Example of mail merge in word
Here's an example of a mail merge in Microsoft Word:
Scenario: You're a marketing manager for a company that sells gardening tools. You want to send a personalized letter to a list of customers who have purchased a specific product, thanking them for their business and offering a discount on their next purchase.
Step 1: Create a data source
You create a spreadsheet with the following columns:
| Customer Name | Address | Product Purchased | Email Address |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Smith | 123 Main St | Garden Rake | [email protected] |
| Jane Doe | 456 Elm St | Hedge Trimmer | [email protected] |
| Bob Johnson | 789 Oak St | Garden Rake | [email protected] |
Step 2: Create a Word document
You create a new Word document and insert a table with the following columns:
| Customer Name | Address | Thank You Message |
|---|---|---|
| [Name] | [Address] | Thank you for purchasing our Garden Rake! |
Step 3: Set up the mail merge
You go to the "Mailings" tab in the ribbon and click on "Select Recipients" > "Use an Existing List". Then, you select the spreadsheet you created in Step 1.
Step 4: Merge the data
You click on "Finish & Merge" and select "Edit Individual Documents". Word will create a new document for each record in the spreadsheet, inserting the corresponding data into the table.
Result:
Here are the three resulting documents:
Document 1:
| Customer Name | Address | Thank You Message |
|---|---|---|
| John Smith | 123 Main St | Thank you for purchasing our Garden Rake! |
Document 2:
| Customer Name | Address | Thank You Message |
|---|---|---|
| Jane Doe | 456 Elm St | Thank you for purchasing our Hedge Trimmer! |
Document 3:
| Customer Name | Address | Thank You Message |
|---|---|---|
| Bob Johnson | 789 Oak St | Thank you for purchasing our Garden Rake! |
Step 5: Send the documents
You can print or email the documents to each customer. You can also use Word's built-in features to add a personalized signature and a discount code to each document.
This is just a simple example of a mail merge, but you can use this technique to create complex and personalized documents for your customers, such as invoices, receipts, and newsletters.