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Learn how to use the mail merge feature to personalize every single publication to the individual recipient.

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2016, 2019/365.

Exercise files

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Creative Ideas - Mail Merge.pub
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Quick reference

Creative Ideas - Email Merge

An Email Merge simply uses one document (flyer, letter, or email) and retrieves individual email addresses from a database (typed for the project or an Outlook contact list).

When to use

Send individual, Full-Color flyers, postcards, or emails to multiple people with one easy process.

Instructions

  • Start with the Business PostCard publication template found under File, New, or open the corresponding Exercise file with this video lesson.

Note: If you’d like to learn how to do an Outlook Email Merge using this similar flyer, go to https://www.goskills.com/Course/Outlook “Email Merge, Full Color Flyers”.

  • Click the Mailings ribbon, Mail Merge, and select Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard.

  • Click Contacts, and select the folder with the contacts to use in the Email Merge.
  • On the right panel, a task pane opens, and you can select any of the 3 list options; for this lesson we select Type a New List and click the Create link at the bottom.

​

  • Choose the prepared email contact list from the Outlook choices.
  • If typing your own list, then Save the database list to your file system.

Note: the finished database opens on your screen. If you want to edit (fix or add more) address, you must click the name of the list and then click the Edit button.

  • Or enter the basic list information into the database window and click OK when finished.

           

  • On the Email Merge panel, you will select which fields to enter onto the postcard.
    If this is a mailer, the easiest selection is the Address Block:
    ​
    Be careful not to delete the chevrons (arrows) on either side of the field or the mail merge will not work.
     

If this is a mailer, position the Address Block and re-size it so the street addresses will not wrap within the box. 

  1.  
  • Click Create merged publications and select Send Email.
      ​This allows you a chance to review the addresses, type a Subject line with the first name field and make any list minute changes before emailing the entire list.

 

  1.  
  • The final step is to open Outlook and make sure the emails are sending out!

