Leads & lists5 steps

Custom variables from import columns

Any CSV column that is not a standard field becomes a {{variable}} you can drop into subjects and bodies, and it is editable per lead on the lead card.

Where: Leads → Import CSV → Map columns → "Custom variable {{ }}" · Lead card → All fields → Custom fields · Leads → Columns → Imported columns

How to do it

  1. Import a CSV. Any column the dialog does not recognise is badged Custom field and its variable name is shown in the Preview column, e.g. {{pain_point}} for a "Pain Point" header. You can also force any column to Custom variable {{ }} from the dropdown.
  2. In the campaign editor, type the variable exactly as shown into a subject or body, e.g. "I saw your work on {{recent_project}}". Add a fallback with a pipe when a lead might be missing it: {{recent_project|your site}}.
  3. To see or change a lead's values, open the lead card, go to the All fields tab, and click Edit details. Custom fields are listed with their {{key}} chip; long values get a multi-line box.
  4. Drag a custom field up or down on the All fields tab to change the order it appears in — the order is saved for your whole workspace.
  5. To show a custom column in the Leads table, click Columns and tick it under Imported columns.

Good to know

  • The variable name is the header lowercased with spaces turned into underscores. Keep headers to letters, numbers, spaces and underscores — other punctuation cannot be referenced with {{ }}.
  • Two headers that produce the same name (e.g. "Notes" and "notes") both import; the second becomes {{notes_2}}.
  • Empty cells are not stored, so that lead simply has no value for the variable.
  • Built-in variables always available: {{first_name}}, {{last_name}}, {{company}}, {{title}}, {{city}}, {{country}}, {{industry}}, {{employee_count}}, {{website}}, {{phone}}, {{email}}.
  • A custom variable that is empty for a lead simply renders as blank text — the step still sends. Only the built-in name and company fields protect you: if {{first_name}}, {{last_name}}, {{company}}, {{title}}, {{city}} or {{email}} is empty for a lead and there is no fallback, that step is skipped for that lead (the lead's activity reads "Skipped step N — missing <variable>" and the campaign's skipped count goes up). Add a fallback, e.g. {{recent_project|your site}}, to any custom variable a lead might be missing so nothing goes out with a hole in it.
  • Editing a custom field to an empty value removes it from that lead. Edits save automatically three seconds after you stop typing.
  • Re-importing a CSV with merge on adds new variables and overwrites existing ones with the same name; variables not in the file are left alone.

More in Leads & lists

Leads & listsBrowsing, searching and filtering your leadsThe Leads page is every person in your workspace in one table, with a search box, Status and Campaign filters, and a Columns picker that includes every column you ever imported.Leads & listsCreating and deleting listsLists are the folders your leads live in; a lead belongs to one list at a time, and deleting a list permanently deletes the leads in it.Leads & listsImporting leads from a CSVUpload a CSV, map each column to a field (only Email is required), and the import runs on our servers in the background — each new lead takes room in your workspace; updates are free.Leads & listsDaily Drip: verify a big list a set number a day, into one or more campaignsUpload a list of up to 50,000 once. On each campaign's sending days, just before its window opens, MailFleet checks that campaign's share of the next addresses with your plan's daily email checks and adds the results you choose to it — so you don't need checks for the whole list up front, or to upload it in chunks.

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