Moving a Template to Another Email Tool? Convert the Merge Tags First

Convert the tags before you paste the template, or the first send prints them. Each tool has its own field names and its own wrapper, so Hi {{firstName}}, from Instantly reaches a Mailchimp subscriber as typed. Paste the subject and body into the merge tag converter, pick the tool you're moving to, and copy the converted version; it lists every tag it changed, the custom fields you need to create, and any fallback the target can't hold inline.

Sources, read 2 November 2026: Instantly: variables and personalized lines, Smartlead: variables, lemlist: variables and custom variables, Mailchimp: merge fields and merge tags, HubSpot: personalization tokens, Brevo: contact attributes, Klaviyo: personalization reference, GMass: personalization guide and Mailmeteor: personalization.

The same first name, eight ways

Tool	First name	Company	Custom field	Fallback in the tag
Instantly	{{firstName}}	{{companyName}}	{{columnName}}, matching the CSV header	Placeholder set in the campaign
Smartlead	{{first_name}}	{{company_name}}	Mapped CSV column name	Not in the pages above
lemlist	{{firstName}}	{{companyName}}	Column name, case sensitive	Not in the pages above
Mailchimp	*|FNAME|*	Audience field you create	*|TAG|* set on the audience field	Default value set on the field
HubSpot	{{ contact.firstname }}	{{ contact.company }}	{{ contact.internal_name }}	Default set when inserting the token
Brevo	{{ contact.FIRSTNAME }}	Attribute you create	{{ contact.ATTRIBUTE }}, case sensitive	default filter, or Value if empty in the editor
Klaviyo	{{ first_name }}	{{ person.organization }}	{{ person|lookup:'Property' }}	{{ first_name|default:'friend' }}
GMass	{FirstName}	{Company}	{Header}	{FirstName|Friend}

Three details trip people up. Mailchimp's default audience fields (FNAME, LNAME, ADDRESS, PHONE) can be renamed, so an older audience may use different tags. HubSpot tokens use the property's internal name, which can differ from its label. And Klaviyo's tags are case sensitive: its reference writes city and country as {{ person.City }} and {{ person.Country }}.

Step by step

1. Copy one step at a time from the old tool, subject and body, tags and all.
2. Paste it into the merge tag converter and choose the target. Standard fields (first and last name, email, company, title, website, phone, city, country, LinkedIn) map to the target's built-in tags where it has them; everything else becomes a custom variable in the target's naming style.
3. Read the notes. They list custom fields to create and fallbacks that were dropped because the target has no inline syntax. Set those defaults in the tool, or fill the blanks first with the first name cleaner.
4. Check spintax and platform tags. Single-brace spintax like {Hi|Hey} and tags such as *|UNSUB|* are left as written. Unsubscribe tags differ by platform too; unsubscribe link merge tags has them.
5. Export the contacts with matching columns and map each column to the field its tag reads.
6. Check the data and the addresses. The mail merge field checker lists rows a tag would print blank for; the verify page checks which addresses exist before the import.
7. Send yourself a test using a real contact record, and preview a contact with blank fields.

Honest limits

• Tag names come from each tool's help docs; your account's custom fields may be named differently, so a test send is still required.
• Conditional blocks (Mailchimp *|IF:|*, HubL if statements, Liquid tags) are kept as written, not translated.
• Converting the template doesn't move contacts, recreate custom fields or tell you whether the fields are filled.

Where SimpleVerifier fits

Before the converted sequence goes live, upload the contact list on the verify page; the first 100 checks are free with a Google sign-in. Pro is $39 a month with the first 100,000 checks a month at full speed, then slower, never cut off. See pricing.