Email provider setup and merge-tag recipes
Use Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo, ConvertKit, GetResponse, AWeber, SendGrid, HubSpot or a connected sender.
3 min read
Screenshots show the real application in an isolated demo environment with fictional example data. Setup notices and controls may differ by environment, plan and role. Click an image to view it full-size, and always use the values generated in your own workspace.
What the provider selector does
The selector supplies a setup recipe and supported tag syntax. It does not connect your mailing list, create custom fields or send a newsletter for you. Your sending platform must replace the tags with actual values during a real send.
Use its personalization menu or the generated recipe to check syntax. Editor-only previews do not always substitute recipient tags. A copied URL containing literal braces or percent signs may be a template rather than the final recipient URL.
Recipient identity by provider
- Mailchimp: the recipe uses *|UNIQID|* for the stable recipient ID and *|FNAME|* for first-name personalization.
- ActiveCampaign: the recipe uses %CONTACTID% for identity and %FIRSTNAME% for first name.
- ConvertKit: the recipe uses subscriber.id and subscriber.first_name in its template syntax.
- Klaviyo, GetResponse, AWeber and HubSpot: follow the generated countdown_id custom-field recipe; do not assume a ready-made opaque ID exists in every account.
- SendGrid dynamic templates: provide countdown_id, first_name, full_name and any used custom1/custom2 values in dynamic_template_data.
- Kickpages: tag syntax depends on the connected email sender. Insert verified tags from that sender’s personalization menu; no universal Kickpages recipient tag is assumed.
Set up custom fields
- 1Create the named countdown_id field in your sending platform if the recipe requires it.
- 2Populate it with a unique opaque value per recipient and keep that value stable across future sends and clicks. Do not populate everyone with the same test value.
- 3Create custom1 and custom2 only if your artwork uses them. Populate the corresponding name fields if you use name personalization.
- 4Send to two test contacts with different IDs and inspect the resulting image and link URLs. Confirm that all tags were replaced and that each recipient retains their own window.
Missing values and URL encoding
Avoid putting raw email addresses or sensitive custom values in public URLs. URL query values must be encoded correctly; use the supported generated HTML rather than manually concatenating unescaped values containing spaces or ampersands.
If a field is blank, fix the contact data or stop using that field. Guessing a tag name does not create a field. Keep a short provider-specific test checklist for your team before a live send.