Purpose:
The purpose of this article is to provide information to Outreach Users regarding Variables.
Variables allow information to auto-populate in an email template or snippet, making your emails relevant to the participant. Variables might go by merge fields, placeholder, or custom fields in other applications, but it’s all the same idea; information that already exists within the profile information of the prospect will auto-populate into the email.
Intended Audience:
- Outreach Users
Notes:
- Users receiving a Template Syntax Error message must check the template thoroughly for erroneous content, including additional/missing brackets, Unicode characters, or unsupported variables. If these have been reviewed, copy/paste the snippet or template plaintext into the compose window. Contact Outreach Support if the issue persists.
- Missing Template Variable error messages indicates the sequence template references variables not populated on the Prospects Profile. For example, missing nickname, company name, etc. Users must review the template thoroughly and update as applicable.
- When using Variables in Manual Email Tasks, no variables will populate if a single variable is incorrect. If you see Variables not populating, ensure all variables are correct.
Finding the List of Available Variables:
- Access the Outreach Platform.
- Create a new Template, Snippet, Single or Bulk email.
- On the compose window, click on the brackets and select the list of variables you're interested in adding. We provide prospect, sender, account, and a list of miscellaneous variables to choose from. Make sure you scroll through the list to see all of your options.
- As you create your content, you can type or select the variables included in the variable menu. If creating an email template, you can include variables in the subject line.
- All prospect fields, including custom fields, will be auto-populated. When the variable pulls the field into the template, the message will be personalized for each prospect that is scheduled to receive the email template/snippet.
- You can reference the preview panel on the right, which pulls in a few of your prospects so you can see exactly how the text will appear. If the field is populated in the prospect profile, the variable will turn yellow.
Note: If the information is not populated, the field will turn red. As a safeguard, emails with red highlighted variables, or no information to populate, will not be delivered.
Variable Types
Outreach has a large database of variables available for you to use in any of your content. The different variable types are outlined below:
| Variable Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Prospect Variable | All Prospect fields, including customer fields can be auto-populated. |
| Account Variables | Variables can also be pulled from the account if the information is available on the account profile in Outreach. The account variable options are found under the account option in the variable menu. |
| Sender Variables | Sender variables allow all Outreach users to use templates without the concern of attaching one user's information to another user's Prospect. The most common example is the {{sender.first_name}}, which inserts the name of the user whose mailbox is used to send the email. The input fields for the sender variables are found under each individual Outreach user's settings. |
| Miscellaneous Variables | Miscellaneous variables include conditional variables, comments, and day of the week variables. |
| Conditional Variables |
Conditional variables say "if the condition is true, then use specified language." These variables are powerful to use when you want conditional language where you can specify a word or phrase to be used if a certain statement is true (i.e. if no first name, then say_) or how to follow through if the statement is false. For example, the conditional variable: |
| Comments | Comments can be used in manual email steps to help you remember to make note of something. You will see this note and be notified to insert appropriate text. For example, research you've done on the Prospect that is relevant to the Prospect you're attempting to contact. Variables that require manual action before delivery will be highlighted blue, and have an exclamation point inside of the front double brackets. Variables formatted with the exclamation point tell Outreach that the email cannot be delivered until the required information is added. |
| Helpers | The {{format_number}} variable can be used with number fields such as score to display the value in that field in an easy to ready format. For example, using {{format_number score}} with a Prospect whose score field is "1.0" will display "1" in your template instead. |
| Dates | Variables based on the "day of the week" are a powerful way to personalize your emails and increase the reply rate from Prospects by customizing language based on the day of the week. These variables can be found when creating email templates in the variable menu under miscellaneous. |
Hyperlinking Variables:
Users can customize a hyperlink to be unique for each Prospect by incorporating Variables into the URL of the hyperlink.
These variables will need to be handwritten rather than added via the variables button, so Outreach recommends Users review carefully for typographical errors.
Example:
To use the First Name variable as part of a link to Wikipedia for a Prospect's name, e.g: https://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/{{first_name}}
Available Variables:
Prospect Variables
These variables are all based on fields in each prospect's profile.
