Data Sources for Merge Tags
Data for merge merge tags can come from a variety of sources, including:
- Email Service Providers (ESP)
- Databases
- API's
In some instances, data can come from multiple sources.
Email Service Providers
This is the easiest way to send personalised messages to people by email.
The ESP will allow you to store individual data, associated with each email address.
The data can be sourced from:
- Email sign-up forms
- The creation of the email account
- Questionnaires
- Linked stores that send emails via the ESP
- Data imported from external sources
Examples of data could be:
- email address
- First name
- Last name
- Source of email address acquisition
- User acquisition date
- Gender
- Age
- Language
- Location
- Average order revenue
- Total order revenue
- Email open rate
- Email click rate
Databases and API's
For more bespoke applications, you might source data from your application database or Application Programming Interface (API).
Examples of this requirement could include:
- Event information
- Live sport scores
- Next service date
- Planned meeting information
- Product information
- Product warranty expiration date
- Stock availability
- Pricing
- Vehicle information
- Weather information