Email Merges are perfect to use for a group of individual emails going out that need customized names and personalized information.

Necessary Components:

  • Excel spreadsheet: laid out as described below.  
  • Word document: Will harvest the information from the Excel file, and places it in the emails sent out via an Outlook account.

 

Laying out the Excel spreadsheet:

  • Cells in Row 1 are column headings of what the Word Document will draw from, i.e. “First Name”, “Email” (required column, do not include brackets or quotes), “Trips”, “Dollars”, “Project Name”, “Project Number”, etc.
  • Each subsequent row will be one email—organize the Excel sheet so that each row has all the information for one email.
  • Save the Excel file.


Example Excel Spreadsheet:

Laying out the Word Document:

  • Open a New Word Document.
  • Select Mailings from the top ribbon.  Next select the buttons below:
    1. Start Mail Merge > E-mail Messages
    2. Select Recipients > Use an Existing List > Find and select the Excel File > Select the tab the information is on.
  • Draft the email and include customized data place holders:
    1. Insert Merge Field > Select the appropriate column heading
    2. Compose letter, format with bold lettering, enter links to surveys, etc.

Example of Word Document at this point:

  • Click on Preview Results and the first line of information will populate.
  • Scroll through the email using the arrow navigations, circled in red below.

  • Make corrections and changes (bold, ensure dollar amounts populate correctly, etc.).
  • To send out the emails, click on: Finish & Merge > Send Email Messages
  • Fill in the pop-up window with the subject line of the email.  Select ALL, Current Record, or just a specific span of letters sent (like a print box).
  • The emails will send as soon as the OK button is hit.

 

Notes:

The emails go out from the outlook account of the person who created the email merge and all the emails will be in that outlook account’s Sent Folder. Monitor bounce-backs, they can be resent from that Sent Folder. Provide the recipients in the email with instructions for who is the appropriate person to respond to, otherwise responses will come to the outlook account of the person who created the email merge