Sometimes you're in a hurry and need to send out a mass email. Sometimes you need something changed quickly before that mass email goes out.
What is Mail Merge?
Mail merge outlook is a feature that allows you to create documents in one program and then print them out with the same content in Microsoft Word, Excel, or OneNote.
With mail merge outlook, you can compare the completed document to a pre-existing template before creating it. You can also preview the documents before printing.
If you already have an email account, or if you work in Microsoft Outlook, you may be wondering how to turn on the Mail Merge feature for your Gmail account, or if you need to create a new email address and set up a new inbox.
First thing's first: Google has disabled the Mail Merge feature from Gmail, so if you want to use this feature with your Gmail account, you'll have to create another email address that 's connected to your Gmail account.
If you're using an email address that's not linked to your Gmail account, or if you're using Outlook and wish to add a new email account, follow the steps below:Emailing directly from Gmail is no longer possible.
That said, you can send an email through either your primary or secondary accounts, as long as these emails are received by the intended recipient.To create a new email account and set it up in Outlook 2013 or 2016, follow these steps
Step #1:- In the 'File' menu, select "New" and then "Other"
Step #2:- In the new window, select "Email Account". You'll be prompted to enter a name for your new account. If you wish to use your current email address as the primary or secondary email address, simply tap on that option. Otherwise, tap on "Add New Email Address".
Step #3:- Enter a 'Return Address' of fithome@outlook.com and create an 'Address Book' of your own contacts.
Step #4:- You'll be prompted for your current password. Enter it and then tap "Next".
Step #5:- The new account will now be added to the 'Account Settings' section of the email program. You can return here at any later time to edit this or any other information associated with the account.
Step #6:- To send a new message, select your saved contact from 'Contacts' and then select "New Message".
Step #7:- Enter a message and then 'Compose' it.
Step #8:- To send, tap the green 'SEND' button. You'll be prompted for your destination email address, simply tap on that option. Otherwise, tap on "Add New Email Address".
Step #9:- Enter a 'Return Address' of fithome@outlook.com and create an 'Address Book' of your own contacts.
Step #10:- You'll be prompted for your current password. Enter it and then tap the "Change Password" button.
Step #11:- You'll be prompted to create a new password. Go ahead and set one and then enter it. You'll have to confirm it here or your old password will be re-used.
Step #12:- Go ahead and send your message now.
What is the mail merge outlook?
A mail merge is the process of gathering information from multiple source files and displaying them in a single document, making it easier for users to find data.
Mail merge Outlook allows you to create a mailing list from several email addresses and send an automated newsletter or email campaign easily. When you need to build your lists from scratch, you can use this app's powerful spreadsheet tools to gather information from several email addresses.
Some benefits of mail merge outlook:-
1. Automate mailing campaigns with ease, delivering newsletters to your customers from the same place your transactional email goes.
2. Synchronize with multiple email address lists and keep your data in one location.
3. Create a template that can be used to build a newsletter or send an email campaign.
4. Quickly gather information of many subscribers (like product reviews, photo gallery, customer contact form, etc.).
5. Easily create engaging copy for your emails and newsletters.
6. Edit the subject and body of the e-mail.This is a very good tool for mailing campaign, but you can't create an email and mail it to somebody, only take an email from your e-mail folder.This is a good tool for creating a customized newsletter with the information that you need to be sent to particular customers or groups of customers. Must be connected to your Microsoft Outlook.
How to perform a mail merge with Microsoft Outlook
A mail merge outlook is a great way to send out a bulk email. It allows you to collect data from multiple sources, such as spreadsheets and word documents, and automatically combine them into one email.
Microsoft Outlook offers many different options for automating this process. How to perform a mail merge with Microsoft Outlook. Mail merge is a great way to send out a bulk email.
It allows you to collect data from multiple sources, such as spreadsheets and word documents, and automatically combine them into one email. Microsoft Outlook offers many different options for automating this process.
A mail merge outlook can be a simple process or something quite complex. The same basic idea holds true for any type of automated process:
1. Make a list of all the items you want to do in your process.
2. Put those items into a spreadsheet.
3. Create an automated processing script, which will apply the data from step 1 to step 2 and perform steps 4 through 6.
4. Send out the results of this processing script to your list of recipients as emails.For example:
1) You have a document that lists everyone who made donations over $100 for your organization's annual fund drive, along with their names and addresses .
2) You put this information in a spreadsheet and send it to your accounting department for preparation of your tax documents.
3) Your accounting department creates your tax records.
4) Your accounting department sends out emails thanking everyone for donating.
Step: List All the Things-For a really effective email marketing program, you need to make sure you have created an accurate record of everyone who has ever participated in any type of activity related to your organization. This could include every donor, volunteer, vendor , board member, etc.
Step : Organizing Your FunnelOnce you have all the information related to your organization, you can begin organizing it into a proper email marketing funnel. This is necessary because every piece of information you collect would probably not be relevant for each individual or group of people that are going to receive an email from you.
Step : Filling In ListsOnce you have created your list of names and addresses, you will now need to fill in these names and addresses into the appropriate fields in your email marketing software.
