Glossary
What is Merge field?
A merge field is a placeholder in a text, such as {first_name}, that's replaced with each recipient's own details when the message is sent.
Merge fields let one message read as if it was written for each person. 'Hi {first_name}, your MOT is due next month' goes out as 'Hi Dan...' to Dan and 'Hi Leila...' to Leila. Watch the length, because it changes from person to person and a long name can tip a text into a second part. And a contact with no first name on file gets a blank, so write the sentence so it still reads properly without one.
A car dealer in Swansea sending service reminders to 600 customers writes the text once, and every customer gets their own name at the top.
CaptiFi Connect has five merge fields, {first_name}, {last_name}, {full_name}, {phone} and {email}, filled from your contacts. They work on the Send SMS page, in templates, in campaigns and through the API. {phone} is always filled with the number. If a text goes to a typed number with no contact behind it, the name and email fields come out blank, so nobody receives a literal {first_name}.