Key takeaways
- A field is only as good as the data behind it, so clean the data first.
- Use a few strong fields rather than many weak ones.
- Set a fallback for every field, or write sentences that work without it.
- Save researched custom lines for your most important prospects.
What are personalisation fields
Personalisation fields are placeholders in an email template that are replaced with each contact's own data when the email is prepared. Tools call them merge fields, merge tags or variables, and they usually look like {{first_name}} in the editor.
They make one template read as if it were written for each person, but only for the facts you hold in your records.
- First name and last name.
- Company name.
- Job title or role.
- Industry or segment.
- A custom field, such as a recent trigger or a researched opening line.
Which fields are worth using
First name, company and role are worth using in almost every email, because they are reliable and a reader expects them. Industry is worth using when you have copy written for that industry; otherwise it adds little.
The most valuable field is a custom one that holds something specific: a recent hire, a new office or a post the person wrote. One field like that does more than five generic ones.
What goes wrong with personalisation fields
Most problems come from dirty data or careless placement, and buyers notice them at once.
- A raw placeholder such as {{first_name}} showing in the sent email.
- Names in capitals, or a first name field holding a full name.
- Legal company names, such as 'Acme Holdings Limited', where people say 'Acme'.
- A job title used where a plain role would read better.
- Personal details that feel like surveillance rather than relevance.
How do you go beyond basic fields
Go beyond the basics with segment-level copy blocks and one researched custom line per contact. Write an opening paragraph for each industry you target, then add a custom field for the line only research can produce.
For example, an illustrative opening for a payroll software company might read: 'Hi Sam, I saw that Northfield opened its second site this spring. Payroll rules often get harder before headcount does.' The name and company are fields; the second site came from research.
How much personalisation is enough
Match the effort to the value of the account. Your top accounts get a researched line and a hand-checked email; mid-tier prospects get segment copy plus the basic fields; the long tail gets clean basic fields and a strong general message.
How to add personalisation fields to an email sequence
Clean the data first; the fields are only as good as what fills them.
- Decide which fields the message needs, such as first name, company, role, industry and one custom line.
- Clean the source data: fix capitalisation, shorten legal company names and fill the gaps.
- Write the template so each field sits where a person would naturally use it, then read it aloud with real values.
- Set a fallback for every field, such as 'Hi there' for a missing first name, or write the sentence so it works without the field.
- Preview the email for a handful of real contacts, including ones with missing or unusual data, before anything goes out.
- Add one researched custom line per contact for your most important prospects.
Where Pebbles Ai fits
- CapabilityProspecting & customer recordsEach lead found gets personalisation angles from their public LinkedIn posts, falling back to role and company. Admins can add custom fields to records in the CRM (in Beta).
- CapabilityOutreach contentPick a personality for each piece of a campaign, then ask an assistant, which works from your Company Intel, to draft the lines a field cannot fill, for you to review.
Common questions
What is the difference between a merge field and personalisation?
A merge field inserts stored data, such as a name. Personalisation is the wider choice of what to say to this person and why, which fields can support but not replace.
What fallback should I use for a missing first name?
Use a neutral greeting such as 'Hi there', or write the opening so it reads well with no name at all. Never let the raw placeholder show.
Can AI fill personalisation fields?
Yes, AI can draft a custom opening line from research on the person or company. Check each line before it is used, because a confident but wrong detail does more harm than no detail.
About this page. Written by the Pebbles Ai team for people who run sales, marketing and growth. Last updated .
