Guide to Handlebars Merge Language (HML) in Pardot

If you're working in Pardot and trying to figure out how to scale your marketing operations and campaign operations efforts, one aspect to consider is mastering Merge Language (HML).

What is Merge Language?

Merge Language, or HML, is a templating language used in Salesforce to manage variables and states. It replaces the older Pardot Merge Language (PML), allowing for deeper integration with Salesforce's variable and data structures. This makes it possible to use HML across the platform.

HML is commonly used in:

• Workflows to supply variables.
• Content asset templates like emails, landing pages, and forms for personalization.
• Conditional logic to create dynamic content and personalized features.

Evolution from Pardot Merge Language (PML) to HML

The original Pardot Merge Language (PML) was used heavily in emails, landing pages, and forms. Its syntax involved using double percentage signs to personalize content (eg, %%FirstName%%). While useful, PML had its limitations. Issues like the lack of advanced conditional logic and limited compatibility with Salesforce were clear signs that an upgrade was needed.

After Salesforce acquired Pardot, they introduced HML in June 2020. Built on principles similar to the Handlebars.js library, HML allowed for greater functionality. However, the transition wasn’t without challenges. Once you upgraded to HML, there was no going back. This meant teams had to revisit and update all their templates, workflows, and assets created with PML.

For new Salesforce instances, HML is now the default, so this is less of a concern for teams starting fresh.

Benefits of HML for Marketing Operations

HML offers several key benefits for Pardot users, particularly those focused on marketing operations:

1. Dynamic Content Insertions: HML dynamically executes tokens or variables at runtime, ensuring the most current dataset is used. For example, if an account’s industry data changes, HML reflects the update when an email is sent or a landing page is accessed.
2. Conditional Logic and Fallbacks: HML supports if-else statements and fallback logic, allowing for advanced personalization and dynamic content.
3. Improved Efficiency: HML aligns with Salesforce Lightning templates and integrates seamlessly across the platform, streamlining workflows.
4. Support for Analytics and Tracking: With features like URL tracking, HML enables better campaign performance insights and supports scalability.
5. Asset Creation Scalability: Using HML, teams can build reusable email and landing page templates with personalization baked in, enhancing campaign creation efficiency.

Core Features of Merge Language (HML)

If you're working in Salesforce Pardot, understanding the core features of Merge Language (HML) is critical for scaling your operations. HML isn’t flashy—it’s functional, and that’s where its strength lies. Let’s break it down.

• Using Personalization Tags for Dynamic Content
• Implementing Fallback Fields to Avoid Empty Data
• Introduction to Conditional Logic with If/Else Statements
• Incorporating Dynamic URLs and Tracked Links
• Customizing Email Content Using Reusable Snippets

Using Personalization Tags for Dynamic Content

One of the most practical aspects of HML is its ability to dynamically insert data from Salesforce records into assets like emails, landing pages, and forms. The syntax is straightforward: it uses curly braces to represent dynamic fields, making it easy to pull in personalized data directly.

This can be as simple as adding a personalized greeting or as detailed as customizing the content of an email with product names, account information, or even specific statistics. By leveraging the data stored in Salesforce as your single source of truth, you ensure the content you deliver is accurate and relevant. This is especially helpful for creating targeted and consistent messaging.

Implementing Fallback Fields to Avoid Empty Data

HML also tackles a common problem: missing data. By implementing fallback fields, you can avoid awkward scenarios where personalization fails. For example, instead of sending an email that says, “Hello ,” you can set up default values so that the greeting falls back to something like “Hello there” if the recipient’s name is missing. This keeps your communications polished and avoids potential embarrassment.

Fallbacks are simple to set up and ensure that even when your data isn’t perfect, your output still looks professional.

Introduction to Conditional Logic with If/Else Statements

Another powerful feature of HML is conditional logic. This allows you to tailor your content even further by adding if/else statements to your templates. For example, you might display different content depending on the recipient’s industry.

If you need to handle more complex scenarios, nested if statements come in handy. That said, you can only nest up to three levels deep, which is probably for the best—it’s easy for things to get messy. For complex needs, dynamic content might be a better fit. Still, the ability to use conditional logic lets you get granular with your targeting and ensures the right audience gets the right message.

Incorporating Dynamic URLs and Tracked Links

Dynamic URLs are another feature worth noting. With HML, you can embed dynamic values directly into URLs. This is incredibly useful for tracking purposes, such as adding user IDs or campaign IDs to links. Salesforce Pardot automatically tracks links that include embedded HML, so you get detailed analytics on how your audience interacts with your content.

By incorporating these dynamic links, you can tie specific actions to individual users or campaigns, giving you better insights into performance and engagement.

Customizing Email Content Using Reusable Snippets

Reusable snippets are a great way to manage repetitive content efficiently. You can predefine blocks of content—like headers, footers, or legal disclaimers—and then use HML to pull them into your emails dynamically. The beauty of snippets is that they ensure consistency. Since HML executes at runtime, the system always pulls in the most current version of the snippet.

This is particularly helpful for managing things like opt-out text, copyright dates, or standardized branding elements. Instead of manually updating every template, you only need to update the snippet, and the changes propagate automatically. It’s a simple way to save time and ensure uniformity across your assets.

Practical Applications of HML

How do you apply HML to your workflows in Pardot? Let's take a look at 10 examples to see how HML can work in your own campaigns.

Limitations of HML

While HML brings a lot of flexibility and functionality to Pardot, there are a few limitations worth noting. These won’t affect most users, but it’s still good to understand where HML might fall short. Here are 4 limitations:

• A cap of 200 HML fields per email or template.
• A maximum of 10 pieces of dynamic content in any given email or template.
• Conditional logic is limited to three levels of nesting.
• HML is a one-way upgrade—you can’t revert back to Pardot Merge Language (PML).

Merge Field Limit

HML has a hard limit of 200 fields per email or template. While this might sound restrictive, it’s unlikely to impact most users unless you’re heavily hand-coding your templates. Hitting this limit often introduces unnecessary complexity and more opportunities for things to break.

Dynamic Content Cap

You’re limited to using 10 pieces of dynamic content per email or template. For campaigns requiring complex segmentation strategies, this might feel limiting. However, most campaigns won’t come close to this threshold in practice.

Conditional Statement Nesting

HML only allows you to nest up to three conditional logic statements. Beyond that, things tend to get messy anyway, so this limitation is more of a safeguard. If you find yourself needing more, it might be worth considering dynamic content instead.

Permanent Upgrade

Once you’ve upgraded from PML to HML, there’s no going back. This isn’t an issue for new accounts, but for legacy users, it’s worth noting that this change is permanent. Make sure you’re fully ready before making the switch.

How No Code Tools Empower Marketing Teams

No code tools like Knak are changing the way marketing teams create and deploy campaigns by eliminating the need for technical expertise or developers. HTML plays a crucial role in these workflows, enabling personalization and the use of merged fields for dynamic content.

These tools democratize campaign creation, allowing users to build fully responsive templates for emails and landing pages while still leveraging the capabilities of HTML. No code platforms also foster collaboration by providing a unified space where all stakeholders can contribute. For example, design teams can review and refine email templates without needing direct access to complex platforms like Salesforce or Pardot, which often require technical familiarity.

No code tools also help maintain brand consistency by offering reusable modules. These modules set guidelines for elements like fonts, typography, logos, and visual styles, ensuring a cohesive brand experience across campaigns. Additionally, they reduce development time by simplifying the process, while HTML works in the background to support advanced personalization.

By streamlining workflows and enabling collaboration, no code tools like Knak are making campaign creation faster, easier, and more accessible for everyone on the team.