1. Mail Merge

2. Learning Objectives: At the end of this topic you should be able to:
define the term mail merge,
describe the steps involved in performing the mail merge process,
describe the advantages & disadvantages of using mail merge;

3. What is Mail Merge? The process of using: a standard document …..
created in a word processing (or DTP package)
combined with information from a data source …..
usually held in a spreadsheet or database
names, addresses ....
to create a personalised copy of a document
to be sent to many different people
examples: letters, address labels, school reports, ….

4. Mail Merge: The Documents

5. Mail Merge Completed

6. Mail Merge process create data source create document
as a spreadsheet or database
create document
letter, address label ….
link data source to document
insert merge fields from the data source
where the data from the data source is to be inserted
e.g. Dear <title> <surname> will become Dear Mr Hunter
check merge fields with data preview
complete merge
to printer or multiple documents

7. The Advantages of Mail Merge:
speeds up creation
very quick to produce multiple copies of .....
allows other work to be done in same time
single data source can be used
does not require it to be created specially
ensures consistency
standard document less likely to have errors
only needs to be checked once
can select individuals to receive material
by using field codes (IF, NEXT, SKIPIF, ....)

8. The Disadvantages of Mail Merge:
mail merged letters can lack a personal touch
because the only individual part in a mail merged document is the data merged from the database.
can take a long time to set up initially
may not be worth it for a one-off job
can create vast amounts of junk mail
annoys recipients  self-defeating (mailshots not read)?