Mail merge
A mail merge is a capability of database software, word processors, and some e-mail programs. Mail merge takes a standard form e-mail and populates it with personal information, such as e-mail address, name, address, and phone number of the recipient. The resulting messages will be unique for each person in a database, CSV (comma-separated values), or another source of structured data.
Example of a mail merge
For example, a standard mail merge form may look like the example below. In this example, each of the bracketed words (e.g., [address]) are the fields merged during the mail merge.
<<First_Name>> <<Last_Name>>
<<Address>> Dear <<First_Name>>, We would like to thank you <<First_Name>> for purchasing our product. Sincerely, Some company
With a program capable of mail merge, the program would pull the personal information and place the appropriate information into the above fields. So, one of the final outputted or sent results may look like the example below.
Bob Smith
1234 some street City, State Zip Dear Bob, We would like to thank you Bob for purchasing our product. Sincerely, Some company