Step : Creating Your EmailThe next step is to write your email. This will be the primary place where you will collect the information that you have chosen to go in your email marketing funnel.
Step : Sending Your EmailWith the information included in your email, it is time to send it out to all of those people that you have gathered together into one place.
A crucial part of successfully creating an effective email marketing campaign is timely and appropriate sending of emails .
You don't want to send out emails each and every day from your marketing software. Instead, you should schedule the emails to go out at various times of the day.
Some email marketing systems allow you to adjust when emails are sent out, which will be a good thing if you want your customers or potential customers to get a timely response to your message.
When deciding on when to send your messages, it is important that you choose a time that is convenient for all parties involved. If everything goes well and everyone is happy, then the emails can be sent out more often.
If you run into problems, for instance with customers canceling orders or customer service issues, then it may be best to postpone sending the email.Standardized data collection from all buyers' online purchases will allow you to put together a list of satisfied customers.
Using this data collected from your custom-built customer relationship management system , you can build a list of people who will likely become repeat customers.
This will also help you to avoid people who are unresponsive and hard to get in touch with.If you have a brick-and-mortar location, then it is important that your customers come into your store and get their purchases.
If you are going to send an email, however, then it may be best to send a follow up email that asks the customer to come back in to return the purchase or make any other needed adjustments.
Not only will this be convenient for both parties involved, but you can also use this to remind them to come back in and buy from you again.Create a list of your top customers.
Having this type of list will allow you to send relevant emails such as special offers, deals, or other messages that will be more likely to get their attention.
You may also want to consider offering these customers something exclusive that they cannot find anywhere else.If your business is still in its infant stages and is looking for some new leads, then look into the use of SMS marketing.
How to do mail merge with Microsoft Word
Microsoft Office has a feature that allows you to use a template to create customized letters or memos. The process for doing this is called mail merge.
To perform a mail merge, create a document with the information that needs to be included in the letter or memo and save it as a template. Then, open the document and select "Mail Merge" from the "Tools" menu.
From there, choose the template and follow the instructions in order to complete your mail merge.
Create and save a mail merge letter. First, open Microsoft Word, which is the program that you use to write the letter or memo of your choice. Create a document with the text you want for your letter. If you wish to have all information in one place and need more than a few lines, create a separate document for each section of text. If necessary, add pictures to illustrate events and people involved in the story.
Save this document as a .doc or .rtf file .
Limitations of Performing MailMerges in Outlook
The limitations of performing a mail merge in Outlook are that it doesn't support a lot of the letters that you would need to create a full address. For example, using just the letter "I" for the first name and "-J-E-" for the last name, you can't create a full address with "John Quincy Jones". You can also only have 10 lines of text due to legal reasons.
Limitation #1:- Only 10 lines of text can be entered.
Limitation #2:- There is no way to modify the mail merge letters afterwards, so you probably want to create a new letter for each person.
Limitation #3:- You can't use any custom formatting for the letters (such as bolding, italics, underlining). If you really want to do this with Outlook, I suggest using another program like Microsoft Word and then importing the addresses into Outlook.
Limitation #4:There is no way to add an email signature or have a picture of the correspondence.
Limitation #5:There is no way to easily delete people from the database, so you'll need to do it manually if you ever want to get rid of them.
Limitation #6:There is no way to easily change phone numbers and emails due to legal reasons (that I'm aware of).
Limitation #7:The last name that is entered must match exactly with the last name in your database, so be careful when adding people.
Limitation #8:I don't know if this is still a limitation, but I would imagine that the program has to be installed on your computer, so you may have problems downloading it over a network if you share a computer with other users.About the program itself:The program seems to be doing exactly what it should do.
To me, what is most important are the functions that attract customers and not being able to see the results of them immediately after they are purchased . I'm sure that other than the limitations listed above, this is a good program to use.
The best method for performing mail merges in Outlook
If you want to send out a mailing with the same or similar content in bulk, you need to perform a mail merge.
This is easily done on your Microsoft Outlook program by following these steps:
Step #1:- In the message, insert the document you have to merge (only do this after you have copied your data into a separate layer and named it).
Step #2:- Goto Tools > Mail Merge. You can either use an existing merge or create a new one.
Step #3:- Select the mail-merge type as “Split and Merge”; select “Merge with same text and format”; and click on OK to create the mail merge.
Step #4:- In the message pane, click on “New Mail Merge Field” and add the “Subject” field.
Step #5:- In the message pane select new fields to include in the merge as per your requirement.
Step #6:- Select “Merge Recipients” and click on OK.
Step #7:- The text that you have selected will be reviewed by Outlook before performing a mail merge. If you want to change anything in this text, you can do so by selecting “Edit” and then the desired text.
Step #8:- Now, click on OK to perform the merge.
Step #9:- The new messages will be inserted into your Inbox and Outlook will automatically mark these messages as read.
Outlook has surely carved a niche for itself in the mail merges segment with its features and ease-of-use. You can use this tool to merge multiple mails in one place or perform a mail merge that takes place at a predetermined time.
Conclusion
The process of a mail merge has been simplified with Microsoft Outlook. With the use of the wizard, it is easy to create a mail merge document with only one click. It is easy to send the created mail merge document to the recipients with only one click.