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  • 00:04 In this lesson we're going to create a mail merge to a postcard but
  • 00:08 a mail merge means we're going to print it and put stamps on it and send it.
  • 00:12 In this case, we're not going to spend all that time and all that money on our ink,
  • 00:15 we're just going to email merge a postcard, all right?
  • 00:18 So go to Publisher, File, New, find any postcard.
  • 00:22 I'm going to choose this one and hit create when this opens up.
  • 00:26 As you can see on the left hand side if I was going to mail these via postal mail
  • 00:31 I would absolutely click on page two and embed all my mail merge codes in here.
  • 00:35 I'm not even going to use page two, we're going to email merge this one.
  • 00:38 So I'm going to right click and delete page two.
  • 00:41 All right working on page one.
  • 00:43 On my mailings tab up at the top, my mail merge is for postal mail but
  • 00:47 look at this, my email merge is for email.
  • 00:50 I'm going to use a step by step email merge wizard.
  • 00:53 When I click that, you're going to see a test pane on the right hand side.
  • 00:56 You need to be aware of the arrows above and below, or you also need to be aware
  • 00:59 that you can float your mouse on the title bar of that test pane,
  • 01:03 rip it out of there and just resize it the full length of your screen.
  • 01:06 Just keep that in mind you have that option.
  • 01:08 All right, let's go ahead and get this setup.
  • 01:10 So, first of all, wants to know where is my recipient list then I have to load up
  • 01:14 the publication with the merge fields or it's a waste of time to do the merge.
  • 01:18 That's why we're going to dip into our recipient list and
  • 01:21 put the first name on every one of these.
  • 01:22 And then, of course, we'll send multiple email addresses.
  • 01:24 Okay, use an existing list or select from Outlook contacts,
  • 01:27 I'm going to choose that option.
  • 01:29 Since I'm using Microsoft products, I do use Microsoft Outlook,
  • 01:32 I'm going to use that option.
  • 01:33 Otherwise I'd have to print my own list or
  • 01:36 type a brand new list which works just as well, just a database.
  • 01:39 All right, I've selected that, so I'm going to hit Create.
  • 01:42 It's looking inside my Outlook.
  • 01:44 And I have already created a email merge sample with six fake names.
  • 01:49 I'm going to hit OK on this.
  • 01:50 It's going to open these up.
  • 01:51 I can turn off anyone I don't want to send this to, I can sort these by last name,
  • 01:56 I can filter these by zip code, whatever you choose, just dig around in here,
  • 02:00 just know you cannot edit in this screen.
  • 02:02 You would have to go back to your Outlook and edit from there, and
  • 02:06 then come back in here and click this and refresh after you edited inside Outlook.
  • 02:11 At this point I'm going to go ahead and hit OK.
  • 02:12 All right.
  • 02:14 Now I'm off to the next step.
  • 02:16 That's why I love the E-mail Merge Wizard.
  • 02:18 Okay, prepare your publication.
  • 02:20 So it wants me to put the first name field, these are fields, or
  • 02:24 the last name field.
  • 02:26 Well, I haven't a place to put it.
  • 02:28 So I'm going to go to my Insert ribbon and then draw a text box.
  • 02:31 We're going to type some words right here and say Hello, and
  • 02:35 now I want the first name field.
  • 02:38 So I just clicked it just once and
  • 02:40 it popped itself in here but I want to scroll in so you can see this.
  • 02:44 Notice when that field came in, it put these little arrows beside it.
  • 02:48 That shape is called a chevron.
  • 02:50 If I delete that code off of First, every email that goes out with say Hello First,
  • 02:54 Hello First, Hello First, instead of their name, so
  • 02:57 please do not disrupt the shortcut in the codes on that field.
  • 03:02 All right, I am going to put an exclamation point on there.
  • 03:06 And just for good measure, I want to check and make sure that did work.
  • 03:09 So right back to my Mailings ribbon,
  • 03:11 right over here we have a button that says Preview Results.
  • 03:14 Please observe the post card as soon as I hit this,
  • 03:17 click, there we go, says Hello Bob.
  • 03:19 And now I'm going to move this around, want to go to the next one,
  • 03:23 Hello Benny, Hello Al, Hello Lonnie.
  • 03:26 Statistics show that if you put their first name on the screen when they see
  • 03:31 their preview of their email, they're more likely to open it.
  • 03:33 So if you get the first name in the subject line and
  • 03:35 the first name on the preview, you're in good shape for them opening your email.
  • 03:40 Okay, here we go.
  • 03:41 I can put more text here.
  • 03:43 I can insert a personalized hyperlink here.
  • 03:46 I can put a picture field here, a greeting line,
  • 03:48 an address field, all of that great stuff.
  • 03:50 Maybe I have identifying information, coupon code, whatever you want.
  • 03:54 You can put it in the text.
  • 03:56 All right, let's move on.
  • 03:57 That is just a preview, I'm not finished.
  • 03:59 So I'm going to turn off the preview just to make sure my code is still there, and
  • 04:03 I'm coming to the next step, which is create my merged publications.
  • 04:06 Click.
  • 04:07 When that comes up, I have the options to semi-email, preview my email, or
  • 04:11 do the design checker.
  • 04:12 I do want to show you a preview email.
  • 04:14 When I click this, my Internet's going to open up, and
  • 04:17 as you can see, here is my email.
  • 04:19 And then, of course, I can hit Next, Next, Next, to see each one.
  • 04:23 All right, those are working just fine, so I'm pretty confident.
  • 04:26 I'm going to go ahead and send email.
  • 04:28 Now, this is your one last chance, here we go.
  • 04:30 Send email.
  • 04:31 It stops, it gives you one last chance to personalize the subject line.
  • 04:36 So special discount for, and I'm going to put First.
  • 04:40 I just clicked it once and I'm going to put an exclamation point there.
  • 04:44 So see what I just did.
  • 04:45 I put their first name on the subject line and
  • 04:47 I got their first name on their auto preview of their email.
  • 04:50 I'm in good shape.
  • 04:51 Chances are high they're going to click this email and open it.
  • 04:54 All right, I'm going to go ahead and hit Send.
  • 04:55 Now literally, when I hit Send it's warning me, you're about to send 6.
  • 04:59 This might say 600, this might say 6,000.
  • 05:02 But they'll each be individual emails,
  • 05:04 no cc, no blind carbon copy emails, individual emails.
  • 05:07 Now these are literally sending as you can just see.
  • 05:10 Okay, they sent them out.
  • 05:12 I'm going to go check my email, and when I open up Outlook I'll look at my sent files
  • 05:16 and there will be six sent emails right there.
  • 05:18 Kind of a cool process, review this video a couple of times.
  • 05:22 It takes some practice to be confident.
  • 05:24 Just practice with a few friends first before you send out a big one.
  • 05:28 But in a matter of time you will be doing these in less than one minute,
  • 05:31 much faster than printing, and labelling, and posting and all that other work for
  • 05:36 the hard copy postcard.
  • 05:38 Thanks.

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