How to Mail merge a party invite using Microsoft Word

Summary

This tutorial walks through the process of using Microsoft Word's mail merge feature to create and send personalized party invitations. It demonstrates how to select a template, customize it with a message, and use a database of contacts. The video guides viewers on how to add merge fields for personalization, preview the results, and send the invites via email. It also covers how to edit and update the recipient list, including adding new invitees and using filters for selective sending.

Takeaways

• 📄 Start with a blank Word document to create a party invitation template.
• 🔍 Use the 'File New' feature to access a variety of invitation templates.
• 📝 Customize the template by adding specific details like 'bring wine' and a contact name, such as 'respond to John Smith'.
• 💌 Access the 'Mailings' tab to begin the mail merge process for sending out invitations.
• 📋 Choose between creating a new list or using an existing one to manage your recipients.
• 🔑 Customize your recipient list by adding, renaming, or deleting columns to fit your needs.
• 🔍 Utilize merge fields to personalize the invitation text, such as inserting the recipient's first name.
• 📧 Prepare to send emails by ensuring the 'Email' field is included in your recipient list.
• 🚀 Complete the merge process by sending email messages, specifying a title like 'Party Invite', and choosing the HTML format.
• 📧 Check your Outlook inbox to confirm that the invitations have been successfully sent.
• 🔄 To add more recipients, edit the recipient list and filter if necessary to update the invitation for specific individuals.
• 🗓️ If there are changes, such as a date update, repeat the merge process to reflect these in the invitations.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the video session?

The main purpose of the video session is to demonstrate how to use mail merge in Microsoft Word to send party invitations to friends and colleagues.

How does one start creating a party invite template in Microsoft Word?

To start creating a party invite template in Microsoft Word, one should go to 'File', then 'New', and select a template from the list that appears.

What is the process of customizing the template with personal details?

After selecting the template, you can customize it by filling in the required details such as 'bring wine' and 'respond to John Smith'.

How does one access the mail merge feature in Word?

To access the mail merge feature in Word, you go to the 'Mailings' tab and select 'Start Mail Merge', then choose the type of document you want to create.

What are the options for selecting recipients in a mail merge?

The options for selecting recipients in a mail merge include creating a new list or using an existing list.

How can one create a new recipient list in Word?

To create a new recipient list, you simply type in the names and details of your friends and save the list, which then becomes a database table.

What can be done to customize the columns in the recipient list?

You can customize the columns by clicking in the column header, moving them up or down, renaming them, or deleting any unnecessary columns.

How does the video guide handle duplicate email addresses in the recipient list?

The video guide shows that if you put the same email address for different recipients, you will receive multiple copies of the email, one for each intended recipient.

What is the process of merging fields into the party invitation template?

You insert merge fields into the template by typing the desired text, such as 'Hi', and then inserting the first name field from the recipient list.

How does one preview the final result of the mail merge before sending?

You can preview the final result by clicking on 'Preview Results', which will show how the merged document will look with the recipient's information.

What steps are necessary to send the merged emails using Word?

To send the merged emails, you click 'Sent Email Messages', ensure you have the email field filled, give the email a title, choose the format (HTML is okay), and then click 'OK' to send.

How can one check if the emails have been sent successfully?

After sending, you should check your Outlook inbox to confirm that the emails have been received and that each recipient has received their personalized invitation.

What does the video suggest for adding new recipients to an existing list?

To add new recipients, you go back to the 'Mailings' tab, select 'Edit Recipient List', add the new person's details, and then update and save the list.

How can one filter the recipient list for a specific mail merge?

You can filter the recipient list by using the filtering options available in the 'Mailings' tab, such as filtering by surname, company, or city.

What should be done if you need to update the information for all recipients?

If updating information for all recipients, ensure that no filters are applied to the recipient list so that the update is sent to everyone.

Outlines

00:00

📩 Using Mail Merge for Party Invites

The speaker demonstrates how to utilize the mail merge feature in Microsoft Word to send out party invitations. They start with a blank document and select a template for the invitation, customizing it with specific details like 'bring wine' and a response to 'John Smith'. The tutorial then moves to the Mailings tab, where the user can either create a new list or use an existing one to manage the recipients. The speaker shows how to edit the list, add new recipients, and customize columns. The mail merge fields are used to personalize the invitation for each recipient, and the process concludes with sending the emails through Outlook, checking for successful delivery.