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| {{first_name}} | First Name |
| {{middle_name}} | Middle Name |
| {{last_name}} | Last Name |
| {{name}} | Name |
| {{nickname}} | Nickname |
| {{email}} | |
| {{mobile_phone}} | Mobile Phone |
| {{work_phone}} | Work Phone |
| {{home_phone}} | Home Phone |
| {{voip_phone}} | VoIP Phone |
| {{other_phone}} | Other Phone |
| {{score}} | Score |
| {{company}} | Company |
| {{company_industry}} | Company Industry |
| {{company_natural}} | Company Natural Name |
| {{title}} | Title |
| {{city}} | City |
| {{state}} | State |
| {{country}} | Country |
| {{region}} | Region |
| {{gender}} | Gender |
| {{occupation}} | Occupation |
| {{linked_in}} | LinkedIn URL |
| {{twitter}} | Twitter URL |
| {{facebook}} | Facebook URL |
| {{github}} | Github URL |
| {{stack_overflow}} | Stack Overflow URL |
| {{google_plus}} | Google Plus URL |
| {{website}} | Website |
| {{website2}} | Website 2 |
| {{website3}} | Website 3 |
| {{school}} | School |
| {{degree}} | Degree |
| {{graduation_date}} | Graduation Date |
| {{job_start_date}} | Job Start Date |
| {{personal_note1}} | Personal Note 1 |
| {{personal_note2}} | Personal Note 2 |
| {{address_street}} | Address 1 |
| {{address_street2}} | Address 2 |
| {{address_zip}} | Zip/Postal Code |
| {{owner}} | Owner Name |
| {{stage}} | Prospect Stage |
Custom Variables
All custom prospect fields are also available for use following this format:
{{custom#}} - Custom # i.e {{custom1}} - Custom 1
Account Variables
These variables are based on fields in the profile of the account associated with your prospect.
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| {{account.name}} | Account Name |
| {{account.natural_name}} | Account Natural Name |
| {{account.domain}} | Account Domain |
| {{account.description}} | Account Description |
| {{account.company_type}} | Account Company Type |
| {{account.size}} | Account Size |
| {{account.industry}} | Account Industry |
| {{account.founded_at}} | Account Founded Date |
| {{account.locality}} | Account Locality |
| {{account.website}} | Account Website |
| {{account.linked_in}} | Account LinkedIn URL |
| {{account.linked_in_employees}} | Account LinkedIn Employee Count |
Custom Variables
All custom account fields are also available for use following this format:
{{account.custom#}} - Account Custom # i.e {{account.custom1}} - Account Custom 1
Sender Variables
These variables are based on fields in the sender's Outreach user profile.
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| {{sender.first_name}} | Sender First Name |
| {{sender.last_name}} | Sender Last Name |
| {{sender.name}} | Sender Full Name |
| {{sender.email}} | Sender Email |
| {{sender.title}} | Sender Title |
| {{sender.phone_number}} | Sender Phone Number |
| {{sender.calendar_url}} | Calendar URL |
| {{sender.conference_url}} | Conference URL |
| {{sender.conference_details}} | Conference Details |
| {{org.name}} | Org Name |
Custom Variables
All 5 custom sender fields are also available for use following this format:
{{sender.custom#}} - Sender Custom # i.e {{sender.custom1}} - Sender Custom 1
Misc. Variables
These are miscellaneous variables which are based on a combination of generic variables (not associated with prospects, accounts, or senders) and prospect variables.
Conditionals
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| {{#if first_name}}{{/if}} | If First Name field is set, then do something. |
| {{#if first_name}}{{else}}{{/if}} | If First Name field is set, then do something. Otherwise, do something else. |
| {{#unless first_name}}{{/unless}} | If First Name field is not set, then do something. |
| {{#unless first_name}}{{else}}{{/unless}} | If First Name field is not set, then do something. Otherwise, do something else. |
| {{#if is_monday}}{{/if}} | If the current date is Monday, then do something. * |
| {{#if is_tuesday}}{{/if}} | If the current date is Tuesday, then do something. * |
| {{#if is_wednesday}}{{/if}} | If the current date is Wednesday, then do something. * |
| {{#if is_thursday}}{{/if}} | If the current date is Thursday, then do something. * |
| {{#if is_friday}}{{/if}} | If the current date is Friday, then do something. * |
| {{#if is_saturday}}{{/if}} | If the current date is Saturday, then do something. * |
| {{#if is_sunday}}{{/if}} | If the current date is Sunday, then do something. * |
| {{#if is_weekday}}{{/if}} | If the current date is a weekday, then do something. * |
| {{#if is_weekend}}{{/if}} | If the current date is a weekend, then do something. * |
* Note: For these variables, current date will be calculated based on org time zone.
Comments
{{! Comment goes here }} - This variable will stay the way it is written and is meant to be used as a placeholder for custom text written by the user. An email cannot be sent as long as this variable is present in the email.
Helpers
{{format_number [variable that needs formatting]}} - Format a numeric variable in a human-friendly manner (i.e. 1.0 becomes 1, 1000 becomes 1,000). For example, if {{custom1}} was 1800.00, {{format_number custom1}} would return 1,800.
Dates
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| {{today}} | Will return the day of the week when the email is drafted. |
| {{tomorrow}} | Will return the day of the week for the day after email is drafted. |
| {{days_from_now N}} | Will return the day of the week for the Nth day after the email is drafted. |
| {{weekdays_from_now N}} | Will return the day of the week for the Nth day after the email is drafted, but will only count weekdays. |
Note: For all Dates variables, current date will be calculated based on org time zone.
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