There are times when you need to send correspondences with multiple persons. Finishing the task gets harder the longer the list becomes. If you are dealing with hundreds or thousands of letters, then doing everything manually would be inefficient. You need to find ways to automate the process to cut the work time significantly. Outlook offers a way to do this within the program. You won’t need to get anything else. Just discover the feature and follow the wizard. Once you master it, you can do it on your own and play around with the settings. Here is a guide on how to mail merge:

Make a List

For this kind of operation, it would be best to make use of three different MS Office products including Excel, Word, and Outlook. Create a spreadsheet containing all of the information about each recipient. For example, there should be a column for their first names, last names, addresses, emails, salutations, phone numbers, and other pertinent details. This will make it so much easier to insert each of these items into the email or letter eventually. If you already have a database of names, then it should be trivial to turn that into a spreadsheet. You may also input the address list directly into Outlook.

Make a Document

Write what you need to say in a Word document. Compose the bulk of the letter without worrying about how the mail merge might work in the beginning. Just focus on producing the right kind of content for the target audience. Check the spelling and grammar before sending it to minimize errors. It should be engaging and easy to read. After all that, determine the parts of the letter that must contain unique information about the recipient. For example, you might want to mention their name and salutation in the initial greetings. Mark each instance so that you can make the necessary changes later with ease.

Combine Them in Outlook

Open the how to mail merge wizard. You can find it in different ways depending on the version of Outlook that you are using. It is usually in the Tools menu under Letters and Mailings. You could also search for mail merge on the program to find a link and guide. Follow the prompts and you will be good to go. Select the option to write a letter and use what you just composed. The wizard will ask for a data source so point them to the spreadsheet. Modify as you see fit.

Mail merge is a great tool for bulk mails so get familiar with it.