If you send a lot of emails for sales, recruiting, or partnerships, you know the pain: generic messages get ignored, but personalizing every single one by hand is a slog. That’s why tools like Superwave exist—they promise to help you send emails that don’t make people groan and hit delete.
But using templates at scale can go sideways fast. This guide is for anyone who wants to send better, more personal emails without spending all day copying and pasting.
Let’s get practical.
Why Personalization Matters (and Where People Mess It Up)
People can spot mail-merge “personalization” a mile away. If your emails start with “Hi {FirstName},” and mention the company they work at, congrats: you sound like everyone else.
Personalization that works feels real—like you actually know something about the person. The trick is to do that without writing a bespoke email to every single lead.
What actually works: - Referencing something specific (a recent project, shared connection, or article they wrote) - Matching your message to their role or pain point - Sounding like a human, not a script
What doesn’t: - Just slapping their name and company into a template - Overly formal intros (“I hope this email finds you well…”) - Overdoing flattery (“Your company is so innovative!”)
Step 1: Build a Template That Doesn’t Suck
A good template does most of the work, but leaves space for you to add a touch of real personalization.
How to write a better base template:
- Keep it short. People don’t read long cold emails.
- Write like you talk. Imagine explaining your pitch to a friend, not a committee.
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Leave blanks for real personalization. For example:
Hi {{first_name}},
I saw your post about {{topic}}—loved your take on {{detail}}. I work with {{company}}, and I think there’s a fit for {{specific reason}}.
Would you be open to a quick chat next week?
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Skip the fake rapport-building. No one cares if it’s raining in their city.
Pro tip: Write three versions of your opener and call-to-action. Rotate them so your emails don’t all sound the same.
Step 2: Get Your Data Right
Superwave lets you pull in data fields to fill out your template. But garbage in, garbage out. Most email fails happen because the data is messy, wrong, or just too generic.
What you’ll need: - A solid spreadsheet or CRM export with fields like name, company, role, recent activity, etc. - Bonus fields: things like “recent blog post,” “shared connection,” or “pain point”—these make your emails sound way less generic.
What to watch out for: - Incomplete fields (no first name, or missing custom details) - Weird formatting (all caps names, typos) - Data that’s obviously scraped. If you wouldn’t say it out loud, don’t put it in your email.
How to fix it: - Do a quick manual scan for weird entries. - Use formulas to clean up names (e.g., proper capitalization). - For your best leads, consider hand-adding a sentence or detail.
Step 3: Set Up Your Superwave Template
Once your data’s solid, it’s time to build the actual template in Superwave.
Here’s how to do it (without losing your mind):
- Load your contact list. Make sure field names match the variables you’ll use.
- Draft your template. Use double curly braces for fields:
{{first_name}},{{company}}, etc. - Add “personalization snippets.” This is where you can get clever. For example:
{{recent_activity}}: “Saw you just launched X”{{pain_point}}: “Noticed you’re hiring a lot of engineers”
- Preview before sending. Superwave shows you how each email looks with real data plugged in.
What not to do: - Don’t try to automate everything. Some details need a human touch. - Don’t send a “test” blast to your whole list. Always spot-check.
Pro tip: Use conditional fields when you might not have data for every contact. For example:
{{#if recent_activity}} I saw your recent {{recent_activity}}—impressive! {{else}} I’ve been following your work at {{company}}. {{/if}}
This stops your emails from saying things like “I saw your recent —impressive!” (which is a dead giveaway that you’re using a robot).
Step 4: Personalize—But Don’t Overthink It
Here’s where most people burn out: they try to add a unique sentence for every single person. That’s not scalable, and honestly, it’s not always necessary.
What actually helps: - Prioritize your best leads for extra personalization. Give them a custom opener or reference. - For the rest, rely on your template and solid data fields. - If you see something odd in the preview, fix it, but don’t chase perfection.
What to ignore: - Trying to make every email totally unique. If your base template is strong and your data’s clean, you’re 80% of the way there. - Overly complex logic. If you’re spending more time on the template than on talking to real people, you’re missing the point.
Pro tip: Block off an hour to personalize batches of 20–30 emails. That’s usually the sweet spot before your brain turns to mush.
Step 5: Hit Send—But Monitor What Happens
The real test isn’t how clever your email is. It’s whether people actually reply.
Track these things: - Open rates (just to make sure your emails are landing) - Reply rates (this is what actually matters) - Quality of replies (are people interested, or just saying “take me off your list”?)
What to adjust: - If people aren’t replying, try a different opener or subject line. - If you’re getting called out for being generic, up your personalization for top targets. - If your bounce rate’s high, check your contact list for bad emails.
What not to stress about: - Open rates alone. Sometimes emails get opened and ignored. Focus on replies. - “Best time to send” advice. There’s no magic hour—just avoid weekends and holidays.
What About AI Personalization?
A lot of tools—including Superwave—offer AI to write or enhance your personalization. This can help, but don’t expect miracles.
Here’s the deal: - AI can suggest talking points or pull LinkedIn data, but it’s not magic. - The best results come when you edit or approve what the AI suggests. - If everyone is using the same AI-generated lines, you’ll all sound the same.
Quick tip: Use AI as a helper, not a replacement. Let it draft ideas, then tweak so it sounds like you.
Common Pitfalls (and How to Dodge Them)
- Over-automation: If your email could be sent to anyone, it probably shouldn’t be sent to anyone.
- Broken fields: Always preview. “Hi , I loved your post about .”
- Being too clever: If you’re trying to “hack” personalization, you’re missing the point. Simple and genuine works.
Templates and Snippets You Can Steal
Here are a few starter templates you can use (or tweak):
Networking:
Hi {{first_name}},
Loved your recent {{recent_activity}}—especially your point about {{specific_detail}}.
I’m working with {{company}} and thought there could be a good fit for {{reason}}. Open to a quick chat?
Sales:
Hey {{first_name}},
Saw that {{company}} is tackling {{pain_point}}. We’ve helped similar teams like {{reference_company}} do X.
Worth a quick call to see if this could help?
Recruiting:
Hi {{first_name}},
Noticed your background in {{skill}}—impressive work at {{company}}.
We’re building {{project}} and think you’d be a great fit. Interested in chatting?
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Don’t Overthink It
Personalizing emails at scale isn’t about tricking people—it’s about not sounding like a robot. Use a strong template, plug in real details, and spend your energy on the leads that matter most.
Start simple, check your work, and don’t be afraid to tweak as you go. The goal isn’t a perfect system—it’s sending emails that people actually want to answer. That’s more than most people manage. Good luck.