Introduction
Personalization placeholders insert contact-specific information into a message, for example the recipient's first name. During sendout, Mapp Engage replaces each placeholder with the value stored for the contact.
Common Use Cases
Insert an attribute value into the message text, for example the first name in a greeting.
Insert contact-specific information into an HTML element, for example into a link address.
Insert message, group, or system data, for example the subject or the group name. See Placeholders for Message, Group, and System Data.
Show one of two variants depending on a condition. See Placeholders with Alternative Content.
Structure of Personalization Placeholders
Basic format
A placeholder starts with <% and ends with %>. Between them is the attribute reference in ${ }:
<%${user['FirstName']}%>For the notation of all attribute types, see Attribute References.
Behavior at sendout
Mapp Engage replaces the placeholder with the value stored for the contact. If no value is stored, nothing is inserted, but the text around the placeholder stays. For a contact without a first name, Dear <%${user['FirstName']}%>, becomes Dear ,.
If a value can be missing, use a placeholder with alternative content or a personalization rule with fallback content. See Personalization Rules.
Example: First name in a greeting
Dear <%${user['FirstName']}%>,For a contact with the first name Anna, the message shows Dear Anna,.
Inserting Placeholders into Messages
You can select most placeholders in the personalization expander during message creation. Placeholders for member attributes and custom attributes are entered manually. See Message Creation: Personalization (HTML Email) and Insert Personalizations into HTML Emails and SMS Messages.