Subscriber variable
Subscriber variable is another term for the name of a field in your list. Examples of subscriber variables are: first name, last name, place of residence, telephone number, gender, age, profession, hobby, subscription number and id.
What are subscriber variables used for?
- You can use all subscriber variables or fields in your list(s) to personalise your newsletters and welcome mail. We advise you to do so. Research shows that personalised newsletters are more successful.
- Secondly, you can use subscriber variables to segment your list. By using segments, you can send your newsletter to a part of your list. For example: only to your subscribers from the province of Gelderland.
- Thirdly, you can include subscriber variables (such as an id) in a link in your newsletter. This allows you, for example, to have your newsletter subscribers log in automatically to your own website.
How to use subscriber variables?
On the page Subscribers/Settings/Fields you can add subscriber variables to your list and subscribe form. You can enter a default value for each subscriber variable. A default value is always linked to a list. A subscriber variable that is used in several lists can therefore be given different default values.
- When creating a newsletter - in Step 4 - you can enter a subscriber variable in the editor. You can also use subscriber variables in Step 3 when importing a ready-made (HTML) newsletter.
- When sending your newsletter, the corresponding value of your subscriber is automatically displayed. If no value is known for a subscriber, your newsletter will display the default value. If there is no default value, your newsletter will display nothing.
- In Step 4 you can also specify the default value for the newsletter you are creating. A specification is made by placing a comma after the subscriber variable and entering a new value. For example: {{first name, user}}. This new value overrides the default value of your list(s).
- The use of the comma thus overrules the default value. This specification can also be useful if you want to include a subscriber variable several times in your newsletter and do not want the same default value each time.
For example:
Say, you added the subscriber variable 'first name' to your list. You include this subscriber variable in your newsletter via the editor in Step 4. When you create your newsletter in Step 4 you will see: {{first name}}.
After sending your newsletter, your subscriber will automatically see the correct value of each subscriber variable. Henk Hovink will then see the following at the top of his newsletter: Dear Henk. If there is no known value, no first name, Laposta will include the default value in your newsletter. If the default value is 'customer', Henk will read: Dear customer. If there is no default value, Henk will read only: Dear .
If you specified the subscriber variable in your newsletter in Step 4 to {{first name, user}}, your subscriber will also automatically see the correct value of each subscriber variable in your newsletter. Ingrid Ingerma will the reads the following in her newsletter: Dear Ingrid. If no value (first name) is known, Ingrid will read (whether there is a default value or not): Dear user.
Please note: The default value is only valid for use in the newsletter. The default value will not be used if no value is entered in a list.
Finally, in very specific cases, your subscriber may see the subscriber variable in his newsletter. Your subscriber will then read the following at the top of his newsletter: Dear {{first name}}. This only occurs for test addresses that are not included in your list(s) and for a newsletter that is sent to several lists with the same subscriber variable but with different default values. You can prevent this by specifying your subscriber variable in Step 4.