Personalisation dramatically improves engagement. Generic messages achieve 5–10% response rates, while well-personalised ones reach 40–50%.

According to Dalil's data, personalisation increases:

Open rates by 45–50%
Click rates by 40–45%
Response rates by 30–40%
While decreasing unsubscribe rates

Merge tags

Merge tags pull contact data from CRM records into your messages automatically:

Tag	What it inserts
`{{first_name}}`	Contact's first name
`{{last_name}}`	Contact's last name
`{{company_name}}`	Their company name
`{{title}}`	Their job title
`{{owner}}`	Their assigned sales rep
`{{custom_field}}`	Any custom field value

Use merge tags to create relevance without manual editing of each message.

Best practices for personalisation

Personalise the opening hook with specific research about the prospect (recent news, funding, new product)
Layer multiple data points rather than relying solely on first name
Avoid overly invasive details that might feel creepy or intrusive
Use personal signatures with merge tags for the sender's name and title
Preview messages with sample contacts before publishing to verify all tags populate correctly

Conditional messaging

Send different message versions based on contact characteristics:

Separate enterprise versus SMB messaging
Different value propositions by industry
Adjusted tone based on seniority (VP vs. individual contributor)

Use Conditions in the sequence flow to route different contacts to different message steps based on their data.

A/B testing

Compare two message variations to identify what resonates:

In any step, click A/B Test
Create variant B (and optionally C)
Set the audience split (e.g., 50/50)
Monitor opens, clicks, and replies in the Analytics tab

What to test:

Subject lines (curiosity vs. direct, personalised vs. generic)
Opening hooks (research-based vs. value-first vs. question-based)
Call-to-action style (hard: "book now" vs. soft: "open to a quick chat?")
Send timing (morning vs. afternoon)

Best practices for A/B testing:

Test one variable at a time
Run tests with at least 50–100 contacts per variation
Allow 5–7 days before drawing conclusions
Document successful tests and share findings with the team

Channel-specific guidance

Email

Allows detailed, structured copy with formatting. Personalise the subject line and first sentence. Keep total length under 150 words for cold outreach.

Demands conciseness (300–500 characters). Open with something genuinely specific to the person. Avoid marketing language.

Emphasises direct, conversational tone. Write like you're texting someone you know. Emojis used sparingly are fine.

Using Personalization & Messaging