05:02

🔍 Filtering and Updating Recipient Lists

This paragraph focuses on managing and updating the recipient list for the mail merge process. The speaker explains how to add new recipients, such as 'Melanie Smith', and how to use the filtering options to select specific recipients based on criteria like surname. They demonstrate updating the recipient list by adding a new email address and sending the invitation to the new recipient through Outlook. The speaker also discusses the importance of removing filters when intending to send updates to all recipients and concludes by emphasizing the ease of using the mail merge feature for sending personalized party invitations to friends and family.

Keywords

💡Mail Merge

Mail Merge is a feature in Microsoft Word that allows users to create personalized documents by combining a main document with a list of items. In the video's context, it is used to send out party invitations by customizing each invitation with the recipient's name and other details. The script demonstrates how to use this feature to create a template for party invites and then merge it with a database of friends and family.

💡Template

A template in this video refers to a pre-designed document layout that can be used as a starting point for creating specific types of documents. The script mentions selecting a template for a party invite, which provides a structured format that can be personalized using the mail merge feature.

💡Recipients

Recipients are the individuals who will receive the final merged documents. The script discusses selecting recipients for the mail merge process, which can be done by creating a new list or using an existing one. This is crucial for ensuring that each party invitation is sent to the correct person.

💡Database

In the context of the video, a database refers to a collection of records, each containing information about the invitees, such as their names and email addresses. The script explains how to use an existing database or create a new one to store this information, which is then used in the mail merge process.

💡Merge Fields

Merge Fields are placeholders in the main document that will be replaced with data from the database during the mail merge process. The script shows how to insert merge fields for the first name, which will dynamically change to address each recipient personally in the party invitation.

💡Preview Results

Preview Results is a function in the mail merge process that allows users to see how the final document will look with the merged data. The script mentions using this feature to check the personalized invitations before finalizing the merge.

💡Outlook

Outlook is an email client used in the script to send out the merged party invitations via email. The video demonstrates how to configure the mail merge to send the invitations as HTML emails through Outlook, ensuring that the recipients receive a well-formatted message.

💡Edit Recipient List

Edit Recipient List is an option in the mail merge process that allows users to modify the database of recipients. The script shows how to add new invitees to the list or make changes to existing entries, which is essential for updating the invitation list.

💡Filtering

Filtering is a feature that enables users to select a subset of the database based on specific criteria. In the script, filtering by surname is demonstrated as a way to narrow down the list of recipients for a particular mail merge session.

💡Outbox

The Outbox in Outlook refers to the folder where sent emails are stored before they are actually transmitted. The script mentions checking the Outbox to ensure that the party invitations have been sent out correctly.

💡Inbox

Inbox is the folder in an email client where received messages are stored. The script suggests checking the Inbox to confirm that the party invitations have been received, indicating a successful mail merge and send process.

Highlights

Introduction to using Microsoft Word's mail merge feature for sending party invites.

Creating a new document from a template for a party invite.

Customizing the invite with specific details like 'bring wine' and contact information.

Accessing the Mailings tab to start the mail merge process.

Selecting recipients from a new or existing list for the mail merge.

Creating a new list by manually entering friend details and saving it as a database.

Customizing the database columns to fit specific needs, such as renaming 'zip code' to 'postal code'.

Using an existing list and editing it to include personal details.

Merging data into the invite document using merge fields for personalization.

Previewing the merge results to see how the personalized invites will appear.

Completing the merge process and sending email messages directly from Word.

Configuring email settings such as title and format before sending.

Checking Outlook to verify that the emails have been sent and received.

Adding new recipients to the database and updating the merge list.

Using filters to manage and update the recipient list for selective sending.

Demonstrating how to remove filters to ensure all recipients receive updates.

Concluding the tutorial with a summary of how to use mail merge for party invitations.

