Campaign merge fields don't work in From Email field

I’m trying to set up an email that is sent from an address referenced by a campaign merge field. However, when I paste the variable reference into the “from” field in the email, it tells me to enter a valid email address.

Has anyone else experienced this and/or had any success in making it work?

I’ve also tried putting an underscore directly after the “Campaign.” in the reference. Same deal.

Thanks!

@Avery_Koranda, have you tried merging in a custom field (email type) instead of a campaign field? I do this with the new email builder and it does work…but it’s with a custom email field, not a campaign merge field.

If you’re using the campaign merge fields then it should be able to insert from the merge box button. Are you using this or trying to enter it by hand?

Hi @Cheryl_Hunt, yes, I’ve had success using custom fields. That’s a good clarification too, thanks!

@John_Borelli, using the merge buttons doesn’t work for the From fields (for me, at least – I don’t know what other peoples’ experiences have been).

What I’ve been doing is inserting the merge field in, say, the subject line box, and copying/pasting that value into the from email box. Like I mentioned to Cheryl, I’ve had success doing this with regular custom fields, I’m just having trouble with campaign merge fields.

That’s great, @Avery_Koranda! Are you using the email type custom field? I have a feeling that is the missing piece as to why it’s not possible using a campaign merge field as they don’t differentiate types of values.

@Avery_Koranda,

have you tried to create a new email? What I’m getting at is, I don’t see campaign merge fields in items that were created before I created the merge field, rather, only in items I created post-campaign merge field creation.

… had a similar issue and it turned out that:

The new email builder will allow a merge field in the from address only if it is an email field.

The legacy email builder still has the function to send email from a custom text field, so I bet that would work for campaign merge fields

I reported it as a bug a few months ago, but have not heard back so am not anticipating a fix / change. =(

@Mark_Price @Cheryl_Hunt what I’m hearing from you both is that it’s a type issue, where the campaign merge field isn’t specified as an email type, but using an email-type custom field would work?

Unfortunate, but it makes sense. Hopefully IS would consider adding this functionality in the future…

@John_Borelli,

I haven’t had any problems seeing the merge field show up, only that the from field doesn’t accept it as a valid email.

I also tested this by creating a campaign merge field, followed by creating a new email. Same problem. I think what I’ve been hearing is that campaign merge fields are a little behind custom fields in the level of detail they can hold, so I guess I’ll just have to hang tight until IS can come up with a solution.

Thanks for the response, I really appreciate it!

@Avery_Koranda, did you still have problems with using an email-type custom field merge field instead of a campaign merge field? That should work for you in the new builder.

Hi @Cheryl_Hunt, I have indeed had success using an email-type custom field merge field in the new builder. Only with the campaign merge fields have I had difficulties. :slight_smile:

The reason I was wanting to use one is that I had a campaign I needed to duplicate for several companies, and I would rather edit the from field once for each copy of the campaign rather than for every email. I ended up buckling down and just making manual changes, since it seems that campaign merge fields aren’t quite where they could be at this point.

Got it! Your use case makes sense now, @Avery_Koranda. For our clients who we’re not using “Owners” for and need to establish who the sending contact is, I’ve gotten in the habit of setting those custom fields right away in the campaign before any emails go out. You’re probably already doing that.

I’m on the Partner Advisory Group (PAG) so I’ll bring this up in our next product meeting.

@Cheryl_Hunt, thanks for that! I do appreciate it.

Could you explain what you mean by setting those custom fields in the campaign?

Sure, so in the first sequence following the Start Goal, add these processes in that sequence before any emails are sent out: https://www.screencast.com/t/5ithCzTet

Then configure your Sending Name and Email using your custom merge fields.

Ohh, I understand now. That’s an idea I’ll have to look into. Thanks for the tip!

You bet :slight_smile: Glad to help!

Hi, the video has disappeared :frowning: Can you post it again?
Thank you!