Sometimes you may wish to personalise letters or messages sent to clients through the mail merge process. This can be done through the bookmarks feature in Microsoft Word. Firstly create a MS Word document for use as the mail merge template. Now highlight text in the document that you wish to replace with custom text generated by Ardex and click the Insert menu at the top of the screen, then choose insert Bookmark.
In this example Sir/Madam will be replaced by the salutation for the client as recorded in Ardex, wherever a salutation has been entered. You actually need to type the word salutation for the bookmark to function, then click the Add button.
There are many mail merge fields available for importing to a mail merge template via the Bookmarks function, a list is provided below. Once all mail merge bookmarks have been set in the document, save the document as a normal MS Word document to your desktop if you intend to run a Word mail merge, and print letters for mailing.
Otherwise if you intend the mail merge to be sent via e-mail, save the document as Web Page Filtered and select HTML merge as the mail merge type. Bookmarks created in the MS Word document will be transferred to the Web Page Filtered document so that appropriate text is replaced in e-mails sent out.
Follow the steps described above for testing mail merge formatting before sending the final mail merge, either to the printer or your e-mail server.
Ardex Mail Merge Bookmarks Available
By using a combination of these mail merge bookmarks it is possible to produce letters and e-mails that are customised to a variety of situations. Keep in mind that mail merges can be sent to groups other than owners, for example suppliers or trainers. Remember to always run a test mail merge to just a few people before sending/printing to everyone in your database, and check for formatting issues.