Sending publications with Gmail Mail Merge

Overview

Combining Gmail’s Layouts with Mail Merge allows you to send professional, branded newsletters or announcements that are also personally addressed to each recipient. This is the ideal work flow for F&M departments looking to maintain a high-standard visual identity while utilizing data from a Google Sheet.

Before you get started

• These features are available on F&M Workspace accounts.
• Branding (logos and colors) should be set up in Gmail settings beforehand for the best experience.
• Ensure your Google Sheet is closed or saved before linking it to Gmail.

Jump to a topic in this knowledge article

• Step 1: Set Up Recipient Data
• Step 2: Select a Branded Layout
• Step 3: Enable Mail Merge and Link Sheets
• Step 4: Personalize with Merge Tags

How to

By layering these two tools, you can transform a standard email into a customized marketing piece.

Step 1: Set Up Recipient Data

1. Open Google Sheets and ensure your first row contains headers like First Name and Email.
2. Populate the rows with your contact data.

Step 2: Select a Branded Layout

1. Open Gmail and click Compose.
2. Click the Choose layout icon (looks like a rectangular window/template) at the bottom of the window.
3. Select a design from the Default layouts or My saved layouts tabs.
4. Click Insert.
5. Customize the images and text directly in the draft. To change images, click the image and select Change image.

Step 3: Enable Mail Merge and Link Sheets

1. Within the same draft, click the Use mail merge icon (the person with a plus sign) in the To line.
2. Check the Mail merge box.
3. Click Add from spreadsheet.
4. Select your sheet and click Insert.
5. Verify the Recipient field is mapped to your Email column and click Finish.

Step 4: Personalize with Merge Tags

1. Place your cursor where you want the recipient's name to appear within the Layout (e.g., after "Hello").
2. Type @ and select the First Name field from the list.
3. Once the layout and tags are ready, click Continue.
4. Click Send all.

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Important Notes

• Formatting Tags: Merge tags will adopt the font style, size, and color of the Layout text block they are placed in.
• Image Sizes: When using Layouts, use high-resolution images (at least 600px wide) to ensure they don't appear blurry.
• Editing Restrictions: Some layout structures are fixed; you can change the content (text/images) but not always the width of the columns.
• Mobile View: Layouts are responsive and will automatically adjust for viewing on iPhones or Android devices.