variables are represented as dynamic content that changes depending on the recipient. In other words, you can add information into an email that will be personal to a particular client who receives your newsletter.
Each variable is placed into brackets.
Example: {{email}}, {{name}} and so on.
There are a lot of variables in the SendPulse service, so we decided to split them into several groups:
This kind of classification will help us to get an understanding of the variables, their specialties and their features.
Let’s start with sender information and relevant variables.
This group includes variables such as:
- Company name
- Company address
- Company phone number
- Sender email address
They are placed in the email template footer because email services require the sender to specify his contact details.
All these variables are automatically inserted into the email message from the extended information form with your personal data that you have filled out after the registration.
If you postponed filling out the form at the start then you will be asked to specify personal data when creating and sending a mailing. Your contact details must be included in order to replace variables with them.
Check your data relevance. You can edit the information in the "Settings" menu at any time you need.
The basic variables task is to add the main sender information into the email message automatically.
When choosing the “Footer” element in the service’s Drag-and-Drop editor, you’ll see the variables that are already inserted into the text. You can change their positions or delete them if there is no need for them. The main thing you should remember is it is a requirement to add the sender contact details to each mailing you send.
If your contact data is automatically added from the informational form you’ve filled out, then the subscribers’ data is inserted from a mailing list.
Standard subscriber variables include:
- email address
- name
- subscriber ID
The other variables depend on the client’s information you have got from a mailing list. Add extended data as additional columns; this may be the recipient’s city, phone number, order date, birthday, and so on.
When creating an email template (in the drag-and-drop editor as well as in the WYSIWYG regular editor), you will see the “Variables” button with a drop-down list of all available variables. Keep in mind that variable name corresponds with a column name in your mailing list.
Choose the necessary variable and add it into the text in one click.
Example,
You can also add subscriber name, email or other data into the message subject with the help of variables. Read more about this kind of personalization in our article "What is clever personalization?".
Let’s now talk about the "Subscriber_ID" variable.
What is it?
Subscriber ID is an individual and unique subscriber number.
Moreover, if a client’s email address is presented in several mailing lists, this email address will have a different ID for each mailing list.
What is the Subscriber_ID’s main mission?
This variable is created for you to track the particular subscriber’s activity on your website. You can monitor this via Google Analytics statistic metrics.
If you know the subscriber’s data (ID), you can get reports with complete information about him: the city he lives in, the browser he uses, the activity he takes on your website, etc.
Actually, this is one more way to monitor the mailing’s efficiency and email marketing value for your business.
How do you add a Subscriber_ID into the email template?
Find this variable in the drop-down list of the “Variables” button.
A variable looks like {{subscriber_id}} and is replaced by a number, a unique subscriber ID. For example, 553951079.
In order to monitor subscriber actions, you should add this variable as an additional parameter to the link.
- Click the “Variables” button and add this variable to the message content where you can see it (we’ll delete it later)
- Copy the variable
- Take the link you want to insert in a message and fill it with a variable’s additional parameter
Example, https://sendpulse.com/?client={{subscriber_id}}
- ? — a question mark after the main link means that additional parameters go next
- сlient= — in the current example this means the parameter name that will be in the analytics report, so specify it in an understandable way to you.
- {{subscriber_id}} — this is the unique ID number assigned to the subscriber that will be recognized by the analytics system (e.g., 553951079)
- Add the final link into the template
- Look through the statistics in the analytics system. You can filter the metrics by the Subscriber ID parameter name and look through the stats on each particular subscriber.
If we talk about the email service, you can detect the Subscriber ID when looking at details about his email address.
Or, for example, if you know the Subscriber ID then you can find his email address through the “Subscriber ID” filter in the address book.
The web-version and the unsubscribe link are called “technical variables”.
Web-version — this is an opportunity for your client to read a received email message online in a browser. This option is good enough when the client’s mail service does not display your message correctly, or hides images.
As a rule, the web-version variable is added into the template header. If you work with a drag-and-drop editor, then you’ll notice that the “Preheader” element already includes the standard web-version link.
You can add this variable into the template anywhere you need.
In both the regular editor and drag-and-drop editor there is the web-version variable among the list in the “Variables” button.
By default, the web-version looks like {{webversion}} and «View this message online». You can change its text if necessary.
We advise you not to ignore this variable and do not forget to insert a web-version link. First, your client can read your message in all cases; second, he can share your message’s interesting content with his friends by just giving them a web-version link.
Unsubscribe link
An unsubscribe link is another required element for each email message you send.
By default, the unsubscribe link is placed after the footer. In the drag-and-drop editor there is a separate element – “Unsubscribe” – with default text like “Click here to leave the mailing list”.
You can create your custom unsubscribe links manually and set it up so they are automatically added into the sent message.
Go to the “Unsubscribe link” menu and create a new one. Read more about creating unsubscribe links in our knowledgebase article, “How can I create custom unsubscribe links?".
If you create a message using a drag-and-drop editor, use the specified element to add an unsubscribe link. Choose the one you need depending on your current email campaign in cases when you have created one or more custom links.
When you work with a regular editor you can add an unsubscribe link via the “Unsubscribing links” button with a drop-down list of all your custom links.
Note that your custom default links as well as service standard unsubscribe links are added to the end of email templates when sending e-newsletters.
SendPulse email service never sends email messages without unsubscribe links.
More important points for your attention:
- Do not hide your unsubscribe link by masking it with delicate colors and fonts
- Place the unsubscribe link in a visible place
- It’s recommended to create a custom unsubscribe link
Each of your subscribers must know that he can refuse receiving your mailings at any time when he becomes uninterested in them. Do not be afraid of clients who unsubscribe from your mailings – they were, they are, and they will be. You should only be afraid if you see the bounce rate increase from campaign to campaign. You should treat such subscribers’ behavior like a warning bell; it means you need to make changes in your marketing strategy.