Mail Merge vs. Copy-Paste: The Efficiency Showdown

It is the classic dilemma: “I only have 10 emails to send. Should I set up a mail merge, or just copy-paste?” Let’s break down the math of efficiency.

1. The Setup Cost

• Copy-Paste: 0 minutes setup. You just start typing.
• Mail Merge: 5-10 minutes setup. You need a data source (spreadsheet) and a template.

2. The Execution Speed

• Copy-Paste: ~2 minutes per email (open, paste, edit name, check for errors, hit send).
  • 10 emails = 20 minutes.
  • 50 emails = 100 minutes.
• Mail Merge: ~1 minute to process all emails once setup is done.

3. The Break-Even Point

Where do the lines cross?

• If you have < 5 recipients, copy-paste is faster.
• If you have > 5 recipients, mail merge wins.
• If you have 50+ recipients, mail merge is the only option. Copy-pasting 50 times guarantees human error.

4. The Hidden Cost of Errors

The biggest cost of copy-paste isn’t time; it’s accuracy.

• Pasting “Dear Sarah” into Mike’s email.
• Forgetting to attach the file.
• Leaving the wrong company name in the body.

Mail merge is deterministic. If your data is right, every single email is right.

Conclusion

Stop copy-pasting. The setup time for automation pays for itself after just a handful of documents.

Scale your output. MergeCanvas allows you to generate thousands of documents with the reliability of code, eliminating copy-paste errors forever.