Transcripts

hi guys welcome to this session in

Microsoft Word in this module I want to

show you how you can use mail merge to

send party invites to your friends and

colleagues so on the screen I've got a

blank Word document which I'm going to

change and get a template party invite

so to do that I'm going file new

and what you get when you do file new is

a list of all these little templates

I've just recently used this one so

that's the one I'm going to use and

basically just typed it in there

invite and these this came up along with

a lot of other ones so I'll select this

one

and then I'm going to create it click on

Create and then that sits on my screen

ready to be

sent along with

whatever I need to bring so let's just

put something in here

I'll just put bring wine

bring wine

uh and respond

to John

Smith

that's all I need to fill in there

now

I need to get my database of friends and

family so up onto the mailings tab so

this is a mail merge tutorial really you

start over here I don't need to change

this because this is already sitting on

the screen but

select recipients you've got options to

create a new list or use an existing

list

so if you create a new list

you just basically type in your friends

there and then you save this and it

becomes like a a database table you can

customize the columns by clicking in

here moving them up or down renaming

them so for example

this is a UK based one so that would be

zip code in the US

rename that you can delete anything that

you don't think you need

and totally change this around if you

want but I'm gonna

cancel it off and cancel this off

because I've already got one that I've

filled in so if I go back up here and

select use existing list

previous ones are sitting here so my

data's just got two people in it

if I go into that now if you edit the

list you can see that the two people are

myself

my wife and if I come to the right

I've put the um the same

email address in so that I should get

two copies of this email but one to meet

myself and one to my wife so I'll just

click ok to that and then you can edit

this text and fill it fill it in with

any of these merge Fields so what I need

to put in there is hi

and then just get the first name field

from here you see all the fields are

sitting here now

put that in there comes in with a bit of

code but if you click on this preview

results that'll go

so it shows you the end result just

change that to low okay so that's going

to say hi Steve

you've been invited to celebrate with us

and that will say

hi Elana for my wife that's how it works

and then you're ready to finish the

merge so if I click

sent email messages

now for this to work you do have to have

the email field

otherwise you're doing it by post email

address and then you give it

a title so party

invite for example

and it's going as HTML which is okay you

click it okay to that and then it will

send the emails and then I'll just go

into Outlook

to check that they've been received so

I'll just click ok to this

and it just words away for a second and

then you now need to go and check in

Outlook

so I'll just go into Outlook and check

and there you can see

hi Steve there's mine and then

this one says hi Alana so for each

record in your database list They will

receive this information I didn't fill

the information in but you get the

process so let's go back into word

so that's the source document if you

need to add extra people and do it again

you can just go into edit recipient list

click on the database my data and then

edit

and then you can add a new person

so I'll just put one person in there

miss

Melanie

Smith

um I'm sure she won't like her name in

lower case so I'll just get rid of that

and then

I'll just go and do an email I'll do the

same email myself again

Steve at

it's easy dot Co dot UK now

if you if you add in extra people you

probably wouldn't want to

send every single thing again so what

you need to do here is maybe filter it

so if I just drop this down

you've got options of filtering here so

if I just do that

and then okay

do you want to update your recipient

list and save the changes to my yes

so now I've only got one person that's a

new person

so filtering by surname is probably not

a good idea but in this case it'll work

you could filter it by company or city

or whatever

now click ok to that

so now it's just got one and there is

one record

so that's just the one record that I've

just added and then you can finish same

thing

everything else is exactly the same you

click OK and off that will go into

Outlook the outbox of Outlook and then

send and then you just check your inbox

and then that should be there as well

so that's just dropped in so there's the

three all together and this one is to

Melanie so you've just updated it so

that's how you would do that and then if

you're going to use this database list

over and over again you probably want to

get that filter off so what I'm going to

do is go back into that go back edit the

list

click on it edit and just make sure that

everything's back as it was

everything's there all three records

there's no filter on

yes

so the filters on here so take that off

equal to Smith so

none

okay

back as normal so if I did it again

every everybody would get the message or

the update so if you're going to update

the date for example the dates changed

that's what you'd have to do so that's

all I want to talk about in this little

video how to use mail merge to send a

party invitation to your family and

friends so hopefully it's been of use

thank you for your time and I'll catch

you in the next one