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Using Mail Merge to Send Personalized Feedback

Teachers, managers, and editors: stop writing the same email 50 times. Use mail merge to deliver detailed, personalized feedback at scale.

A teacher grading papers with a digital wand that multiplies the feedback

Using Mail Merge to Send Personalized Feedback

Giving feedback is essential, but writing it out is exhausting. Whether you are a teacher grading essays or a manager doing quarterly reviews, the bottleneck is typing.

1. The “Rubric” Approach

Instead of writing paragraphs, structure your feedback as data. Create a spreadsheet with columns for:

  • Strengths
  • Areas for Improvement
  • Specific Example
  • Score

Fill out this row for each person. It’s faster to type “Great intro” in a cell than to write a full letter.

2. The Template Construction

Your template document pulls these pieces together into a narrative.

“Dear «Name», Great job on the project. I really liked your «Strengths». However, next time focus on «Areas for Improvement», specifically regarding «Specific Example».”

3. Conditional Feedback

Advanced mail merge allows for logic.

  • IF Score > 90: Insert “Excellent work!”
  • IF Score < 70: Insert “Please schedule a meeting with me.”

This ensures the tone matches the performance automatically.

Conclusion

Structured feedback is often better feedback. It forces you to be specific and consistent, while automation handles the delivery.

Feedback loops. MergeCanvas allows you to turn structured data into comprehensive PDF reports, perfect for performance reviews and academic grading.