Overview

Zift123 campaigns are aligned with specific products, solutions, and industry content. Emails are a primary marketing tool used to identify possible leads. You can dynamically populate your emails and contact forms with each recipient's unique information (first name, company, the product of interest, etc.). In this document, learn about default general merge fields, custom merge fields, how to create a contact list with merge fields, and how to use merge fields in content.

We have specific directions for some of the file uploads.

• How to Upload Files to Create a Contact List
• How to Upload Leads to a Custom Activity
• How to Include Merge Fields in Your Mailings
• Best Practice for Secure File Transfer Protocol
• Best Practice for File Upload

Prerequisites

You should be familiar with the following topics before continuing:

• Zift123 Username
• Zift123 Password
• Contact list in .CSV format

Content

Complete the following steps when working with merge fields:

• Determine the Fields for the Contact List
• How to Include Merge Fields In Your Contact List
• How to Include Merge Fields in Your Mailings

Determine the Contact List Fields

Zift123 provides both general and custom contact fields. The variables are available for use in contact lists, emails, and other content that you may be creating. Here are the general merge fields. Use them exactly as shown below.

Zift123 Default Merge Fields
General Fields	Merge Field Name	General Field	Merge Field Name
Partner Name	[PartnerName]	Postal Code	[PostalCode]
First Name	[FirstName]	Country	[Country]
Last Name	[LastName]	Company Name	[Company]
Email Address	[EmailAddress]	Title	[Title]
Mobile Phone	[MobilePhone]	Description	[Description]
Work Phone	[WorkPhone]	Industry	[Industry]
Address Line 1	[Address1]	SIC code	[SICcode]
Address Line 2	[Address2]	Website	[Website]
City	[City]	Annual Revenue	[AnnualRevenue]
State	[State]	Employee Number	[EmployeeNumber]

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Administrators can add up to twenty custom merge fields in the Custom Contact Settings. Learn more, Settings > Custom Contact Fields.

1. User Menu, select Settings.
2. Contact Fields.
3. Select New Contact Field
4. Enter the name, description, and type for your new field.
5. The custom field now appears in the Contact Fields list and is available on Contacts. Zift123 assigns a Merge Fieldname that you will use in the mailing. The custom field will look similar to this: z123_CustomFieldName

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How to Include Merge Fields in Your Contact List

A quick way to create a contact list with merge fields is to upload a contact list you already have. Add your custom fields such as greeting or salutation to the spreadsheet too. Save the files as .XLS, .XLSX, .TXT, or .CSV.

1. Navigate to Contact Lists > Create Contact List.
2. Complete the Create Contact List window information including contact list name, sender name, sender email, and language.
3. Select Save.
4. Select Import Contacts.
5. Complete the following.
1. Browse to select the file to import.
2. If the file has a header row, check the box on the form. Be sure your custom fields were added to the spreadsheet. Here is an example of a file.
3. Select the Opt-In Confirmation or Send opt-in confirmation email to all new contacts listed in the file import. Be sure to read our Sender Permission guidelines. Sending emails to contacts who have not opted in to receive emails from you can result in suspension or termination of your Zift123 account.
4. Select Upload.
5. Map the merge fields when prompted. Mapping the fields means you are associating Zift123 fields with the fields in the spreadsheet.
6. Select Upload Contacts.
7. You will see your contacts listed on the screen. Additionally, you will receive a message with the success of the file import including the number of contacts imported. 

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How to Include Merge Fields in Your Mailings

Merge fields are available with email templates only. 

1. Select the email template from Campaigns > Browse Emails
2. In the editable body text of the mailing, include all merge field names inside of square braces. Remember to use the z123_ prefix in front of custom field name! You can find the custom field names for contacts Settings > Contact Fields.
3. Setup a test before sending to a large contact list. You can create a small test by duplicating the email, adding a test contact list file with the exact same fields (use copy and paste), limiting the number of contacts to less than five, and testing.
4. The final result is that your email recipients will see an email that's personalized to them!

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